High Holy Days

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Welcome to the High Holy Days at Kol Ami. We are so excited to see you and energized by the opportunity that these holidays give all of us to reflect and renew. This is our moment to continue building community, deepening our relationships, and expanding our experience.

Saturday, Sept 9, Rubin Family Sanctuary

7:30 pm Study Session Followed by Havdalah & Dessert

9:00 pm Changing of the Torah Mantles & S’lichot Service

The month of Elul culminates with S’lichot (forgiveness) services, when we gather to recite special prayers of penitence that include beautiful Hebrew poetry. This moving service urges us to reflect on the year that is ending. Cantor Cohen and Erev Cantor Bollt will introduce the haunting melodies of the High Holy Days as we utter our first confession of the season. This experience will also include learning with Rabbi Cohen for new year's inspiration.

S’lichot

Kever Avot

Sunday, Sept 10, Shaarei Shalom, Evergreen, and Nogales Cemeteries

1:00 pm Erev Cantor Bollt at Shaarei Shalom

1:00 pm Rabbi Cohen and Cantor Cohen at Evergreen Chapel

4:00 pm Cantorial Soloist Emerita Hochberg at Nogales

These services are designed for us to reconnect with loved ones at the various Kol Ami cemetery sites at this important time of year leading up to Rosh Hashanah. For those whose loved ones are buried away from Tucson, these services still provide an opportunity to memorialize them.

Rosh Hashanah

Erev Rosh Hashanah

Friday, Sept. 15, 7:30-9:30 pm in Rubin Family Sanctuary

Led by Rabbi Cohen, Cantor Cohen, Erev Cantor Bollt, and the Kol Ami Adult Choir.

Family Service

Saturday, Sept 16, 9:30-10:30 am in Weiner Religious School Auditorium

Rabbi Cohen, Cantor Cohen, and Rabbi Price will lead this service for 3rd-8th graders. Adult family members are welcome to join as the clergy tackle the holiday humorously and dynamically. Supervised activities and snacks will be available after this service so adults can join the main service.

Tot Service

Saturday, Sept 16, 8:45-9:30 am in Schlanger Chapel

Rabbi Cohen and Cantor Cohen will lead songs and stories for children aged birth through 2nd grade and their accompanying adults. Childcare in Strauss ECE will be available after this service until 1pm so the adults can join the main service.

Main Services

Saturday, Sept 16, 10 am-12:45 pm in Rubin Family Sanctuary

Led by Rabbi Cohen, Cantor Cohen, Erev Cantor Bollt, and the Kol Ami Adult Choir. This service includes a special Torah reading and the sounding of the shofar.

Tashlich

Saturday, Sept 16, 6:30pm at Ft. Lowell Park Ramada #3

Cast your sins symbolically on the water as we gather in Ft Lowell Park Ramada #3 for this informal service for all ages. Bring a picnic dinner!

Kol Nidre

Sunday, Sept 24, 7:30 pm in the Rubin Family Sanctuary

Led by Rabbi Cohen, Cantor Cohen, Erev Bollt, and the Kol Ami Choir. This beautifully solemn service opens Yom Kippur with the central Kol Nidre prayer, showing remorse for unfulfilled promises over the past year.

Yom Kippur

Tot Service

Monday, Sept 25, 8:45-9:30 am in Schlanger Chapel

Rabbi Cohen and Cantor Cohen will lead songs and stories for children aged birth through 2nd grade and their accompanying adults. Childcare in Strauss ECE will be available after this service until 1pm so the adults can join the main service.

Family Service

Monday, Sept 25, 9:30-10:30 am in Weiner Religious School Auditorium

Rabbi Cohen, Cantor Cohen, and Rabbi Price will lead this service for 3rd-8th graders. Adult family members are welcome to join as the clergy wrestle with the concepts of forgiveness and atonement. Supervised activities and snacks will be available after this service so adults can join the main service.

Main Morning Services

Monday, Sept 25, 10:00 am-12:45 pm in Rubin Family Sanctuary

Led by Rabbi Cohen, Cantor Cohen, Erev Cantor Bollt, and the Kol Ami Adult Choir. This service includes a special Torah reading and an opportunity for reflection on past mistakes and aspirations for the coming year.

Humans of Kol Ami

Monday, Sept 25, 1:15-2:15 pm in Schlanger Chapel

Join congregants as they tell stories from their life on a theme. You will have the opportunity to ask the storytellers questions and discuss your own experiences as they connect to the theme. The Humans of Kol Ami project includes different ways of building empathy and cohesion between congregants by sharing elements of their life story.

Music Program

Monday

We are very sorry to have to cancel this program.

Afternoon Main Service

Monday, Sept 25, 3-4:45 pm in Rubin Family Sanctuary

The main pillars of this meaningful service are the reading of the Leviticus Holiness Code, a dramatic interaction with the Jonah story, and a focus on one of the martyrs of our tradition.

Yizkor and Ne’ilah

Monday, Sept 25, 5-6:30 pm in Rubin Family Sanctuary

Join us for the poignant Yizkor (memorial) service which allows us to connect with our departed loved ones through prayer, song, and poetry. Immediately following is our Ne’ilah (closing) service, as we offer final penitential prayers before the Gates of Repentance ‘close.’

Break Fast Meal

Monday, Sept 25, 6:30 pm in Weiner Religious School Auditorium

Break the Fast with us. A light nosh including bagels, lox schmear, tuna/egg salad, and more!

FAQs

We have many answers to your High Holy Day questions categorized for easy viewing. If you have a question that is not covered please contact us and we would be happy to help.

Phone: 520-327-4501

Email: kolami@katucson.org

Contact Form

A man wearing glasses and a kippah, dressed in a blue suit and yellow tie, speaking into a microphone at a podium. He has a purple name tag that reads 'Rabbi Malcolm Cohen'. Behind him is a wooden wall and a large screen showing a blurry close-up of a person's hand writing with a pen over open books.
Interior of a religious synagogue with people gathered for prayer and worship, featuring stained glass windows, a central ark, and a decorative ceiling.