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Psalm 95: L’chu n’ran’na
Psalm 96: Shiru L’Adonai
Psalm 97
Psalm 98: Mizmor Shiru L’Adonai
Psalm 99
Psalm 29: Mizmor L’David

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Psalm 92: Mizmor Shir
Psalm 93: Adonai Malach

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Call to prayer

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We say the Chatzi Kaddish here as a break in the service, before we start the Shabbat Ma’ariv Amidah, which is different to all the other Amidah prayers.

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The Amidah is the core prayer of the service. It is said silently, while standing. Parts of the Amidah are then repeated by the Shaliach Tzibbur (service leader).

THE 7-FOLD BLESSINGS

1. Avot – Ancestors
2. G’vurot – Strength
3. K’dushat HaShem – Holiness
4. K’dushat HaYom – Holiness of the Day
5. Avodah – Temple Service
6. Modim – Gratitude
7. Shalom – Peace

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This Kaddish is also recited by mourners. You can find audio recording and text here.

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Including:
Psalms 19, 34, 90, 91, 135, 136, 33, 92 and 93
Psalm 145: Ashrei
Psalms 146 – 150: ‘Halleluyah’ psalms

Call to prayer

Blessings include:
Yotzer: Blessing for Nature (inc. El Adon)
Ahavah: Blessing for Torah/Love
Ge’ulah: Blessing for Redemption (inc. Tzur Yisrael)

The Amidah is the core prayer of the service. It is said silently, while standing. Parts of the Amidah are then repeated by the Shaliach Tzibbur (service leader).

THE 7-FOLD BLESSINGS

1. Avot – Ancestors
2. G’vurot – Strength
3. Kedushah/K’dushat HaShem – Holiness
4. K’dushat HaYom – Holiness of the Day
5. Avodah – Temple Service
6. Modim – Gratitude
7. Shalom – Peace

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The parashah is divided into 7 sections on Shabbat morning. For each section, someone is given an aliyah (called up by their Hebrew name) to say the blessings before and after each reading.

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The Chatzi Kaddish is said after we have heard the seven sections of the Torah reading, and before the final aliyah (call up) for Maftir (the final segment of the Torah reading).

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V’zot HaTorah is sung by the congregation as the Torah is lifted.

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The Haftarah is a reading taken from Nevi’im (the Prophets) and is sung to a different trop (melodic material) than the Torah reading.

There are blessings before and after the reading. Find recordings and text here for the blessings.

• English prayers: for the UK government, King etc.
• Prayer for the State of Israel
• Blessing of the new month
• Psalm 145: Ashrei

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• Psalm 29
• Etz Chayim Hi

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We say the Chatzi Kaddish here as a break in the service, before we start the Amidah.

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In some communities

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The following week’s parashah is divided into three sections for Minchah. For each section, someone is given an aliyah (called up by their Hebrew name) to say the blessings before and after each reading.

• Psalm 24
• Etz Chayim Hi

The evening service today and beyond includes seasonal wishes. We ask for the whole world to unite in awe to perform God’s will, bringing joy to good people and an end to wickedness.

The morning service focuses on God as Sovereign. We use a special, majestic melody which adds a sense of occasion and gravity, but also optimism and celebration to our prayers.

We read about our founding ancestors’ complicated family dramas. The birth of Isaac and the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael (on Day 1). And the Akedah, the binding of Isaac (on Day 2.)

We read how God remembered Hannah in her distress (on Day 1). And of God’s promise to remember Ephraim, God’s wayward yet beloved child (on Day 2). Both Haftarot feature weeping women.

Originally a military instrument used to rally the troops, it only later became tied to Rosh Hashanah. There’s something powerful about these ancient meanings of this ancient instrument, even when we blow it in very modern times.

The longest service of the liturgical year! The normal structure is expanded with piyyutim (liturgical poems) and a tissue of Biblical verses meditating on the major themes of the Days of Awe.

Today is Yom haDin (Judgement Day.) Using elaborate prayers and poetry (including the famous Aleinu, whose first instance is here), we embrace the notion that God knows our deeds and passes judgement on us all.

Reminiscing doesn’t mean feeling guilt for past misdeed, but recognising that God cares about us, and looks benevolently on us, hoping to judge us kindly, based on a long-standing relationship which began with our ancestors.

We use this ancient military instrument, the shofar, to get God’s attention, to draw God’s focus to our plight and invoke God’s protection as we embark on a kind of spiritual warfare with ourselves.

Our words often fail us. We make promises we can’t keep. As we enter a day stuffed full of words, we begin by admitting that we have not always kept our word.

For sins between us and God, our prayer can be enough, but for sins against others we know that we must apologise and make amends before atonement can be granted. There’s still time.

The Torah reading details the rituals of purifying the Tabernacle. The haftarah tells us that fasting alone is meaningless. Ritual is important – it binds communities together. But ritual alone is hollow – the heart too must be transformed.

We recall our loved ones who are no longer with us, and we feel the pain of their absence anew. We affirm that the dead are not truly gone as long as they are remembered.

‘Who by fire, who by water’. Death is the only constant in life. Knowing that, accepting that in our hearts, enables us to truly live. We conquer death by accepting its inevitability, and thus emerge reborn.

The scapegoat ritual. There are two goats, one for God and one for Azazel; both will die, one sacrificed on the altar, the other thrown off a cliff. Death is inevitable, but we can choose how to live.

We remember those who gave up their lives to stay true to God and our traditions. Life is short, and all that is left is our legacy. Let us forgive others as we hope that they will forgive us.

Afternoon, and we begin to move from introspection towards the outside world. We are all Jonah – called to a mission we’d rather not have, desperate to escape it. Yet like Jonah, we may succeed, even thrive.

Private confession makes us confront our private failures. Group confession helps us to confront communal sins and structural injustice. How will you individually do better once this day is over? How will we change as a community?

The Gates are closing and we have one last chance. In desperation we recite the Divine attributes. Finally words cannot get us any further. Only the wordless cry of the shofar can break through the Gates of Heaven.