We look forward to celebrating the holidays with you. While services are free and open to all, registration is required. Find registration links, divided by holiday, along with our full schedule below.
NEW THIS YEAR: We are providing shuttle service from Carbondale to Aspen for Kol Nidre, throughout the day on Yom Kippur, and for our Sukkot & Simchat Torah Party.
Preparing for the High Holidays
This year, it’s not only school that begins in the middle of August. It’s also Elul, the month before Rosh Hashanah. *Sim lev,* turn your hearts toward the new year by learning each week from a local RFV rabbi during Cocktails & Conversation, along with other special gatherings to help prepare your heart and mind for the season.
Cocktails & Conversation
All programs begin at 4:45 pm.
Fri, Aug 14 | Aspen Chapel
Led by Rabbi Mendel Mintz
Fri, Aug 21 | Aspen Chapel
Led by Rabbical Student Hilary Cohen
Fri, Aug 28 | Camp Bashert*
Led by Rabbi Elyse & Kenny Joseph
Fri, Sep 4 | Aspen Chapel
Led by Rabbical Student Jen Moses
* When we hear the shofar, what are we listening for? Our tradition teaches that we hear what we need to hear. Join Rabbi Elyse and Kenny Joseph at Camp Bashert on Friday, Aug 28, where we will explore the many-layered meanings of this ancient call, with an opportunity for everyone to try blowing shofar themselves. No experience necessary, shofars provided.
Singing Circle: Get to know our High Holiday melodies!
Mon, Aug 24 | 5:30-6:30 pm | Third Street Center
Join Rabbi Elyse and Sophia for a musical High Holiday warm-up. Learn new melodies. Return to familiar ones. Help build the energy for the season ahead. All voices welcome, no Hebrew or singing experience required. Most of our singing will be wordless.
Shofar Lessons
Is this the year you finally learn how to sound the shofar? Two options: At Camp Bashert on August 28 at 4:45 pm led by Rabbi Elyse & Kenny Joseph, or just email us at office@AspenJewish.org and we will set something up. No experience needed. Shofars will be provided.
The New Year
Welcome the new year with music, reflection, and joy. This year’s theme, Lasim Lev, invites us to pay attention — to the world, to each other, to ourselves. Rabbi Shira leads our main service with Hazzan Aden Fischer-Brown, Sophia Clark, and musicians; Rabbi Sima leads tot and family services with help from Rabbi Shereen Sarick and Liat Arochas.
Erev Rosh Hashanah | Fri, Sep 11
Rosh Hashanah Evening Service | 7:30 pm | Paepcke Auditorium
Rosh Hashanah First Day | Sat, Sep 12
Rosh Hashanah Morning Service | 10 am | Paepcke Auditorium
Rosh Hashanah services continue and will include Torah reading and Shofar.
Rosh Hashanah Youth Services & Programming | 10:30 am | Koch Building (next door to Paepcke Auditorium)
Rabbi Shereen will lead a 30-minute, participatory service for our youngest children and their parents (newborn through pre-school age), while Rabbi Sima will lead a drop-off service for elementary-aged children (ages 5-11). Afterward, both groups come together for crafts, games, activities, and snacks, staffed by Rabbi Sima, Rabbi Shereen, and our team of sitters. Parents may opt to head into the main service for Rabbi Shira’s sermon and the rest of the adult service. All children will join the main service for shofar at the conclusion.
Tot Program | 4:30 pm | Third Street Center, Carbondale
Rabbi Sima will lead a fun tot service before joining the rest of the community for dinner.
Rosh Hashanah Community Dinner | 5 pm | Third Street Center, Carbondale
Everyone is welcome at dinner regardless if they plan to stay for the service.
Intergenerational Rosh Hashanah Evening Service | 6:30 pm | Third Street Center, Carbondale
This one is for everyone. A short, intergenerational, evening service with music and Rabbi Shira’s Erev Rosh Hashanah sermon, offered again for those who couldn’t be there the night before — or who want to hear it twice. Come as you are.
Rosh Hashanah Second Day | Sun, Sep 13
Rosh Hashanah Morning Service | 10:30 am | Anderson Park
Let the open sky of Anderson Park do what four walls never quite can. Step outside and let the mountains, the music, and the morning help you place your heart exactly where it needs to be. This is the service not to miss.
Tot Program | 11 am | In front of Paepcke Auditorium
Rabbi Sima will lead a fun tot service before joining the rest of the community for Tashlich and lunch.
Tashlich | 11:30 am | Anderson Park
Rosh Hashanah Luncheon | 11:45 am | Anderson Park
Day of Atonement
One day a year, we stop everything and pay attention. To our lives. To each other. To the person we want to become. That’s Yom Kippur — and if we do it right, we leave a little more awake than when we arrived.
Please note that this year we are providing shuttle service from Carbondale to Aspen for Kol Nidre and throughout the day on Monday. Please see below for the shuttle details and schedule.
Erev Yom Kippur | Sun, Sep 20
Preparing for Yom Kippur: A Family and Community Experience | 10 am | Third Street Center, Carbondale
Yom Kippur is one of the most powerful days on the Jewish calendar. This new Sunday morning program is an invitation to slow down together before the holiday begins. Led by Rabbi Sima, the morning weaves together song, prayer, and reflective activity for families, children, and adults of all ages. No synagogue experience necessary, just a willingness to show up and explore what this sacred day has to offer.
Yom Kippur Family Service | 5 pm | Paepcke Auditorium
Join Rabbi Sima and our musicians for a joyful, participatory service led by our Hebrew School students. With songs, prayers, and spirit, this service is open to all, yet designed especially for elementary-aged children and their families.
Kol Nidre | 7:30 pm | Paepcke Auditorium
On this most solemn and surprisingly joyful day, we come together as individuals and as a community to sit with our questions, release what weighs on us, and begin again.
Yom Kippur | Mon, Sep 21
Yom Kippur Morning Service | 10 am | Paepcke Auditorium
Yizkor begins at 12:30 PM, with Kenny Joseph as this year’s Yizkor speaker. Special materials will be available for children who have suffered a loss.
Lay-Led Afternoon Activities | 1 – 3:30 pm | topics and locations TBD
Spend Yom Kippur afternoon hiking, singing, learning, or meditating. From the moment that Yizkor ends until the start of our text study, AJC members will lead sessions to inspire the heart and spirit, and to help the fast go…faster.
Text Study with Rabbi Shira | 3:30 pm | Paepcke Auditorium
A deep dive into one of the Bible’s most beloved stories. Join us to wrestle with Jonah: the prophet who ran, the fish who was waiting, and the question the book leaves unanswered. All levels welcome.
Neila | 5 pm | Paepcke Auditorium
The gates are closing. This is the moment the whole season has been building toward — one last hour to pay attention with everything we have. Join our rabbis and musicians for the most electric service of the year.
Community Break-Fast | 6 pm | Doerr-Hosier Center
Conclude the day with a catered community meal.
Continue Celebrating
Sukkot begins the evening of Friday, September 25 and runs through the evening of Friday, October 2. Simchat Torah begins that evening.
Stop by anytime during the holiday of Sukkot to sit, reflect, share a moment with friends, and shake the Lulav and Etrog in the Sukkah.
Sukkot
Shabbat in the Sukkah | Fri, Sep 25 | Aspen Chapel Garden Sukkah
6 pm | Services
6:30 pm | Dinner
Celebrate Sukkot the way it was meant to be celebrated — outside, under the open sky. This year we’re taking it all outdoors: service, dinner, the whole thing. Weather permitting, we’ll gather under the stars, surrounded by the beauty of the valley and the people we love, and pay attention to how good it is to be here.
Downvalley Sukkot Party | Sun, Sep 27 | 4 pm | Third Street Center, Carbondale
Join us for a joyful Sukkot gathering in Carbondale! This festive, family-friendly event will include activities for kids, seasonal snacks, and a chance to connect with community in the Sukkah. All are welcome—come celebrate the harvest and the holiday together!
Simchat Torah
Shabbat & Simchat Torah Party | Fri, Oct 2 | 6 pm | Paul JAS Center
Torah, dancing, dinner — what more do you need? Join us for an all-ages celebration full of traditional holiday activities, song, and dance. All are welcome at the table and on the dance floor.
Please note that this year we are providing shuttle service from Carbondale to Aspen for Simchat Torah. See below for shuttle details and schedule.
SHUTTLE SERVICE FROM CARBONDALE TO ASPEN
Pickup and drop-off from the parking lot across from Town Hall in Carbondale. Use the shuttle however works best for you, mix and match trips as needed.
Yom Kippur
Kol Nidre | Sun, Sep 20
Carbondale → Paepcke Auditorium, Aspen: 6 pm departure
Return after services: ~9 pm departure
Yom Kippur Day | Mon, Sep 21
Carbondale → Paepcke: 8:30 am departure
Return after morning services & Yizkor: ~1:15 pm departure
Carbondale → Paepcke: 3:30 pm departure
Return after Neilah & break fast: ~7:30 pm departure
Simchat Torah
Fri, Oct 2
Carbondale → Paul JAS Center: 4:30 pm departure
Return after the celebration: ~8 pm departure
