B’nai Sholom welcomes all to services for High Holy Days

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation is opening its doors to welcome the Capital Region community for the High Holy Days with complimentary attendance at all services.

The congregation offers visitors and guests the opportunity to attend any or all of the services at no charge either as guest of a congregation member or by making arrangements directly with the synagogue office.

Guests also may enjoy B’nai Sholom’s reception after the Rosh Hashanah evening service, lunch at a congregant’s home after Rosh Hashanah morning service, and the break-fast following the concluding service on Yom Kippur.

B’nai Sholom is located at 420 Whitehall Rd. in Albany. Founded in 1971, the congregation is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism with nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties.

The schedule of services at B’nai Sholom is:

— Sunday, Sept. 9, 8 p.m. – Rosh Hashanah Evening Service;

— Monday, Sept. 10, 10 a.m. – Rosh Hashanah Morning Service;

— Tuesday, Sept. 18, 8 p.m. – Yom Kippur Evening Service;

— Wednesday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m. – Yom Kippur Morning Service;

— Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2:45 p.m. – Healing Service;

— Wednesday, Sept. 19, 3:15 p.m. – Afternoon Service;

— Wednesday, Sept. 19, 5:30 p.m. – Memorial Service; and

— Wednesday, Sept. 19, 6:15 p.m. – Concluding Service.

For families, B’nai Sholom offers a program for children in kindergarten through fourth grade on both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mornings, and babysitting is available at those times for children age 4 and younger. Advance registration for babysitting and the children’s program is required.

Rabbi Donald P. Cashman, B’nai Sholom’s spiritual leader since 1985, will conduct all services. He will preach on the themes of the holy days at the evening and morning services and will serve as ba’al tekiyah, the shofar master, for the sounding of the ram’s horn on Rosh Hashanah.

Rebecca Pacuk, a graduate of the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music and an Albany area native who attended B’nai Sholom during her youth, will once again be the cantorial soloist for the Days of Awe. Pacuk is a music teacher in Salem, New Hampshire, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In addition, Elizabeth M. Huntley will return to furnish harp accompaniment to the services. She is principal harpist with the Glens Falls Symphony and has performed widely as a soloist, in regional productions and orchestras and with touring musicians. Since 1998, Huntley has been the editor of The American Harp Journal.

For forms to attend one or all services, or to reserve child care or to reserve a place in the children’s program, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office by phone at 518-482-5283 or by email at office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

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