It's almost that NEW time of year again, so after our first full High Holiday celebration on campus in UMBC's history, we're doing it again.  Yes, it’s still spans more than just ten days. And we expect it to remain pretty awesome.  Everything you see here is free except meals for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Shabbat meals are free for students.)

On the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called “Yamim Nora’im,” which means “awesome days.” In English, we often hear this High Holiday season referred to as the Days of Awe. The days are awesome because of their intensity. The days are awesome because we are called upon by Jewish tradition to reflect on our lives during these days like no other time of the year. The days are awesome because of the magnitude of the feasting and fasting. The days are awesome because Jewish tradition challenges us to account for a year’s worth of action and make right what was wrong and to make amends with those whom we have wronged.

For us at UMBC  we are thrilled to welcome the Jewish year 5772 by offering services, meals, and  other programs to our students on campus, and we welcome staff, faculty, families, alumni, and other community members to join us on campus as well.

We want there to be something familiar to as many people as possible, so there are going to be services that are gender-egalitarian with Hebrew melodies, English readings, teaching, and discussion. (We’re open to different kind of services in the future based on the changing needs of our residential student body.) There are going to be holiday meals (for which you must sign up in advance). And there are going to be other events and opportunties to meet people before and in-between Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, so even if you’re not going to be on campus for the holidays themselves, or if services aren’t your thing, you’ll still be able to connect with the themes of the season while connecting with the Jewish community on campus.

Rosh Hashanah services are going to be lead by UMBC Director Rabbi Jason Klein together with Morey Rosner ’13 (Morey is the current Jewish Student Union President) and Student Rabbi George Wielechowski, a Baltimore native who is in his third year of studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.  If you would like to volunteer to set up, clean up, usher, read Torah, or have another leadership role at services, please email hillel@umbc.edu as soon as possible.

The most important dates to pay attention to in advance are September 21 and 28, which are the last day to sign up for Rosh Hashanah and (pre- and post-) Yom Kippur meals on campus.

What follows is a list of services, meals, and other events for these Ten Days of Awesomeness.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23

6:00 PM
Shabbat services and dinner
Interfaith Center

8:30 PM
Spiritual Preparation for the High Holidays: a reflection and conversation during dinner.
Interfaith Center

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

12:00 Noon
Shabbat Lunch
Interfaith Center

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

10:00–2:00 PM
Challah braiding
Commons Breezeway

7 PM
Challah Baking
Susquehanna Basement

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

6:30 PM
Rosh Hashanah evening services
UC 312

7:30 PM
Rosh Hashanah Dinner, pre-registration required by September 15.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

9:15 AM
Rosh Hashanah First Day services
UC 312

1:30 PM
Rosh Hashanah Lunch, pre-registration required by September 15.

7:30 PM
Rosh Hashanah evening services
UC 312

8:00 PM
Rosh Hashanah Dinner, pre-registration required by September 15.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

9:15 AM
Rosh Hashanah Second Day services
UC 312

1:30 PM
Rosh Hashanah Lunch, pre-registration required by September 15.

4:00 PM
Tashlich: cast away your sins and throw bread crumbs into the water.
The Pond

6:00 PM
Shabbat services
Interfaith Center

7:00 PM
Shabbat dinner
Interfaith Center

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

12:00 Noon
Shabbat lunch
Interfaith Center

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3

10:00 AM–1:00 PM
Music of the Season: from Ram’s Horn to Cello
Commons Breezeway

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

10:00 AM–2:00 PM
ApplEPi: apple pie eating with Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity
Commons Breezeway

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7

4:30 PM
Yom Kippur pre-fast meal, pre-registration required by September 25.

6:15 PM
Kol Nidre-Yom Kippur evening services
Skylight Room, the Commons, Third Floor

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8

9:15 AM
Yom Kippur morning and musaf services (will last until approx. 2 PM)
Skylight Room, the Commons, Third Floor

11:30 AM
Approximate time for Yizkor, memorial service
Skylight Room, the Commons, Third Floor

5:20 PM
Afternoon services
Skylight Room, the Commons, Third Floor

6:20 PM
Ne’ilah (Concluding Services)
Skylight Room, the Commons, Third Floor

7:22 PM
Shofar and Havdalah

7:30 PM
Break fast meal, pre-registration required by September 25.