Days of Awe & Fall Festival Schedule 2026 / 5787
Shana tova!
Please join us for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah as we begin the Jewish year and celebrate our holidays together as a Chisuk Emuna family.
Notes in red, schedule in yellow below.
Volunteers Needed
We are looking for volunteers to serve as lobby ushers during services - primarily to help folks find their way, keep noise to a minimum, and open the sanctuary doors.
Click here for: High Holiday Volunteer Usher Signup
Thanks and Shanah Tovah!
High Holiday Ushers
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Monitor and aid traffic in the main foyer.
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Help folks find their way – to prayer, specific children’s spaces, bathroom.
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Direct folks seeking specific items: kippa, tallis, prayer book (explain they’re at each seat), Yizkor/memorial booklet (applicable on Yom Kippur only).
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Actively keep noise down to a minimum. Even with doors fully closed, sound from the lobby spills into sanctuary and is a distraction to those inside.
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Encourage folks not to congregate in this lobby. Especially not anywhere nearthe sanctuary doors.
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Field and answer questions to the best of your ability, or find/direct to a resource who can help.
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Help keep sanctuary doors closed. Limit / regulate opening of sanctuary doors, and actively encourage compliance during “no entry” periods of the service. (Primarily: when ark is opened, when congregation is standing in prayer, when rabbi is speaking.)
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Monitor children and youth behavior in the lobby.
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Summon custodian when needed.
High Holiday Children's Programming
Joyful, meaningful Holiday experiences for children of all ages!
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 and Day 2, and Yom Kippur
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Pre-K - 1st Grade
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Pre-K through 1st grade children are invited to engaging High Holiday learning and fun with Jodie Raffensperger, a beloved Chisuk Emuna teacher who brings warmth, creativity, and decades of experience. Jodie has been an Early Childhood Educator for over thirty years and a Hebrew School teacher for almost as long. Teaching about Jewish values, Jewish holidays, and Jewish culture through play and prayer are her passions.
2nd - 7th Grade
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Children in 2nd through 7th grade are invited to a special service led by Yitz Muroff, using song, discussion, play, and stories to connect with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Yitz is a fourth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew College with experience at Silver Academy, Beth Tfiloh, Yeshivat Maale Gilboa, Hadar, Drisha, Pardes, Kivunim, Ramah Israel, the Jewish Learning Collaborative, and Ramah Darom, plus English Literature at Cornell. He grew up at Chisuk Emuna and is excited to create joyful Jewish experiences for the next generation.
Click here to: Register for Babysitting and Children's Activities.
Click here for: Parent Volunteer Signup.
Services on Zoom
For those participating on Zoom, mahzors (high holiday prayer books) and memorial books for Yizkor on Yom Kippur may be borrowed. Please call the office at (717) 232-4851 to schedule a time to pick up books during the week. If you cannot come by the synagogue, please contact the office and we will do whatever we can to bring the books to your home. Zoom links to all services will be posted on our website, chisukemuna.org.
Guest Tickets
Chisuk Emuna membership dues includes High Holiday service attendance - for you and any children (including your young adults), so no additional "ticket" is required. We welcome non-member family and friends to join us for the holidays. Ticket prices for guests are $125.00 per person. Contact the office for information about purchasing tickets at info@chisukemuna.org or (717) 232-4851.
Parking
Parking in our lot is limited, so we ask that you give those with limited mobility first access. Free parking is available on many of the side streets surrounding the building (street cleaning rules are not an issue so there's no concern about ticketing). Parking is also available across the street at the offices of SiteLogiq on Rosh Hashanah only.
Thank you for your consideration.
Selichot - Saturday, Sept 5
8:45 pm - Prayers for Teshuva/Return: Sacred Poetry, Spoken and in Song
9:30 pm - Selichot Service
at Beth El Temple, 2637 North Front St, Harrisburg PA 17110
Selichot is the traditional time to prepare ourselves for saying “selicha” or sorry, during the Days of Awe, when we make amends for past wrongs.
Erev Rosh Hashanah - Friday, Sept 11
7:00 pm - Mincha / Afternoon Service, Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma'ariv / Evening Service
Candle lighting for the first night of Rosh Hashanah at 7:04 pm
Rosh Hashanah Day I - Saturday, Sept 12
8:30 am - Shacharit / Morning Service
10:00 am - 1:00 pm - Children's programming with Jodie Raffensberger and Yitz Muroff.
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Click here to: Register for Babysitting and Children's Activities.
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Click here for: Parent Volunteer Signup.
7:00 pm - Mincha / Afternoon Service and Maariv / Evening Service
after 8:04 pm - Candle lighting for the second night of Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah Day II - Sunday, Sept 13
8:30 am - Shacharit / Morning Service
10:00 am - 1:00 pm - Children's programming with Jodie Raffensberger and Yitz Muroff.
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Click here to: Register for Babysitting and Children's Activities.
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Click here for: Parent Volunteer Signup.
6:15 pm - Community Tashlich Service at Susquehanna River across from Beth El Temple, 6:15 pm, followed by joint Mincha and Maariv at Beth El Temple, in-person only
Fast of Gedaliah - Monday, Sept 14
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Shabbat Shuvah / Sabbath of Repentence -
Friday, Sept 18 - Saturday, Sept 19
Friday, Sept 18
6:53 pm - Candle lighting
Saturday, Sept 19
9:30 am - Shacharit / Morning Service
6:55 pm - Mincha, followed by Torah Study and Maariv (in-person only)
8:10 pm - Havdalah (in-person and on Zoom)
Erev Yom Kippur - Sunday, Sept 20
2:00 pm - Mincha (in-person only)
6:35 pm - Kol Nidre followed by Maariv / Evening Service
6:49 pm - Candle lighting
Yom Kippur, Monday, Sept 21
9:00 am - Shacharit / Morning Service. In-person and on Zoom.
10:00 am - 1:00 pm - Children's programming with Jodie Raffensberger and Yitz Muroff.
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Click here to: Register for Babysitting and Children's Activities.
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Click here for: Parent Volunteer Signup.
5:15 pm - Mincha / Afternoon Service. In-person and on Zoom.
6:45 pm - Ne'ilah. In-person and on Zoom.
Fast concludes after 7:49 pm. A break fast, sponsored by Bruce & Barbara Bazelon and Faye Doctrow, in memory of Marty Doctrow z”l, follows the evening service and the sounding of the shofar .
Erev Sukkot - Friday, Sept 25
6:40 pm - Mincha / Afternoon Service, Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv / Evening Service.
6:41 pm - Candle lighting for first night of Sukkot
Sukkot Day I - Saturday, Sept 26
9:30 am - Shacharit / Morning Service. In-person and on Zoom.
6:25 pm - Mincha, followed by Maariv. In person only.
7:41 pm - Candle lighting for the second night of Sukkot
Sukkot Day II - Sunday, Sept 27
9:30 am - Shacharit / Morning Service. In-person and on Zoom.
6:45 pm - Mincha, followed by Maariv. In person only.
Chol Hamoed Intermediate Days of Sukkot - Tuesday, Sept 29
9:00 am - Shacharit / Morning Service. In-person and on Zoom.
7:15 pm - Mincha, followed by Maariv. In person only.
Erev Hoshana Raba - Thursday, Oct 1
7:15 pm - Maariv. In person only.
Hoshana Raba - Friday, Oct 2
8:00 am - Joint Shacharit at Beth El Temple (in-person only).
Erev Shemini Atzeret - Friday, Oct 2
Candle lighting, 6:30 pm
Shemini Atzeret - Satuday, Oct 3
9:30 am - Shacharit / Morning Service. Includes Yizkor, Prayers of Remembrance. In-person and on Zoom.
6:35 pm - Mincha / Afternoon Service. (Shemeni Atzeret)
at Beth El Temple
7:25 pm - Joint Maariv / Evening Service for Simchat Torah, including dancing with the Torah scrolls
at Beth El Temple
after 7:30 pm - Erev Simchat Torah candle lighting
Simchat Torah - Sunday, Oct 4
9:30 am - Shacharit / Morning Service. a joint service with Beth El and Gesher at Chisuk Emuna
6:35 pm - Mincha / Afternoon Service followed by Marriv.