Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Friday, September 18th. Here are some questions you may have – and some answers for your questions—
What is Harvard Hillel doing for the High Holidays this Year?
On our website you can find our full listing of online High Holiday worship, learning, and Torah study sessions for the upcoming High Holidays. The services listed are for all who are comfortable being online to celebrate the holy days together.
How can I make a donation?
Donations can be made online here; by mailing a check to:
Harvard Hillel
Attn: Development
52 Mt. Auburn St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
or by Mastercard or Visa (please call 617-495-4695, leave a message that DOES NOT include your credit card number, and we will call you back to get that information verbally).
What about people who don't wish to be online on the holidays?
Students and community members whose practice precludes being online, please contact our Orthodox Rabbi, Dani Passow (dani@hillel.harvard.edu) or any of our clergy team listed on our website for support and guidance in planning for the upcoming holidays and to learn more about the further activities of our Orthodox minyan community and of Harvard Hillel apart from the online holiday items.
Are the online services Reform..? Conservative..?
Our online services this year are trans-denominational – welcoming and inclusive for all who wish to greet the new year together with Harvard Hillel. The services will make the liturgy of our heritage accessible and meaningful for all, and will bring participants together, rather than dividing us up denominationally. Our clergy team feels that the larger landscape of these current times is already too full of separation and division, and we hope you will embrace this inclusive adventure together with our students and with us.
What about the Worship and Study Minyan and its longstanding High Holiday traditions?
Apart from the services listed above, which all are invited to attend, Rabbi Jim Morgan will be officiating a separate full set of online High Holiday services for the Worship & Study community in conjunction with Center Communities of Brookline (Hebrew Senior Life). Those services will feature the prayer-leaders and traditions to which the Worship & Study Minyan community is accustomed. You can find more information on those services here.
Do I have to choose one set of online services or the other?
Once you have registered, by following one of the links above, you will be welcome at any of the services. Links for participation will be sent out in advance of the holidays to all who register.
What if the suggested donation is financially prohibitive at this time?
If the suggested donations present a true hardship, please be in touch directly with either Rabbi Jim Morgan of the Worship & Study community (jlmorgan@gmail.com) or with Jessica Axel (jessica@hillel.harvard.edu). We turn nobody away for financial reasons.
Do students have to pay?
No. All Harvard Hillel activities and services are free of charge to current Harvard students – which is made possible by the contributions of our alumni, parents, and other supporters.
Why does Harvard Hillel ask for High Holiday contributions in this unusual year?
Though our programming is online in this pandemic time, it is robust and multi-faceted, reaching and involving a large and welcoming community of students who find a vital lifeline to community and one another in Harvard Hillel especially now. As ever, we must retain the clergy and staff who make themselves available to our Harvard Jewish community and create the program that keeps us together as a community and ensures that Jewish life is an essential part of the Harvard experience even now. We must also actively maintain our physical structures, so that Harvard Hillel's Rosovsky Hall is ready to welcome our community back when the time comes.
For help with other questions or comments, please email Jessica Axel (jessica@hillel.harvard.edu).