Tashlich and Yizkor Services Will Be In-Person

 Congregation Tifereth Israel, the synagogue in Greenport, will offer services for the Jewish High Holy Days this year mostly on Zoom, a videoconferencing application the synagogue has used successfully for weekly Shabbat services, Passover Seders, and other events. The 10-day High Holy Days period begins on Friday, Sept. 18, with services at 7:30 p.m., the evening before the two-day celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah will be observed on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20, beginning at 9:30 each morning. The observance of Yom Kippur, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, will begin on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 6:30 p.m., with the Kol Nidre service, followed Monday, Sept. 28 at 9:30 a.m. Rabbi Gadi Capela, spiritual leader of the synagogue, will conduct all of the High Holy Days services.

Exceptions to the Zoom services include two in-person Tashlich services, where participants symbolically cast away sins in the water; this service will be held on both days of Rosh Hashanah, at 1 p.m., at the water’s edge behind the Seaport Museum in Greenport. Also, one in-person Yizkor service, a remembrance for those who have died, will be held on Yom Kippur, at 1 p.m., in Andrew Levin Park, adjacent to the synagogue building. These services, which traditionally are attended by fewer worshippers than the traditional services, can be held safely in-person; nevertheless, masks are required, and social distancing will be observed. In case of inclement weather, alternate arrangements will be announced by the rabbi.

The High Holy Days are the most introspective observances on the Jewish calendar. The 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are a time for reflecting on the past year, making amends, and celebrating hope for the future.

The synagogue, which has maintained a Jewish presence on Fourth Street in Greenport for 119 years, always welcomes worshippers to its High Holy Days services, including its virtual services this year. To attend, please call Elaine Goldman at 631-765-3504 to sign up and receive the numerical code for entrance to the synagogue’s Zoom room.