Shema Yisrael Invites You to Our High Holidays Services

For the eleventh year we are once again offering a full schedule of High Holiday services for everyone in the community who wishes to attend. There is never a ticket charge but ticket reservations are necessary.

The Open Synagogue is a unique independent Jewish institution with a year-round program that is supported entirely by voluntary contributions from people just like you. The tax-deductible donation you make, with your request for High Holidays tickets, insures that this rich community tradition continues. In the true spirit of these holidays we ask that you consider a generous contribution.

For immediate reservations please click the Reserve Tickets Now button on this page.

We offer two very different services from which to choose:

Our full schedule of Traditional egalitarian services is offered over the two days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur. They are led by one of contemporary America’s most influential religious thinkers, Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin and Cantor Edgar Neiss.

	Traditional Services  Rosh Hashana
Sept.29	6:45 pm
Sept. 30	8:45 am - 1:00 pm	7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Oct. 1	8:45 am - 1:00 pm

Our Reform/Jewish Renewal services are offered only on the first day of Rosh Hashanah in the morning and on Yom Kippur in the morning. They will be led by Bob Bahr and Cantor Herb Cole. Dr. Eugen Schoenfeld will speak at our Reform/Jewish Renewal services and on the second day of Rosh Hashanah at our Traditional morning service.

Reform Services Rosh Hashana
September 30	10:45 am - 12:45 pm

New! Order Dr. Eugen Schoenfeld's fascinating memoir - See All Texts

When you order your tickets please indicate, on the request form, which worship services you will be attending, either our Reform/Jewish Renewal services or our Traditional services. Each ticket you request is valid for all services during the entire holiday, but remember you must have a ticket to participate in our services.

This year we have prepared a specially printed memorial book for both of our Yom Kippur Yizkor services. If you wish to remember your loved ones in our special memorial book please add $18.00 for each name you would like to memorialize. Follow the prompts after you click the Reserve Tickets Now button.

For our memorial book you must complete your "In Memoriam" requests by Friday, September 26, 2008.

For reservations click here:

The High Holidays begin Monday evening, September 29. 2008.

All of our worship services will be offered at Unity of Atlanta, at 3597 Parkway Lane, Norcross 30092, which is about four miles outside of 1-285, off Peachtree Industrial Boulevard near Holcomb Bridge Road. This beautiful, and inspirational center, is easily accessible from all parts of the metropolitan area.

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin Continues Shabbat Morning "Mystical Torah" Study

Our Shabbat Study Circle about "The Mystical Torah - Conversations About Deuteronomy", led by the noted teacher, scholar, and author, Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, continues twice each month on Saturday morning beginning at 10:30 AM.

The program follows our Shabbat morning worship, which begins at 9:30 AM at JF&CS, 4549 Chamblee-Dunwoody Rd, which is at exit 30 off I-285. You may come early for the worship service or just for the study circle. They are separate programs.

The initial dates for Rabbi Salkin’s Shabbat Study Circle at Shema Yisrael are August 23, September 13, September 27, October 4, October 18, November 1, November 29.

The emphasis of our new Torah study program is on how Jewish mystics have interpreted the Torah. "While we will study the Torah through all its diverse lenses," Rabbi Salkin said, "we will primarily be looking at the Hasidic commentators, especially the writings of Sefat Emet, who was the nineteenth century Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib. We will be looking at how the Torah speaks to our inner lives through a different perspective, especially Kabbalah."

More information about Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin is at www.judaismmatters.org

Shema Yisrael - The Open Synagogue

The Shema Yisrael Mission

The Shema Yisrael mission is to be a synagogue embracing all that is Jewish.

We seek to nurture an inclusive and caring spiritual community reflecting Klal Yisrael (The Peoplehood of Israel) and are dedicated to the premise that "we can worship G-D in holiness only as we serve one another in love."

Shema Yisrael is also committed to fostering cooperative efforts to bring together Atlanta Jewry through a wide range of educational, social, and cultural experiences.

Shema Yisrael believes that American Jewry is on the brink of an exciting era. The challenge, as we see it, is whether American Jews, living in the most accepting and generous society in Jewish history, can create dynamic compelling communities that are capable of welcoming everyone.

We seek to be an inclusive and welcoming community for singles, families, and senior adults: for the knowledgeable Jew or the Jew just beginning his or her Jewish journey.

Central to our commitment is the belief that it is possible to create a viable Jewish worship community out of the diverse strands of Jewish experience and that begins with the acceptance of one Jew for another.