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Yom Kippur Begins At Sundown

Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday marking the end of the High Holy Days and a Day of Atonement, begins at sundown with the Kol Nidre service.

You can watch a live service online at 6:00 pm ET. You can even download the prayer book here to follow along. The service will be conducted by Rabbi Naomi Levy. It is expected to reach 200,000 worshippers around the world.

The live service will emanate from Brentwood Presbyterian Church and will be transmitted via the broadband channel of the Jewish Television Network. The service will also be available subsequently on demand.

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    The painting (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by koshembos on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 05:35:39 PM EST
    is by Maurycy (that's the Polish spelling) Gottlieb (1856 - 1879) who was born in the Galician city of Drohobycz to a religious but liberal family and was educated first in heder and then in the secular gymnasium.  He is considered one of the founding fathers of Jewish art − quite a claim made for an artist who died at the age of 23.

    Drohobycz is were my parent grow up. It's now in Ukrian. The painting is in the Tel Aviv Museum.

    Thank you. Quite interesting. (none / 0) (#5)
    by oculus on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 07:19:27 PM EST
    You legal types will love it... (none / 0) (#1)
    by ricosuave on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 04:45:04 PM EST
    The whole thing centers around a court where we go as supplicants to plead for forgiveness.  The court is made up of a couple of torah scrolls (the books of the law) in place of two of the people.  Favorite parts to look for: singing of Kol Nidrei (usually a beautiful and sad sounding song) and the chest-thumping during the alphabetical list of sins (in English they could only come up with xenophobia for the letter X, but I like having that included).

    Also: the photo attached here was, coincidentally, taken in my very own temple back in 1977.  I am the kid on the left.  We all look very downcast because the A/C was on the fritz, and it can be very hot here in Texas this time of year.

    Wishing everyone an easy fast (if you are joining us).

    Kol Nidre by Max Bruch for cello (none / 0) (#2)
    by oculus on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 05:24:14 PM EST
    and orchestra.  One of my favorite pieces.  Bruch was not Jewish.

    Kol Nidre

    Jeralyn, what is the painting? (none / 0) (#3)
    by oculus on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 05:30:48 PM EST


    I'm curious (none / 0) (#6)
    by CMike on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 07:40:56 PM EST
    The live service will emanate from Brentwood Presbyterian Church and will be transmitted via the broadband channel of the Jewish Television Network.

    Is it unusual for a Protestant church to make its facilities available for a non-Christian ceremony? Would Jewish ceremonies be the exception?

    Is it unusual for Jews to conduct a high holy day service in a Christian church? Is this something Reform Jews might do but not Orthodox Jews?

    the High Holy Days (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by Peter G on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 07:54:38 PM EST
    are, in many congregations, like the Easter Sunday vigil mass in your neighborhood Catholic church -- it attracts a turnout far greater in number than any other time during the year.  As a result, many Jewish congregations that have built their sanctuaries in recent years to accommodate, even generously, their normal weekly needs do not have enough space for all who wish to attend on those special days.  For this reason, the congregation may rent or borrow a larger space (such as a neighboring church) for High Holy Day worship. Nor sure if that's the situation here, but it is not uncommon in my experience.

    Parent
    I'm Presbyterian, but we have (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Cream City on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 08:44:12 PM EST
    a sister Jewish congregation and have had many joint services in our Presbyterian church.  Presbyterians tend to be very ecumenical -- as do Reform Jews.  I haven't seen it happen with Orthodox, though; there's an Orthodox synagogue down the street from us that is so filled for high holy days that it probably ought to find a larger space! But they don't, although there is a huge Congregational church (like Presbyterians, very ecumenical) across the street.

    Parent
    Not uncommon (none / 0) (#9)
    by ricosuave on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 10:29:51 PM EST
    I used to go to high holiday services every year in DC on the Georgetown University campus.  The student Jewish organization sponsored the service, but it was a common one for non-student 20- and 30- somethings in DC to attend (it was free and open--all you had to do was call to get tickets).  There was a huge cross at the front of the room and pictures of Mary all around, and Jesuit university names plastered all over the wall.  I am sure most everyone there found that amusing, but also were grateful that such a place would host us and allow us complete religious freedom there.

    In Houston, I saw a synagogue and a church that built on the same property and shared a large sanctuary (I'm not sure if that's what the christians call it, but that's our usual name for the "big room").

    I don't remember when, but I was in one synagogue that held services in a church down the street for several weeks while remodeling.  I think the temple where I grew up had a church service that met in our sanctuary for a while after some problem beset their building (flood? fire? frogs?).  I have even seen a synagogue that for High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) had their overflow in a church down the street.

    Generally we have no problem praying with a cross nearby...as long as nobody is forcing us to do it.

    Parent