Celebrating its 17th year of the Yom Kippur ‘Praying Together’ program, Tzohar, the religious Zionist Rabbis organization in Israel will be hosting over 60,000 people in more than 300 different locations around the country.
Taking place in community centers, theaters and other locations outside of the traditional synagogues, attendees are all provided with the same prayer book (siddur or machzor) to make it easier to follow along, as well as with explanatory pamphlet about the customs, prayers and meaning of the High Holidays to help guide the participant throughout the services.
The success of the Yom Kippur programs have led to the creation of a similar initiative for Rosh Hashana, where thousands of Israeli families participated in ‘Shofar in the Park’.
“Tzohar is deeply proud to have become a central part of the prayer experience for tens of thousands of Israelis for the High holidays,” said Rabbi David Stav, co-founder of Tzohar.
“The 200 Rosh Hashana programs and 300 Yom Kippur locations come from the fact that they provide an approach to the prayer in a manner that is designed to be accessible and easy to relate to for Jews of all backgrounds and levels of familiarity with tradition.
“People come out of our programs feeling energized and engaged and better educated about the meaning of the holiday and its customs.” Over 350 Tzohar volunteers and their families will be placed all around the country to accommodate all those communities who wish to participate. “Tzohar is committed to always adding additional programs to encourage Jewish participation in life cycle events,” said Yakov Gaon, Executive Vice President of Tzohar.
“The powerful reaction to the Yom Kippur program and our other holiday activities showed the excitement and connection people feel. We look forward to adding even more programs to our yearly calendar and bringing proud Jewish identity to the masses.”
