- Are you looking for a one-time experience or a future spiritual home?
Your choice impacts how you should look for streaming High Holiday services. If you’re looking for a unique, one-time experience, don’t limit yourself to the options in your area. A great place to start might be checking out Hillel’s Higher Holidays (which are open to everyone) or the innovative communities connected with the Open Dor Project.
If you’re looking for a future spiritual home (especially once physical gatherings resume), make sure to search within your geographical area. Plug the name of your city, the word “Jewish,” and terms like “young adult,” “young professionals,” “independent minyan” or the name of a preferred denomination you’re seeking into your favorite search engine. Local synagogues in your city would love to answer your questions!
- Test drive communities with streaming Shabbat services!
One of the benefits of months of streaming Shabbats is that many synagogues and Jewish communities now have previously streamed services stored on their websites and Facebook pages. If you have your eye on a community, watch their stream (whether viewing live on Shabbat or a previous recording) to get a feel for the service style and see if it passes your holiday vibe check.
- Pay attention to cost, advertised length, and scheduled times (including whether the service is streamed once or available throughout the day).
Many synagogues are offering a mix of virtual and in-person prayer and programming. Even if they charge for in-person programming, most communities offer their streaming services at no cost to the general public. When in doubt, you can always shoot an email to the community to ask.
