Choose from in-person and virtual service offerings, each designed to help you welcome in 5783. High Holiday tickets are on sale now. Space is limited; tickets will sell out.
18 years ago, the seed for a new approach to Jewish life and community was planted at Sixth & I. The significance of our 18th anniversary is rooted in the Hebrew word for life, chai, consisting of the eighth and tenth letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which together equal 18. The number 18 is so meaningful in Judaism because it’s a signpost redirecting us back to life and reminding us of how much we’ve grown, and how much we hope to continue to grow into the future.
The High Holidays serve a similar function—bringing us back to our lives. During this time, we each engage in the process of returning, of teshuva. It’s an invitation to reconnect to ourselves, our communities, and our world, even when, amid a near-constant barrage of news alerts and devastating headlines, we might feel a pull to disconnect or to give in to disillusionment and despair.
This past year has not been easy. A war in Ukraine. Gun violence. Regressive legislation. Surpassing one million COVID deaths in the US. Choosing to embrace life amidst so much pain, hatred, and death is no small task. And yet time and time again, during the High Holidays we are gently reminded u’vacharta bachayim—to choose life. To grab hold of the etz chayim—the tree of life. To affirm our place in the sefer hachayim—the book of life.
The more common way of referring to life in Hebrew isn’t chai but chayim, in the plural form. A full life, a meaningful life, is one that is rooted to something larger than the individual. This year, as we’ve done for thousands of years, we’ll come together in community and support one another as we, like the tree of life, grow deeper and taller, the promise of a better year just within our grasp.