Temple of Universal Judaism
A URJ: Union for Reform Judaism Congregation
1010 Park Avenue
@ E 85th 10028
Rabbi Ari Fridkis
יְהִי בֵיתְךָ פַתּוחַ לִרְוָחָה...
May your house be open
so that all may come in . . .
- The Talmud
open Reform Judaism for an open world
Reservations are OPEN for
Yom Kippur Eve / Kol Nidre
Yom Kippur Morning
Yom Kippur Day / Yizkor
Guests: Click here or on the edges of this Torah scroll to scroll to the RSVP box.
SHANA TOVA
Find us & these pages via these URLs:
www.TorahNYC.org & www.TUJ-TorahNYC.org
VISIT US AFTER THE HIGH HOLY DAYS
* Contact us via email to learn more about TUJ * Have Rabbi Fridkis reach out (voice, text, iMessage)
* Visit our Home page for THIS Month's Schedule * Find the schedule for 2019-20 on our Calendar
* Our address is: 1010 Park Ave @E 85, 10028 * TUJ is honored to be the permanent guests of the
high holy days
5782
ימים נוראים
ROSH HASHANAH
Mon Sep 6
7pm Evening Service
Tue Sep 8
1030am Morning Service
12pm Family Service
1230pm Wine & Cheese,
Apples & Honey
1pm New Year Luncheon
130pm* Tashlich (* Leave Temple)
YOM KIPPUR
Wed Sep 15
7pm Evening Service
including Kol Nidre
Thu Sep 16
10am Morning Service
1pm Family Service
315pm Afternoon Service
5pm Yizkor Meml Service
530pm Neila Closing Service
630pm Havdalah
Click here for Yom Kippur Schedule Details
Reservations are never required to attend the High Holy Days or any service at TUJ/ TorahNYC. However, your RSVP is helpful for Registration and Security - and to welcome you by name.
Click here for more TUJ-TorahNYC High Holy Day info just below.
HIGH HOLY DAY CONTRIBUTION
While not required, TorahNYC/ TUJ Guests are invited to contribute in advance for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Alternately, you are welcome to contribute at each service at the Reception Desk (Cash/Check/CC). No one will be turned away.
Most importantly, please RSVP to help our Security Staff and to expedite the Reception process.
Contribute for High Holy Days
GUEST high holy day information
cLICK HERE FOR MEMBERS HIGH HOLY DAY INFO
Everyone - Jewish or not - is always welcome at The Temple of Universal Judaism and TorahNYC, a URJ: Union for Reform Judaism Congregation.
TUJ Members, Family & Friends
Click here to visit the Home page for Member's High Holy Day information.
Our Location
For nearly 50 years, TUJ has shared space with the Park Avenue Christian Church - a progressive Protestant congregation. Due to the church's generosity and ecumenicism, we are blessed to have a place for our Torahs in our Ark permanently installed in the church's nave!
Our address is 1010 Park Ave @85th St - just two blocks from the express stop of the 86th/ Lexington Ave 4-5-6 trains. Click here to see us on custom TUJ Google Map.
TUJ-TorahNYC Guests
Please RSVP (click here) to help with Registration and Security (all welcome with or w/o RSVP).
TUJ-TorahNYC Guests - Suggested Minimum Contribution:
13-25 yo $25/service -or- $100/ Holy Days (all five services)
Over 25 yo $50/service -or- $200/ Holy Days (all five services)
Guests who must contribute less for the Holy Days:
Please contact us in advance.
TUJ is one of the most welcoming mainstream Reform congregation in New York City! Regardless of one's contribution, we hope all will join us.
Family Services
Our festive and lively Shofar Service followed by a Childrens'/Family Service & Lunch on Rosh Hashanah @12n - as well as our Yom Kippur Family Service @1pm - welcome TorahNYC Guests.
Family Services - Suggested Minimum Contribution:
$45/service for Non-Member family (one or more adults and any number of children).
Included for those who contributed for Morning Service.
Everyone is invited to our Rosh Hashanah Reception (1230p) & New Year's Luncheon (1pm) following the Shofar Service.. There is no charge and no RSVP is required.
TUJ Membership
Annual Membership is $600 per adult (25+), including the Holy Days. For those who can give more, a special, honored Membership is $1,000. Click here to download our Membership Form.
TUJ has the most generous dues structure among mainstream URJ Reform congregation in NYC! Regardless of one's financial situation, we make it possible for all interested to join us. We offer Scholarships for individuals and families with financial need seeking to become active TUJ Members. Please contact the Rabbi or Temple Treasurer.
Important Information about Holy Day Safety & Security Protocols
While we do not expect any problems, communal safety is a concern. There will be a well-organized Security presence, a Security Officer, and special Safety protocols for all TUJ Holy Day services.
For Security reasons, all Members and Guests over 18 yo are asked:
- to keep their "ticket/pass" at all times
- to check-in at Reception at every service
- to have a government-issued picture ID at all times.
about TORAHNYC
At TUJ, The Temple of Universal Judaism we take pride in being a “house for all people” (Isaiah 56). For nearly fifty years we’ve been a Reform congregation where both Jews and non-Jews can find a welcoming Jewish home.
As a URJ: Union for Reform Judaism congregation, we embrace the two-millennia old premise of Rabbinic Judaism which saw the unfolding Jewish future as a shifting mirror of Judaism’s ancient past. At TUJ you will find a combination of beautiful Jewish traditions and modern creative adaptations.
Throughout history, Jews have been a people of diverse origins united by the Torah’s message of compassion and justice for all. We honor that tradition as we embrace individuals of all races, backgrounds and orientations and strive to bestow dignity on every human soul.
ABOUT TUJ
Temple of Universal Judaism members includes multi-generational families, same sex couples and individuals, interfaith families and couples, those descended from matrilineal or patrilineal Jewish parents, Jews-by-choice, and people of all ages. Though we are a mainstream Reform congregation with strong, traditional Jewish values and practices, we feel privileged to welcome both Jews and non-Jews.
TUJ is far more than a synagogue or simply a "religious" group: we are a true “community” – a warm, devoted congregation of caring and supportive individuals and families who share a culture of Jewish living.
As we continue to grow, our members come from all the great population centers of world Jewry: North America, South America, France, Israel, and many more. And with our very low cost Membership, TUJ is the most financially egalitarian Reform congregation in New York! Regardless of one's footing, we make it possible for all to join us.
Download Membership Form
Pay Dues
VISIT US
If you haven't visited us - or haven't recently - we hope you will soon: all are always welcome. Consider joining us for the Holy Days, for any 1st, 2nd or 3rd Shabbat evening, or a holiday service and celebration. We promise you will receive a very warm and personal welcome.
DONATE
Whether you are a member, visitor or guest, we need and welcome your financial support.
We are New York City's - and North America's! - most theologically progressive, mainstream URJ: Union for Reform Judaism congregation. TUJ's open-door and open-minded presence is an example to Jews around the world: that every Jewish community can maintain and build a full Jewish life, inclusive of every human being, each with his or her differing spiritual needs.
Support us @TUJ
contact us
212 658 0810 Temple Office
917 617 3615 In case of Family Emergency,
please TEXT Rabbi Fridkis
P
Ave
R
K
------- 1010 Park Ave
East 85 NY NY 10028
LOCATION Snail Mail
Yom Kippur
Ancient Israelite Festival of Return
of Soul and Spirit
Tuesday October 8
7 PM
Kol Nidre & Evening Service
Wednesday October 9
10 AM
Morning Service
1 PM
Family Service
Led by Rabbi Fridkis & Cantor Anesi
for Parents, Grandparents and Children of All Ages
Prayers, Songs, Shofar and Torah Experience
Challah, Juice, Apples & Honey Snack
2:30 PM
Healing of Body and Soul
Guided Meditation
Led by Rabbi Gloria Milner
3:15 PM
Yom Kippur Afternoon Liturgy
A brief revisit of the major Yom Kippur Morning Prayers
4 PM
18 Years Post-9/11
Commemoration
Eighteen years after 9/11 we visit with survivors,
honor and magnifiy their service,
and celebrate the resilience of our city and nation.
5 PM
Yizkor Memorial Service
.
A spiritual Memorial to those who died in 5779
and all our loved ones who have departed.
5:30 PM
Neila Closing Service
.
TUJ's most spiritual and beautiful service of the year.
6:15 PM
Shofar & Havdalah Candle Service
A sweet and glowing end to the Holy Days
with Sounding of the Shofar, Wine, Candles and Spices
Rosh Hashanah'S UNIQUE ORIGINS
The origins of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year – like many Jewish holidays – go back to the Torah, the first Five Books of Hebrew Scriptures: what we call the Jewish Bible. The Book of Leviticus (23:24-25) declares: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of rest, a memorial proclaimed with the blowing of the Shofar, a holy convocation.”
Although this day later became known Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, it was not originally so. According to the Talmud, in ancient times, there were four different New Years in the Jewish calendar. Each had a distinct significance:
• The 1st of the Hebrew month of Tishrei – now called Rosh Hashanah, our Jewish New Year – was originally the beginning of the agricultural year.
• The 15th of the Hebrew month of Sh’vat – which comes approximately mid-January - known as Tu B’Sh’vat, considered the “New Year of Trees,” when the Holy Land’s first buds were ready to bloom.
• The 1st of the Hebrew month of Nisan – the first month of Spring - was the New Year of Kings: the date used to calculate the number of years the King had reigned.
• The 1st of the Hebrew month of Elul – approximately mid-August – was the New Year for tithing of cattle: the time when one of ten cattle was marked and offered as sacrifice to God.
The Torah actually refers to the Spring month of Nisan as the first month of the Jewish year, not Rosh Hashanah’s month of Tishrei, which is noted as the seventh month.
The Babylonians, among whom the Jews lived, marked a “Day of Judgment” each year. They believed on that day the deities assembled in the Temple of their chief god, Marduk. They imagined their Gods renewed the world and judged each human being, inscribing the fate of every individual on a Tablet of Destiny. The legend was a powerful one and Jews borrowed it, shaping Rosh Hashanah.
Thus in rabbinic thought, the God of Israel consigned our deeds to the Book of Life each Rosh Hashanah, inscribing us for life or death in the year to come. During the Ten Days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur one was given the additional opportunity to repent before the Book of Life was sealed for the year. From this construct came the well-known Jewish New Year’s greetings – “Shana Tova”: a “Good Year”; “L’shanah Tova”: to “A Year of Goodness”; and “L’shanah Tova Tikatevu”: “May you be inscribed for a Good Year.”
In addition to the Torah’s “Holy Day of Convocation,” – and following the Babylonians, the “Day of Judgment,” Rosh Hashanah became associated with the anniversary of the creation of the world. It was not until the second century C.E. that the holiday acquired the name Rosh Hashanah, first appearing in the Mishnah. Prior, the day had other designations. The oldest, found in the Torah (Numbers 29:1) is Yom T’ruah: “Day of Sounding the Shofar”. Two later names – still preserved in the liturgy and rabbinic literature – reflect Babylonia’s influence – Yom HaZikaron: “Day of Remembrance,” and Yom HaDin: “Day of Judgment.”
We just say "Shana Tova: Happy New Year!"
Rabbi Ari Fridkis, adapted from ReformJudaism.org,
YOU VISITED US HERE, NOW VISIT US THERE*
* Our Space: 1010 Park Ave @E 85 * Our Email: TUJcongregation@gmail.com
* Our Mail: (+) New York, NY 10028 * Our Phone: 212 658 0810
& please return again to our temporary URL: www.TUJ-TorahNYC.org for our updated Calendar