High Holidays 5786

As we prepare to usher in 5786, we look forward to sharing a meaningful, musical, and joyful start to the new year with our community—both longtime members and first-time guests.

This page will soon include our full schedule of services and events for Rosh Hashanah (which starts at sundown on Monday September 22), Yom Kippur (the evening of Wednesday, October 1), Sukkot, and Simchat Torah, as well as educational and inspiring programs to mark the lead up to the holidays.

Whether you join us in person or online, we are delighted to welcome you with open hearts and open doors.

For CBI Members

As in years past, there’s no need to register in advance or bring paper tickets—just come to the service(s) that feel right for you. We look forward to greeting you throughout the High Holidays, whether you join us once or many times.

If you would like to include the names of loved ones in our Book of Remembrance, please be sure to submit them by Friday, September 12. Click here if you need to reference our 5785 Book of Remembrance.

For CBI Guests

We’re so glad you’re considering joining us for the High Holidays. We ask all guests to register in advance, and when you arrive, please stop by our welcome table to check in. As with our members, there’s no need for paper tickets—just bring yourself and your spirit for the season.

For the High Holidays, it is customary for guests to make a donation in appreciation of their host congregation. A contribution of $180 is suggested, but we warmly welcome whatever is meaningful and appropriate for you.

URJ Reciprocity

Are you a CBI Member who will be travelling away from Portland during the High Holidays? While we will miss you, we are also help to facilitate your attending services at another URJ congregation.

Please reach out to us as soon as your travel dates are set, and let us know which community you would like to join, and for which services.

If you are a member of a different URJ Congregation and want to join at CBI for the High Holidays, please contact your home temple’s office to make arrangements.

High Holidays Schedule

Selichot, Rosh Hashanah, and Kever Avot

Selichot
Saturday, September 13
7:00 PM
In-Person and Online
Main Sanctuary

CBI’s Selichot service ushers us into the High Holiday season with music from a live band and our Kol Echad Choir. As we change the Torah covers to white and begin the melodies of repentance and return, we create space in our hearts for the work ahead.

Led by the CBI clergy and Education Director Ben Sandler with music from a live band and Kol Echad, the CBI choir.

Erev Rosh Hashahah Tot Service
Monday, September 22
4:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Main Sanctuary

Start our new year with stories and songs (and apples and honey, of course!). Mini mensches (preschool aged and younger) make music and memories in the Main Sanctuary alongside their families, the CBI Clergy, and Artist-in-Residence Kim Schneiderman.

Led by CBI clergy and Artist-in-Residence Kim Schneiderman.

Erev Rosh Hashanah Traditional Service
Monday, September 22
7:00 PM
In-Person and Online
Main Sanctuary

We begin the new year with an evening of reflection and celebration. This service welcomes us into the High Holy Days with meaningful prayer, music, and teachings.

Led by the CBI Clergy with music from the Kol Echad Choir.

Rosh Hashanah Traditional Service
Tuesday, September 23
10:00 AM
In-Person and Online
Main Sanctuary

Greet the 5786 with tradition and renewal as we gather to reflect on the past year and embrace the possibilities ahead. As our service concludes, our younger community members will join us from their services elsewhere on campus to celebrate and hear the Shofar blast.

Led by the CBI Rabbi Michael Z. Canaha and Cantor Rayna Green.

Rosh Hashanah Upper Elementary Service
Tuesday, September 23
10:00 AM
In-Person ONLY
Pollin Chapel

Rabbi Rachel Joseph leaders a Rosh Hashanah morning service for students in fourth through seventh grade, with music, learning, and stories to mark a sweet start to the year together. Parents are welcome, but not obligated to attend.

Led by Rabbi Rachel Joseph, Executive Director Josh Kashinsky, and Music Educator Jonathan Meek.

Rosh Hashanah Service for Families with Young Children
Tuesday, September 23
11:00 AM
In-Person ONLY
Goodman Hall

Families with children in third grade and younger begin 5786 with a service designed just for them. Rabbi Rachel Joseph leads with music, movement, and interactive storytelling. At the conclusion of this service we will cross the street and join the Traditional Service in the Main Sanctuary to hear the Shofar blast together.

Led by Rabbi Rachel Joseph, Education Director Ben Sandler, Artist-in-Residence Kim Schneiderman, and musicians Tim Ribner and Arthur Steinhorn.

Rosh Hashanah Sweets Reception
Tuesday, September 23
12:30 PM
In-Person ONLY
CBI Plaza

Stay and snack awhile with your CBI community, enjoying sweet treats courtesy of the WRJ/Beth Israel Sisterhood.

Tashlich
Tuesday, September 23
4:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Multiple Portland Locations
Register for Meeting Place

Relflect and make space for renewal and cast away the missteps of the past year. We will meet at riverside locations across the Portland area, so pick a neighborhood, sign up, and we will let you know where to meet.

Teen Tashlich
Tuesday, September 23
4:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Portland Waterfront Location
Register for Meeting Place

Come as you are—questions, hopes, doubts, and all—for our first-ever Teen Tashlich Experience. We’ll take time to reflect on the past year, toss a few breadcrumbs, and bond. While this experience is just for teens, we know sometimes parents (chauffeurs) are a package deal, so if an adult tags along, a we’ve prepared a separate, meaningful, Tashlich experience for them.

Led by Youth and Family Educator Sarah Rohr.

Kever Avot
Sunday, September 28
10:30 AM
In-Person ONLY
Beth Israel Cemetery (426 SW Taylors Ferry Road)

One of the beautiful traditions of the High Holidays is honoring the memories of our beloved departed ones. Our congregation holds an intimate cemetery service, known as Kever Avot v’Imahot, during the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, during which we remember and read the names of those buried there over the course of the past year.

Yom Kippur

Kol Nidre Tot Service

Wednesday, October 1
4:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Main Sanctuary

Babies on the bimah! Our littlest congregants (and their grownups) gather in our historic Main Sanctuary for a Yom Kippur Observance designed just for them.

Led by CBI clergy and Artist-in-Residence Kim Schneiderman.

Kol Nidre Service
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 PM
In-Person and Online
Main Sanctuary

This powerful evening begins Yom Kippur with familiar melodies and deep reflection as we open ourselves to the spiritual work of forgiveness and return.

Led by the CBI clergy with music from the Kol Echad Choir.

Yom Kippur Traditional Service
Thursday, October 2
10:00 AM
In-Person and Online
Main Sanctuary

The morning of Yom Kippur invites us into a day of introspection, prayer, and hope for renewal. We gather as a community to reflect, seek connection, and find meaning in our shared tradition.

Led by Rabbi Michael Z. Canana and Cantor Rayna Green.

Yom Kippur Upper Elementary Service
Thursday, October 2
10:00 AM
In-Person ONLY
Pollin Chapel

Students in fourth through seventh grades gather for a Yom Kippur obvervance led by Rabbi Rachel Joseph. Parents are welcome to join this meditative morning with their children, or to attend the adult service across the street; at the conclusion of this service, CBI staff will escort to the Main Sanctuary to take in the end of our community’s Traditional Service.

Led by Rabbi Rachel Joseph, Executive Director Josh Kashinsky, and Music Educator Jonathan Meek.

Yom Kippur Service for Families with Young Children
Thursday, October 2
11:00 AM
In-Person ONLY
Goodman Hall

Younger students (third grade and under) gather with their grownups and Rabbi Rachel Joseph for a Yom Kippur Morning Service that invites learning, reflection, and growth.

Led by Rabbi Rachel Joseph, Education Director Ben Sandler, Artist-in-Residence Kim Schneiderman, and musicians Tim Ribner and Arthur Steinhorn.

Sermon Talk-Back
Thursday, October 2
12:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Pollin Chapel

The CBI Clergy discuss their High Holiday sermons, and answer questions from the audience.

Yom Kippur Teaching
Thursday, October 2
1:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Pollin Chapel

Details to follow

Music and Meditation
Thursday, October 2
2:00 PM
In-Person and Online
Main Sanctuary

Catch your breath and center yourself with meditive organ music from Michael Barnes in our beautiful Main Sanctuary before the start of our afternoon services.

Afternoon Service, Yizkor, and Ne’ila
Thursday, October 2
3:00 PM
In-Person and Online
Main Sanctuary

Our CBI a community approaches the final hours of Yom Kippur with intention and care. Our Afternoon Service begins with music from Michael Allen Harrison, as those who wish may take a private moment for reflection before the Ark. As the day as our reflective Afternoon Service, Yizkor Service, and closing Ne’ila Service flow one into the next with moments of memory, hope, and renewal.

Led by the CBI Clergy.

Yom Kippur Teen Experience
Thursday, October 2
4:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Location TBD

As the day winds down, this space offers teens a chance to gather, reflect, and connect in a way that feels real. Through conversation, music, and moments of quiet, we’ll explore what Yom Kippur can mean when you’re tired, hangry, and still trying to make sense of the year behind and the one ahead. At the end of this experience together, we will join the rest of the CBI community for Ne’ila.

Led by Youth and Family Educator Sarah Rohr.

Omek Break Fast
Thursday, October 2
7:00 PM
In-Person ONLY
Blumauer Auditorium
Click to RSVP

Omek, a CBI Community for Jews in their 20s and 30s invites members of their cohort–and any interested Jews in their 20s and 30s–to come together following Ne’ila and break our fast together.

The Robert Peltz (z"l) High Holidays Fund for Food

With one in three children nationwide, and one in five in the Portland metro area suffering from food insecurity, your help is more urgent than ever. The Robert Peltz (z”l) High Holidays Funds for supports our community partners in the purchase and distribution of food for Portlanders, providing direct aid where it is most needed.