Temple Brith Achim High Holy Days 5786/2025
TBA will be in-person for High Holy Days, with online option.
“High Holy Days Admission Cards” will be provided to TBA Members.
For online information, contact the TBA office.
See below for dates and times.
TBA Guests and anyone with questions about High Holy Days should contact:
email - worship@brithachim.org;
phone - 610-337-2222 option 3
Welcome Letter from Senior Clergy
Welcome home. Welcome to the High Holy Days.
These sacred days are not isolated events; they are a journey. From Selichot to Simchat Torah, the arc of the season is designed to awaken, inspire, and reconnect us. And like any meaningful journey, the impact deepens when you show up fully. Your presence matters.
At Temple Brith Achim, our services are filled with majesty, gravitas, and innovation and tradition. But what makes us unique is that joy is always present. Not just joy in the music or the people around you, but joy as a spiritual practice. Joy you can cultivate. Joy you can feel in your body. Joy that moves through you like prayer.
A New Era at Temple Brith Achim
This year is the beginning of a new chapter in the life of our synagogue. You are part of something sacred and evolving; an era of growth, creativity, and renewal. And yet, all the parts of TBA you know and love, the warmth, the welcome, the music, the community will still be here, anchoring us.
This season, we move through the High Holy Days with our whole selves: body, breath, song, story, and spirit. What would it mean to truly listen, to our loved ones, our community, our own hearts, and to God?
May this be a year of deep connection and radiant joy.
We are about to share one of the most transformative seasons of our lives, together.
L’shanah tovah,
Cantor Tifani Coyot
Your Guide to the High Holy Days 5785
Come for what speaks to your soul. Stay for what you didn’t know your spirit was longing for.
Who Leads This Journey?
Cantor Tifani Coyot is deeply spiritual, grounded in modernity, and infused with humanity and heart. She values intimacy, empathy, embodiment, and community. As a cantor, she is your teacher, your spiritual guide, and your ritual artist. She leads with exquisite musical taste, wisdom, warmth, and depth.
Music That Moves You
These are not your grandparents’ High Holiday services. The music is alive, an intentional blend of traditional nusach, majestic classics, Sephardic piyutim, and relevant melodies from across Jewish and global traditions. This year, we are thrilled to welcome our congregant and featured soloist Aries Serinsky who will also serve as a cantorial intern.
We will feature a rich mix of congregational and professional musicians to create a full, resonant sound that will leave us breathless.
Our all-volunteer choir, led by Steve Hirsch, has been singing together for over 40 years. They carry the sound of tradition and lift us into the present. Every song is crafted with intention, rooted in meaning, and elevated by a cantor whose voice is soulful, nuanced, and deeply expressive.
This is music that connects the ancient and the present, creating space for everyone to sing.
Sermons and Teachings
Sermons at TBA are timely and transformative. They speak to the world we’re living in, balancing emotional resonance with practical tools for growth. They are warm, intellectually grounded, spiritually uplifting, and incorporate poetry and personal reflection. You will leave with the tools for transformation.
A Community That Welcomes You
We are an inclusive, vibrant, intergenerational community. We welcome interfaith families and seekers and Jews of all backgrounds and experiences. At TBA, there is no fourth wall. We believe in full participation, heartfelt connection, and radical belonging.
The Spiritual Arc of the Season
Each service is part of a larger journey and serves as a doorway. Together, they form a sacred arc:
- Selichot whispers: Begin again and return with intention
- Rosh Hashanah invites: A celebration of the new year and sets the sacred tone
- Kol Nidre pleads: Let go, calling us to awaken and forgive
- Yom Kippur holds: keep your promises, release, repair and recommit
The whole season is a crescendo of meaning. Each service offers something the others don’t. Try one you’ve never been to before—and meet a new part of yourself, your community, and your connection to the sacred.
Selichot
Saturday, September 13 | 7:00 PM
Our High Holiday journey begins with a unique Selichot experience. Come dressed in white and connect with the community as we share refreshments and conversation. Be moved by powerful music and poetry that opens the gates of the season. Selichot is our prelude to the High Holy Days, when we set intentions, reflect, and begin the inner work of renewal. This year, we begin with a special meet-and-greet to welcome our new Senior Clergy, Cantor Tifani Coyot.
Erev Rosh Hashanah
Monday, September 22 | 7:15 PM
The new year begins surrounded by community. We gather to reflect, reconnect, and set New Year intentions for what’s ahead. Our volunteer choir leads us in majestic music, and we’ll hear a sermon from Cantor Tifani Coyot. Together, we welcome 5785 with joy and reflection.
Rosh Hashanah Children’s Service
Tuesday, September 23 | 9:00 AM
This service is ideal for families with preschool and elementary-aged children. Siblings and babies are absolutely welcome to join in the fun.
Led by Cantor Coyot, our Religious School song leaders, and our new kids’ choir Shir Squad, this short, joyful, music-filled experience invites our youngest members to taste the sweetness of the New Year. It’s prayerful, interactive, upbeat, and engaging, a beautiful way to plant seeds of spiritual curiosity and connection for the whole family.
Rosh Hashanah Morning Service
Tuesday, September 23 | 10:15 AM
This is the full Rosh Hashanah experience. Torah, Shofar, sermon, and sacred music from our choir and cantor. We’ll lean into questions that matter, celebrate what’s possible, and return to our core values to plant the seeds for a great year.
Second Day Rosh Hashanah
Wednesday, September 24 | 10:00 AM | TBA Lawn
A more relaxed and informal service, held outdoors in nature, this Rosh Hashanah gathering invites us to breathe, reflect, and reconnect with the beauty of creation. It’s soulful, joyful, and deeply grounding. The shofar still sings. The prayers still matter. And community is everywhere.
Kol Nidre
Wednesday, October 1 | 7:15 PM
The most hauntingly beautiful night of the year. With the sounds of the cello, sacred vows, and the collective hush of a community stepping into Yom Kippur, Kol Nidre is not just heard, it’s felt. This is our most solemn service, filled with stirring music from the choir and a powerful sermon from Cantor Coyot. It opens the gates of forgiveness and calls us to presence, humility, and hope.
Yom Kippur
Thursday, October 2
Children’s Service | 9:00 AM
Ideal for families with preschool and elementary-aged children. Siblings and babies are absolutely welcome.
Led by Cantor Coyot, our Religious School song leaders, and our brand-new kids’ choir Shir Squad, this joyful, musical service introduces our youngest members to the beauty and meaning of Yom Kippur through stories, song, and movement. Together, we’ll explore big ideas like forgiveness in a way that invites ongoing family conversation long after the service ends.
Morning Service | 10:15 AM
This is the spiritual heart of Yom Kippur, a service filled with reflection, honesty, and deep soul work. With moving music from our choir, heartfelt prayer, and a powerful sermon, we’ll confront what holds us back and recommit to what matters most.
Yizkor | 1:00 PM
A sacred space to remember.
Yizkor is quiet and powerful, a time to honor memory and give voice to grief, whether your loss is recent or long ago. The music blends traditional Hebrew, Yiddish, and contemporary melodies, creating space to reflect, remember, and bless the memories of our loved ones.
Afternoon Service | 4:30 PM
As the day deepens, the pace slows and the prayers turn inward.
With Torah and reflection, we journey into the heart of Yom Kippur. We wrestle with the story of Jonah, wonder where we’re headed, and choose with intention who we want to be in the year to come.
Ne’ilah and Shofar | 5:30 PM
Ne’ilah is the surprise transformation of Yom Kippur, a shift from soul-searching to soul-soaring. As the gates begin to close, we sing and dance our way into the new year.
Yes, you’ll be tired. Yes, you’ll be hungry. And then, suddenly, you’ll feel it. A second wind, a burst of joy and light that lifts the whole room.
This is the don’t-miss service. Come for the final shofar blast. Stay for the joy. Leave high on spirit.
Break-the-Fast | Following Ne’ilah
We move from hunger to nourishment, from joy to conversation. Stay and eat, laugh, and reconnect. After all that inner work, it’s good to be together. There’s something so very Jewish about sharing a bagel shared at sundown.
Erev Sukkot Evening Service
Monday, October 6
We gather under the stars to welcome Sukkot, the holiday of joy, gratitude, and harvest. Surrounded by the beauty of the sukkah, we sing, reflect, and celebrate the abundance of the season with community and intention.
Sukkot Morning Service
Tuesday, October 7
We gather on the lawn to wave the lulav, smell the etrog, and reconnect to the natural rhythms of the world around us. This joyful service helps us ground in the moment, rejoice in the present, and honor the gifts of the earth.
Simchat Torah Morning Service
(including Torah Processions, Hakafot, and Yizkor)
Wednesday, October 15
We complete the final verses of Deuteronomy and immediately begin Genesis—an act of sacred continuity. With Torah processions, hakafot, and aliyot for everyone, this is a moment of celebration, gratitude, and renewal.
Yizkor is part of this service—a sacred space to remember those we’ve lost. Whether your grief is fresh or decades old, Yizkor gives it voice, dignity, and connection.