Yom Kippur 5787: A Day of Prayer, Learning and Return

G’mar chatimah tovah. Yom Kippur 5787 carried us from Kol Nidre on Sunday evening through the final shofar blast of Neila on Monday night: a full day of prayer, learning, music and return.

Kol Nidre

On Sunday, September 20, families gathered for our Alternative Early Kol Nidre at 5:00 pm, and the sanctuary filled again at 8:00 pm for Kol Nidre with all of our CRC rabbis. Beth Guterman Chu, Principal Viola of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, carried the Kol Nidre melody, accompanied by Peter Henderson, the orchestra’s Principal Keyboardist. Our deep thanks to Bob Herman and Mitch Rotman for helping bring them to us. Rabbis Karen, Randy and Daniel each offered a sermonette, and more than 2,100 people joined us on the YouTube livestream that night alone.

Yom Kippur Day

On Monday morning, Rabbis Karen and Daniel Bogard led Yom Kippur Morning at CRC, where Rabbi Daniel delivered “Shiva for Yourself,” while Rabbi Randy Fleisher led services at First Unitarian Church. Many of us answered Rabbi Daniel’s invitation to dress in white.

In the afternoon, six breakout sessions offered study, movement and conversation:

Tikkun Olam and our Fundamental Right to Vote, with Denise Lieberman
Before the Time Comes, Jewish end-of-life traditions with Emily Stein MacDonald
Review and Renew CRC’s Tikkun Olam Activities, with Amy Gage, Lesley Hoffman and Amy Ravin
Moving Body and Soul, embodied prayer with Sarah Anne Patz
Now at the Closing of the Gates, a text study on Neila with Becky Nelson-Zoole
Torah of CRC’s Greenspaces, outdoors with Rabbi Randy and Karen Flotte

Meanwhile, our Family Service brought A Heeler High Holy Day Story to life, with shofar blasts, songs and plenty of help from our youngest congregants. As the sun set, we came together for Yizkor, remembering those we have lost, and for Neila, standing together as the gates closed.