High Holidays

Rosh Hashanah

Mahzor Contents: A Guide to the High Holidays Prayers

The High Holiday prayer book emphasize the themes of the Days of Awe — introspection and repentance

Pray

Text of Avinu Malkeinu

This series of petitions addressed to "Our Father, Our King," is recited on Yom Kippur and other fast days.

Yom Kippur

Kol Nidrei: The Power of Words

Why does the holiest day of the Jewish year begin with a dry legal formula renouncing vows?

Unetaneh Tokef: Do We Control our Fate?

The High Holiday prayer that asks us to consider our mortality is an urgent call to examine our lives.

V’chol Ma’amimim: Speaking Order into Chaos

From the depths of uncertainty, this High Holiday prayer invites us to call out the steadfast faith we wish we felt.

Rosh Hashanah Musaf: A Call to Change Your Life

The Rosh Hashanah Musaf is the core of the service — and where we find its most iconic prayers and resonant themes.

Eileh Ezkarah for Pittsburgh

A prayer for the eleven Jews massacred on October 27, 2018 at the Tree of Life synagogue.

The Mahzor, or High Holiday Prayer Book

A prayer book for the High Holidays.

The Yom Kippur Confession (Viddui)

A first step toward repairing a wrong.

Kol Nidrei

The evening service of Yom Kippur is named after this declaration

Unetanah Tokef

A religious poem recited on the High Holidays that is meant to strike fear in us.

Avinu Malkeinu

The prayer for "our father, our king," said on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The Shofar Blasts

The ram's horn is blown on the High Holidays in three specific ways.

Hineni: A Prayer for the Ability to Pray

This meditation traditionally recited by the cantor on the High Holidays is unique for being worded in the first-person singular.

Text of Tashlich

This prayer is traditionally recited on Rosh Hashanah by a flowing body of water.