Preparations: High Holy Days 5785 | 2024

Registration for Members
Guest (Non-Member) Ticket Orders
Parking Information
Services In Person
Seating Arrangements
Livestreamed Services
Reciprocal Tickets
Purchasing a Yahrzeit Plaque
Purchasing Prayerbooks
Book of Memory
6th Annual Honey Cake Bake: Make It a Sweet New Year for Our Elders
Beth Am Women & Youth Education Program Honey Cake Bake
S'lichot Program & Service

Registration for Members
MEMBERS in good standing received name badges for adults in the mail in August. Tickets are NOT required for children under age 21. ALL MEMBERS ARE REQUIRED to complete the MEMBER REGISTRATION FORM no later than Wednesday, September 17 to help us with our planning process. Register early if you have a strong seating preference. Complimentary childcare will be provided by Youth Education (adult) teachers for children ages 2-11 during the 10:30 AM morning services. Childcare registration is required.

Guest (Non-Member) Ticket Orders
Ticket purchase options FOR GUESTS AND NON-MEMBERS are available through the guest registration form. Orders must by placed no later than Sunday, September 21. Name badges (which serve as tickets) will be available at will call at services for guests to pick up. Members who are interested in ordering guest tickets for their non-member friends and family may place their request(s) using the registration form.

Services In Person
Most services will be held at Beth Am. Morning family services will be held at Mitchell Park, at 600 E. Meadow Drive, Palo Alto. Tashlich will be held at Baylands Sailing Station in Palo Alto. Please refer to the holiday schedule for specific location information.

Seating Arrangements: In a survey a few months ago, the community shared overwhelmingly that we wanted to be together in one space at one time for the High Holy Days. Working together, we can overcome potential space constraints to make this happen. Sanctuary seating extends into the Social Hall during the High Holy Days. We are planning for a possibility of demand for seating in the Beth Am Sanctuary and Social Hall exceeding available seats. If this occurs, you will have a choice between selecting seating on the (tented) Social Hall Patio and in the Beit Kehillah with services livestreamed on large screens. The Beit Kehillah will also have an in-person leader and Torah. Thank you for your grace and generosity if we find ourselves in this situation.

Livestreamed High Holy Day Services
Most services will be livestreaming for those who are unable or uncomfortable with attending services in person. Look for this symbol  to identify services to be streamed. Livestreamed services will NOT be available on YouTube or Facebook. For help, visit our High Holy Day livestream FAQ page.

Reciprocal Tickets
Reciprocal tickets are available at no charge for members of other Reform synagogues. To order yours, please complete the online URJ request form.

Purchasing a Yahrzeit Plaque
The deadline to have a plaque ordered and installed in time for this year's Shabbat Shuvah service has now passed.

Purchasing Prayerbooks
Order the High Holy Day Prayerbooks (Digital or Hardcopy): We use Mishkan HaNefesh: A Machzor for the Days of Awe, a 2-volume set published by CCAR Press. Volume 1 (gold cover) is used for Rosh Hashanah and volume 2 (silver cover) is used on Yom Kippur. Beth Am will have a small supply available only for those who attend in-person services. If you have a Machzor set that you borrowed from Beth Am last year during the 2024 High Holy Day season, please bring it with you. We recommend you order your own Machzor from Amazon.com or CCAR Press (large print edition is also available from CCAR Press here. Click through for pricing.)

Book of Memory
Beth Am's Book of Memory is once again digital this year. This book is a Beth Am tradition and a way of honoring relatives and friends who have died either in recent months or in past years. See the digital Book of Memory.

Beth Am's Sixth Annual Honey Cake Bake:
Make It a Sweet New Year for Our Elders
Beth Am has a sweet tradition of delivering homemade, mini honey cakes to our elder congregants ages 80 and over every Rosh Hashanah. This is a mitzvah for our community, and we need your help to bake and/or to deliver the cakes to our congregants. To sign up to bake and/or deliver cakes, please complete the sign up form. Deliveries will take place September 15-19. LEARN MORE

Beth Am Women & Youth Education Program Honey Cake Bake
Sunday, September 14, 9:30 AM, Beth Am Kitchen
Once again, we're baking and delivering honey cakes to older congregants in our community. Join us in baking honey cakes and preparing the cakes for delivery. No prior baking skills required. Cake recipe and ingredients will be provided. LEARN MORE

S’lichot Program and Service
Saturday, September 13, 7:30 PM, Social Hall, Sanctuary & Livestream
Our program will begin with a reading of Father’s Day, an up-and-coming play that explores themes of guilt, forgiveness, and reconciliation, with discussion to follow. We’ll conclude the evening with our S’lichot service in the Sanctuary (also livestreamed).

Learn more about High Holy Days 2025 with Beth Am.