High Holydays Family & Teen Programming
High Holydays Family & Teen Programming
We have a wonderful team of service leaders, youth musicians and songleaders, and childcare professionals providing youth and family programming for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On each holiday there will be a family service for children ages 0-seventh grade and their families. We also have a teen program for our post-B'Mitzvah-aged members.
In order to ensure we have enough staff to provide childcare for all who need it, you must preregister kids and teens — you can register your kids here.
Childcare is provided after the Family Service, enabling parents to join the main service for the Torah service and Rabbi Toba's talk. Childcare will include a hardy snack and activities connected with High Holyday themes. On Yom Kippur, childcare will also be provided in the evening starting at Mincha.
Like last year, the Beit Midrash room will be open after the Children's services for families who have trouble finding seats together in the main room or need an environment with flexibility to move around. This space is adjacent to the main room with a 20 by 30 foot screen available to watch the service live stream.
Please read on for details!
Rosh Hashanah
First Day Rosh Hashanah
Tuesday, September 23
Rosh Hashanah Tot Service (ages 0-5)
10:00-11:00 am
Gann Academy
Families are invited to an interactive Rosh Hashanah celebration with CDT educator Bella Grace Harris! There will be movement, song, stories, and opportunities to reflect on the new year. Childcare will be available after the service and will conclude with kids joining adults in the main service for a story with Rabbi Toba.
Rosh Hashanah Family Service (ages 6-seventh grade)
10:00-11:00 am
Gann Academy
Families are invited to an interactive Rosh Hashanah celebration. Director of Congregational Learning R' Beck Epstein will lead services along with CDT bands and youth tefilah (Jewish prayer) leaders. There will be movement, song, stories, and opportunities to reflect on the new year. Childcare will be available after the service and will conclude with kids joining adults in the main service for a story with Rabbi Toba.
Rosh Hashanah Teen Program
10:00-11:00 am
Gann Academy
Post-B'Mitzvah teens are invited to reconnect with their Dorshei Tzedek community at our Rosh Hashanah teen program. Join CDT educator and rabbinical student Yoni Slubin to connect with other teens and explore High Holyday themes.
Second Day Rosh Hashanah
Wednesday, September 24
Second Day Rosh Hashanah All-Ages Nature Walk Service
10:00-11:30 am
The Cove at Auburndale Cove*
All ages are invited to join rabbinical student and CDT educator Hannah Limov for a Rosh Hashanah nature walk service. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the birthday of the world. We will gather at the beautiful Auburndale Cove and celebrate the earth through prayer, movement, mindfulness, and community building. This program will include the blowing of shofar and Tashlikh, when we cast off all of the obstacles to becoming our better selves.
*Location: Make sure to type in "The Cove" on West Pine St, Auburndale in your GPS to get to the correct part of the park; please park in the parking lot on West Pine Street. We will gather in the big field. Please wear walking shoes, and bug spray is also recommended.
Yom Kippur
Kol Nidre
Wednesday, October 1
Kol Nidre Children's Program
6:45-8:30 pm
Gann Academy
After hearing the chanting of Kol Nidre, children will be invited to a join CDT Director of Congregational Learning Rabbi Beck for a program connected to the themes of the holiday, followed by childcare. The children's program is geared toward children 6-years-old and older.
Yom Kippur Day
Thursday, October 2
Yom Kippur Tot Service (ages 0-5)
10:00-11:00 am
Gann Academy
Families are invited to an interactive Yom Kippur service with CDT educator Bella Grace Harris! There will be movement, song, stories, and opportunities to reflect on the new year. Childcare will be available after the service and will conclude with kids joining adults in the main service for a story with Rabbi Toba.
Yom Kippur Family Service (ages 6-seventh grade)
10:00-11:00 am
Gann Academy
Families are invited to for an interactive Yom Kippur Service. Director of Congregational Learning R' Beck Epstein will lead services along with CDT bands and youth tefilah (Jewish prayer) leaders. There will be movement, song, stories, and opportunities to reflect on Yom Kippur themes. Childcare will be available after the service and will conclude with kids joining adults in the main service for a story with Rabbi Toba.
Yom Kippur Teen Program
10:00-11:00 am
Gann Academy
Post-B'Mitzvah teens are invited to reconnect with their Dorshei Tzedek community at our Yom Kippur teen program. Join CDT educator and rabbinical student Yoni Slubin to connect with other teens and explore High Holyday themes.
High Holyday Leaders 5786
Rabbi Beck Epstein (they/them)
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Family Service Leader
Rabbi Beck graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in May 2025. They grew up in Lincoln, MA between the Reform & Conservative movements, and their Judaism bears the unmistakable marks of their east coast Transcendentalist upbringing, as well as an Irish Celtic sense of magic and mischief that they get from their mother's side. Beck loves davening, song, and all things Torah. Prior to rabbinical school, Beck worked for 10+ years in community mental health, focusing on a range of issues in the LGBTQ community, from domestic violence and sexual assault, to primary care medicine and aging and older adult community. When Beck is not working, they love to do crosswords, read aloud, and spend time in the woods with their sweet and boisterous Bernese mountain dog named Me'od (Hebrew for "much" or "a lot").
Yoni Slubin (they/them)
Teen Programs Leader
Yoni is excited to be the teen coordinator at CDT this year! After teaching Kitah Hey last year and spending the past summer at Camp Havaya, Yoni is looking forward to returning to the CDT community this fall. Originally from Evanston, IL, Yoni has been living in the Boston area for the past 3 years. They are entering their second year at Hebrew College this fall, pursuing rabbinic ordination. Yoni lives in Brighton with their partner Hilary and cat Lester where they love to craft, read fantasy and science fiction, and spend time outside.
Bella Grace Harris (they/she)
Tot Services Leader
Bella aims to teach little ones from a place of compassion, flexibility, and play. A graduate from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, you may have seen them performing in Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare on the Common, the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, or in T: an MBTA Musical at the Rockwell. But they also have a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, which has served them well in their additional passion, working with kids. Bella was a preschool/ mommy and me teacher at Gymboree in Manhattan, the head of day school at The Tiny Scientist in Brooklyn, and has been working with little ones professionally for over a decade. Bella loves the fiber arts, autumn, and their cat Pearl.
Hannah Limov (they/she)
Second Day Rosh Hashanah Nature Service Leader
Hannah is so excited to be returning to CDT for their fourth year! They are a fourth year rabbinical student at Hebrew College, and are incredibly excited to continue supporting students in learning Hebrew through stories, laughs, art, silliness, and joy. Coming from an interfaith family, and only really starting their Jewish Journey™ in college, Hannah fully believes that no matter how you show up in Judaism is enough; and that the goal should never be to come up with the best answers, but to always try and create more powerful questions. Hannah loves to spend time with their tree friends in the arboretum, read queer YA novels, sing with their friends on shabbos, and worship and serve at all times their roommate’s cat, Lucinda.
Rabbi Emily Mathis (she/her)
Kol Nidre Children's Program Leader
Rabbi Emily has served communities across much of the Jewish spectrum, most recently in Cambridge and on Boston’s North Shore. Prior to her work in Jewish settings, Emily directed programming in the fields of environmental education, urban gardening and family literacy. In addition to her rabbinic work, she is a family herbalist, and can generally be found in the kitchen working on her next project and drinking coffee. She and her spouse, Hali Diecidue, live in West Newton with their three girls (24, 14, and 8) and one labradoodle.
Sun, October 19 2025
27 Tishrei 5786
Register to join us for the High Holydays!
Find all tickets/registration, Yizkor scroll, Lulav/Etrog order, and member volunteer sign-up forms on our Forms page!
High Holydays Navigation
Zmanim
Alot Hashachar | 5:39am |
Earliest Tallit | 6:11am |
Netz (Sunrise) | 7:02am |
Latest Shema | 9:45am |
Zman Tefillah | 10:40am |
Chatzot (Midday) | 12:30pm |
Mincha Gedola | 12:57pm |
Mincha Ketana | 3:41pm |
Plag HaMincha | 4:49pm |
Shkiah (Sunset) | 5:57pm |
Tzeit Hakochavim | 6:39pm |
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