High Holy Days 2023

Welcome Home

Make the upcoming High Holy Day season personally meaningful

We are excited to offer worship opportunities at Temple, the Julia Bindeman Suburban Center (JBSC), and virtually on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

Watch Rabbi Miller & Rabbi Schmelkin’s Rosh HaShanah Sermons

Schedule | Ticketing | Parking | Volunteer & Tributes | Accessibility & AssistanceAdditional Details


High Holy Days Schedule

Printable copy of the schedule


* Who will deliver the sermon at the service.

Clergy Key: SS (Rabbi Susan Shankman), ADM (Rabbi Aaron Miller), ELF (Rabbi Eliana Fischel), RLS (Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin), SAB (Cantor Susan Bortnick), SH (Cantor Suzanne Hamstra), HA (Songleader Haley Amdur)


2023/5784 ScheduleBuildingTimeClergySermonLocationLivestream
Kol Nidrei
Sunday, September 24
Intergenerational serviceJBSC6:00 pmADM*, SH"Your Hardened Heart"Social Hall
Intergenerational serviceTemple7:30 pmSS*, RLS, SAB"What the World Needs Now"SanctuaryWatch

2239 ServiceTemple8:00 pmELF*, HA"Out of the Narrow"Chapel
Yom Kippur
Monday, September 25
Preschool serviceJBSC9:00 amRLS*, ELF, SABSocial Hall
Preschool serviceTemple9:00 amSS*, ADM, SHChapel
Intergenerational serviceJBSC10:30 amELF*, RLS, SAB"Out of the Narrow"Social Hall
Intergenerational serviceTemple10:30 amADM*, SS, SH"Your Hardened Heart"SanctuaryWatch

The 1st Annual Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig Human Relations Study Session: Asking the Tough Questions with Ambassador Tom NidesTemple12:30 pmEdlavitch Hall
Family serviceTemple1:30 pmALLSanctuary
Study Session: The Supreme Court and Battles over Religious Freedom: Abortion, LGBTQ Rights, and Public Prayer with Rabbi David SapersteinTemple2:00 pmEdlavitch Hall
Study Session: Reluctant Prophets: Jonah, Esther, and Taylor with Rabbi Michael NamathTemple2:00 pmOchsman
Study session: Young at Heart with Dick KaufmannTemple2:00 pmFreed Youth Wing
Teen serviceTemple2:30 pmALLChapel
Music & PoetryTemple3:30 pmALLSanctuaryWatch

Afternoon, Yizkor & N'ilahTemple4:00 pmALL, SS* (Yizkor)SanctuaryWatch

Community Break FastTempleAfter N'ilah Service

Are you looking for a digital copy of this year’s Memorial Book?

Click Here to Download


Schedule | Ticketing | Parking | Volunteer & Tributes | Accessibility & Assistance | Additional Details


High Holy Day Tickets

All ticket sales for Kol Nidrei/Yom Kippur/Break Fast are now closed. We will never turn anyone away, so if you would like to join us for services at either Temple or the Julia Bindeman Suburban Center, please see one of our volunteers at the Will Call table.

Shanah Tovah!


WHC Members

Emails will be sent to all members in good standing with links to reserve tickets for this year’s High Holy Days, order guest tickets, and update your memorial book entry. If you don’t receive this email, please email seatingoffice@whctemple.org.

Once you complete your selections, you will receive an email confirmation. Please print your this email or save it somewhere easy to access on your phone. When you arrive at Temple or JBSC for services, simply check in with one of our helpful staff members, and you’ll be all set. If you can’t find your confirmation email, no worries! Just come to the Will Call table when you arrive!

Want to learn more about becoming a WHC member? Contact Jennifer Millstone.

Ticketing FAQ

High Holy Day tickets are included in your WHC membership for those listed on your household account. Your household is defined as two primary adult contacts and any children under the age of 30.

Temple members whose accounts are current are welcome to reserve one ticket for each member in their household for any service. New for 2023 — If you are a single-member household, you may add one additional ticket at no extra charge.

Example: If a household of four selects Erev Rosh HaShanah, Rosh HaShanah Day, and a Preschool service, they will have four tickets reserved for each service.


Many of the services at Temple will be livestreamed. See the schedule above for which ones you can watch.

Watch the Livestream

Once each service ends, it will also be available on-demand on our YouTube page.

Watch Rabbi Miller & Rabbi Schmelkin’s sermons from Rosh HaShanah


We welcome friends and extended family of WHC members and members of the greater community to join us at any or all of our High Holy Day services. Tickets for non-members and guests are $180 per person, per holiday. Those ages 22-39 may purchase individual service tickets at a subsidized rate of $25 each. Children under age 6 are free. Ticket holders may attend services at either location.


The member ticket form will include an option for you to use your Historic Seats. If you have any questions, please call the Temple office at 202-362-7100 or email seatingoffice@whctemple.org.


We will miss you! Many of our services will be available on our livestream so you can follow along wherever you are. See the schedule above for which services will be online.

As a member in good standing, you are eligible to request seating at another URJ Reform congregation. Use the URJ’s Reciprocal Request Form or call 202-362-7100 for assistance.


Accessible and Offsite Parking

  • Limited accessible parking is available at both JBSC and Temple on a first-come, first-served basis. Please have your valid parking tag or placard to show our staff upon arrival.
  • Two nearby blocks on Macomb St. NW and 39th St. NW are blocked and reserved for our members to park during the holidays.
  • For all services at Temple, we have arranged for you to park at St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral (2815 36th St. NW). Shuttle buses will run between Temple and St. Sophia’s on the following schedule:
    • Erev Rosh HaShanah – For the Intergenerational service, 5–8:30 pm
    • Rosh HaShanah Day – For the Intergenerational service, 9 am–12:30 pm & Family Service, 1–2 pm
    • Kol Nidrei – For the Intergenerational service,  7–10:30 pm
    • Yom Kippur Day – Beginning with the Intergenerational service through N’ilah, 9 am–7 pm

Volunteer Opportunities, Tributes, and More

WHC will continue its annual tradition of collecting canned and non-perishable foods to help those in our area struggling with hunger and food insecurity. We will distribute bags during Rosh HaShanah services that can be filled and brought back to Temple on Yom Kippur (or anytime leading up to Yom Kippur.)

You are also welcome to drop off donations at any time leading up to Yom Kippur during normal business hours at either JBSC or Temple.

Donations from this year’s drive will benefit Nourish Now and N Street Village.


First impressions are so important.

Our Greeters ensure that each person feels very welcomed in our communal spaces and that every member recognizes they belong at WHC.

Belonging to a synagogue is about creating a community and building lifelong relationships. We embrace the Jewish value of kavod — dignity — which guides us to create a culture of respect from the moment anyone enters our spaces.

We celebrate the diversity of all the individuals and families who call WHC home.

Apply to be a Greeter


WHC is looking for members to assist with greeting, guiding, ticket-taking, and more throughout the High Holy Days.
Questions? Contact Marsha Humphries.

Our High Holy Day machzor (prayer book) is Mishkan HaNefesh.

At Temple & JBSC, we have prayer books for you to use when you come for services. If you have your own copies, you are invited to bring them.

Interested in ordering prayer books?


Our religion gives us the opportunity to honor a long life with the beautiful custom of celebrating a second (or first!) B’nei Mitzvah when a person turns 83.

If you celebrated or will celebrate your 83rd birthday between Yom Kippur 2021 (10/5/22) and this Yom Kippur (9/25/23), we invite you to read the Torah blessings with us during our morning Congregational Services on Yom Kippur – safely from your seat at Temple, JBSC, or home! To participate in this aliyah, please contact Becca Rosenblum, rrosenblum@whctemple.org, or call 202-895-6307.


On Rosh HaShanah day, we have a wonderful tradition of reading the names of all the babies and children who have come into the lives of our Temple families during the past year.

If you welcomed a new child or grandchild after Rosh HaShanah 2022 (9/25/22) and would like us to include them in this reading, please contact Becca Rosenblum, rrosenblum@whctemple.org, or call 202-895-6307, with their name and date of birth.


The deadline for Memorial Book submissions is August 24.

Members can adjust their listing, or create one if they never had one in the past, using their High Holy Day Ticket Order Form.

Questions? Contact Lindsay Feldman at lfeldman@whctemple.org.


Accessibility & Assistance

Limited accessible parking is available at both JBSC and Temple on a first-come, first-served basis. Please have your valid parking tag or placard to show our staff upon arrival.


At Temple, there is a chair glide at the parking lot entrance. Our restrooms and worship spaces are all accessible.

At JBSC, the main entrance is wheelchair accessible, and for anyone attending the outdoor Erev Rosh HaShanah service, there is a ramp located through the lunchroom that will take you directly outside to the worship area.

We will also have designated seating reserved at both JBSC and Temple for those with special needs. When you arrive for services, please see an usher who can direct you.


We will have licensed paramedics on hand at both Temple and JBSC just in case there is a need.


ASL interpretation is available upon request for any service or Study Session (in-person or via livestream) with at least two weeks’ notice. Closed Captioning is also available on our livestream. Please contact Rich Gordon, rgordon@whctemple.org, with any questions.

We will have ASL interpretation for the following services

  • Friday, September 15, 6:00 pm, Erev Rosh HaShanah Intergenerational Service, Temple
  • Saturday, September 16, 10:30 am, Rosh HaShanah Intergenerational Service, Temple
  • Sunday, September 24, 7:30 pm, Kol Nidrei Intergenerational Service, Temple
  • Monday, September 25, 1:30 pm, Yom Kippur Family Service, Temple

At Temple, Kaufmann Sanctuary, Albert & Shirley Small Chapel, and Irwin & Ginny Edlavitch Hall are equipped with infrared listening systems. Wireless headphones needed to utilize the systems are available in Hurston Library.


For services at Temple, large print prayer books are available in Hurston Library.

For services at JBSC, large print prayer books are available in the Teen Lounge.


High Holy Day Details and Schedules

Questions?

We are just a click or phone call away!
Email seatingoffice@whctemple.org
Phone: 202-362-7100

Schedule | Ticketing | Parking | Volunteer & Tributes | Accessibility & Assistance | Additional Details