[UPDATED SEPTEMBER 17, 2020]
2020/5781 High Holy Day
and Festival Schedule
All Services will be on Zoom;
Visit www.templedavid.org/athome for the links
In-Person Events are Noted Below
New Year’s Greetings from Sisterhood
With the High Holy Days just around the corner, Sisterhood would like to help you in wishing your friends a Happy, Healthy, and Safe New Year. We will be mailing holiday greeting cards to members of our Temple David family from you.
Please support Sisterhood and Temple David and return your order form.
Thank you,
Gail Antonoff
Elul’s 4 Questions Class Continues
Thursdays at 7 p.m. on Zoom for ½ hour
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav teaches: one reaches in three directions: in, out and up. When one reaches in one direction, one is in fact reaching in all three.
Themes this Elul: In, Out, Up – Forward
September 3 (Up): Sh’ma Koleinu: How do we make our voices heard to God?
September 10 (Forward): Kol Nidre: What vows will you make and keep?
The links are available at www.templedavid.org/athome“
If you won’t be better tomorrow than you were today, then what do you need tomorrow for?”-Nachman of Bratzlav (Breslov)
Selichot—Entering the High Holy Days Together, Virtually
Saturday, September 12 at 8:30 p.m.
We will enter the High Holy Days virtually this year.
Please join us for a powerful service which includes the sounds of the High Holy Days
including the blast of the shofar.
The link will be available at www.templedavid.org/athome
Private Prayers for Loved Ones
Sunday, September 13 from 1-2 p.m.
Temple Sinai Memorial Park
7740 Saltsburg Road, Plum Borough
The period prior to Rosh Hashanah is a special time to honor and remember those of our loved ones who are no longer with us. This year, due to COVID-19 concerns, there will not be a memorial service at Sinai Memorial Park. Instead, Rabbi Symons will be at the Memorial Park from 1-2 p.m. on Sunday, September 13 to privately share a prayer with family members mourning a loved one buried there.
Note: Temple David Members may purchase cemetery plots at Temple Sinai Memorial Park at Temple Sinai Member Prices. Please contact Temple Sinai for details and pricing (412 421-9715).
High Holy Day Prayer Books
Arrangements are underway to deliver machzorim (High Holy Day Prayer Books) to every Temple David member on Sept. 17-18.
Please contact Stan Beck at stanb@templedavid.org if you have questions.
Tashlich Ritual at Valley Park
(Aber’s Creek Road) in Monroeville
ONLINE AND IN-PERSON
Saturday, September 19 at 4 p.m.
Please come together at Turtle Creek in Valley Park to join in the powerfully simple ritual of tashlich, meaning―casting. During tashlich, we cast off our sins by symbolically placing them on bread and throwing them into a stream of flowing water.
Having closed the machzor, and standing in the midst of nature, it is another opportunity to do some soul searching in the midst of our community.
Even if you have never joined us before, please join us this year, in-person or on Zoom.The link will be available at www.templedavid.org/athome
Directions to Tashlich
From Temple David:
Exit the temple driveway left onto Northern Pike
Turn right onto Aber’s Creek Road
Valley Park and parking lot will be on the left
From Haymaker:
Take Saunders Station Road
Follow past Heritage Park on the left, then down the hill
Take the first left going down the hill onto Aber’s Creek Road
Valley Park and parking lot will be on the right shortly after passing through a tunnel
Drive-In Shofar Experience
Ba’al Tekiah on the Roof
Sunday, September 20 at 2 p.m.
We will have a Drive-In Shofar Experience outside of Temple David on the Second Day of Rosh HaShanah, Sunday, September 20, at 2 p.m.
Bring your family and pack some snacks for our Rosh HaShanah 5781 in-person shofar service.
Please contact JoAnn Lippock
at (412) 824-4944 or joannl@templedavid.org
if you need any additional information on either Food Drive.
Yom Kippur Afternoon Study (1 p.m.)
and Hebrew Chanting (2 p.m.)
Monday, September 28
All are invited to join us at 1 p.m. for small Zoom group study sessions based on the Sacred Texts of the High Holy Days.
Then at 2 p.m., David P. Goldstein will lead us through an hour of Hebrew chant, silence, and guided contemplation during the afternoon hours of Yom Kippur.
All are welcome.
Please join us; links for both will be available
at www.templedavid.org/athome
Since it is difficult to maintain social distancing
while assembling, and while sitting in the sukkah,
we will not construct our usual sukkah
at Temple David this year.
Reserve Sukkah Time at Temple David
We will have a small sukkah at Temple David for families to use during the week of Sukkot. A lulav and etrog set, along with instructions, will also be available.
Please contact the Temple Office (412-372-1200) to make your reservation for a meal-time or anytime sukkah experience. This could be especially meaningful and fun for families with children.
Due to quarantine considerations, the building will not be open and restrooms will not be available.
Build Your Own Backyard Sukkah
For anyone looking to build their own backyard sukkah, The Sukkah Project offers many options; the most affordable is $58 for a wooden 8×8 do-it-yourself sukkah, and you will need to purchase the lumber separately from the hardware store for another $50.
They also have quick assembly kits for a few hundred dollars.
Purchase Lulav and Etrog Sets for Home Use
There are many options to purchase a lulav and etrog. Here are two; there are many more on-line.
Local Pickup:
Use this form to order for pick up at Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill
(order by Noon on Friday, September 11)
Home Delivery:
order on-line from