Although houses of worship are still closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, online services have sustained many faith communities. WXXI Classical offers two special broadcasts from Temple B’rith Kodesh for the High Holy Days.
On Sunday, September 27th, tune in for our broadcast of the evening service for the Day of Atonement, as Senior Rabbi Peter Stein, Assistant Rabbi Rochelle Tulik, Cantor Keri Berger, and Choir Director Jason Berger lead the services live from Temple B’rith Kodesh. The Kol Nidrei Service for Yom Kippur will be broadcast live on Sunday, September 27th at 8:00pm on WXXI 91.5 FM, WXXY 90.3 FM in Houghton and WITH 90.1 HD2 in Ithaca, and is made possible with support from the Louis S. and Molly B. Wolk Foundation.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year, and the liturgy contains some of the most ancient prayers and melodies of the Jewish spiritual tradition, some of which were brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses, and handed down from generation to generation. The evening service that begins Yom Kippur is known as the Kol Nidre Service, named for the prayer that opens the liturgy. The day is observed by fasting and prayer.
Temple B'rith Kodesh was founded in 1848 as an Orthodox synagogue with 12 members who met in a room leased from a Baptist church on St. Paul Street. It is the oldest Jewish congregation and the largest Reform temple in the greater Rochester area. Temple B’rith Kodesh moved to its current location on Elmwood Avenue in 1962, and currently serves over 800 families.
