YOM KIPPUR BALL/ KOL NIDRE + YOM KIPPUR DAY (read carefully)

Dress code for both days

Come in the way you feel most comfortable and alive. Some will be dressed up in more formal attire for the High Holy Day and some in Santa Cruz comfort. Many will be wearing white as it is tradition.

Sunday, September 20 – Yom Kippur Ball / Kol Nidre hosted by Julie Weitz

5:45–8:15 PM – Yom Kippur Ball at the Resource Center for Nonviolence at 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. There is a small parking lot or neighborhood parking. – Light Pupusa meal offering will be provided before Ball/Service begins at 6:30pm and Kol Nidre prayers at 7:40pm (energetic switch to the service).

Monday, September 21 – Yom Kippur Day
Redwoods at the Happy Valley Conference Center: 2159 Branciforte Dr, Santa Cruz, CA 95065.

Access info for Happy Valley for YK day (there is not cell service there so plan accordingly)

Gate code: When folks arrive, they will pull down the main driveway at the sign that says “Parking” and pull up to the keypad at the stop sign. Put in #4568, and the gate will open to allow access to the parking lot. The gate will open from the inside for departures at any time for vehicles. ( do not give this out)
There is a short dirt path from the parking lot to the service site.
No outside food is allowed on site (if you need to eat please eat up at your vehicle)
Seating will include wood benches––some with and some without backs––and sturdy plastic folding chairs.
- We encourage those without accessibility needs to opt for backless seating.
If you'd like, you may bring your own preferred seats.
Gender-neutral, accessible bathrooms are available a short walk from the service site.
Masks are optional, but please stay home if you feel at all sick. We will be outdoors all day

9:45–10:15 AM – Meditation Session under the redwoods w/ Rabbi Genevieve
Before Yom Kippur morning services, Rabbi Genevieve will lightly guide and hold a 30-minute grounding meditation. It will be a simple practice for all levels and is perfect for those wanting to be quiet together as we receive the presence of the land, the trees, our hearts, and the quiet, languageless aspects of our prayers. Come as you are.

10:30 AM–12:30 PM – Yom Kippur Morning Service
All are welcome for our whole community service, holding traditional Yom Kippur liturgy, song, teaching, and engaging in individual and communal practices of Tshuva.

1:00–1:45 PM – Breakout Session I - Integration Meditation-w/ Mackenzie Studebaker

Join Mack for an Integration Meditation during services. This will be a guided, passive somatic experience intended to reset the nervous system and assist us in gently and lovingly metabolizing the significance of this holy day. This meditation can be done seated, lying down, or in any preferred position - whatever most supports your physical, mental, and emotional decompression. It will be restorative and integrative. No prior meditation experience necessary.

2:00–2:45 PM – Breakout Session II- Reclaiming Radical Spiritual Ancestors w/ Julie Weitz

One source of guidance for many diasporic, justice-affirming Jews today is the voice of Rabbi Aaron Shmuel Tamares—a pacifist, spiritual leader, and writer. In the early 20th century, writing from a small town in Eastern Poland near one of Europe’s oldest primeval forests, Tamares warned against the dangers of ethnonationalism and argued for nonviolence as a core ethical and spiritual principle of Jewish life. This teaching session draws on fragments of Tamares’ writings, translated from Yiddish and Hebrew into English, to engage his vision of liberation, nonviolence, and justice not as historical artifact, but as an active invitation: to think with him across time about how we might build more just forms of collective life in the present.

3:00–3:45 PM – Breakout Session III - Take Your Seat at the Tree of Life w/ Rae Abileah and Ore Ganin- Pinto

A Yom Kippur ritual of return and redwood wisdom for changemakers. On Yom Kippur, we turn toward what has been broken—within ourselves, between one another, and in the world—and ask what repair requires of us. The redwoods offer another scale of time and another story of survival: beings that have lived through fire, drought, logging, rupture, and regeneration; beings whose roots intertwine and whose new life can emerge in circles around what has been lost. Rather than naming every crisis, this ritual asks: What happens when we bring our grief, responsibility, longing, and questions directly into relationship with the living world—and listen for a response?

4:30–6:30 PM Yizkor/Remembrance service- We will lift up our family and friends who have died over the past year and years in this meaningful ritual service, share the names of loved ones and come to support each other. We will also do our community tradtion of commuity kirah or tearing of the garmet to honor lives lost in Gaza. & Ne’ilah Service - We will "close the gates" together with a high-energy service! <3

✨ Yom Kippur Break Fast in the Garden Invite✨

After a day of prayer, reflection, song, and fasting, we’ll make our way from the redwoods to Rae’s garden to break the fast together. Come eat, replenish, linger, and enjoy the sweetness of community as Yom Kippur gives way to evening. Whether or not you’ve been fasting, you’re warmly invited. Casual, cozy, come as you are.

🕰️ Time: Yom Kippur services conclude around 6:30pm in the redwoods. From there, make your way to Rae’s anytime, say 7–9pm.

📍 Location: Rae’s home, 435 Roxas Street, Santa Cruz — up the driveway just next door to Santa Cruz Community Church.

🥙 The Feast: We’re making this an abundant community potluck! Rae will offer a mezze charcuterie spread. Please bring something delicious to share.

🚗 Parking: Street parking is available in front of the church. If it fills up, Santa Cruz Community Church has kindly opened its parking lot to us on the same block. From there, walk up the driveway and follow the gathering into the garden.

🌺 Accessibility: The driveway and lawn are flat. Chairs will be available throughout the garden, and you’re welcome to stand, sit on the ground, or bring a favorite chair of your own. Patio furniture and tables will be available for eating and gathering. A bathroom is available in Rae’s small dome home at the front of the property.

🎟️ Registration: Because we’re gathering at a community member’s home, Break Fast is for registered Tzimtzum High Holiday participants and their registered guests. Please help us care for the space by keeping the home address within our registered community.

🌿 A little community help: We’re looking for 2–3 cleanup angels who can stay toward the end and help us return the garden to its pre-feast sparkle. Please text Rae at 415-994-1723 if you’re game. Thank you! No Tzimtzum clergy allowed to help - let’s love up our ritual leadership team and invite them to relax!

May we end the fast well-fed, well-loved, and together.

If you have any questions regarding tickets, services, or other Tzimtzum gatherings, reach out at tzimtzumcollective@gmail.com and Ben will follow up with you.

In community, Rabbi Chel Mandell + Tzimtzum Leadership

Contact the host of Tzimtzum High Holy Days