Celebrate High Holidays with Lev!
The Lev Experience will once again be bringing together Jews from all different backgrounds for an inspiring and interactive High Holiday experience with a variety of services and classes, including (by popular demand!) an expanded explanatory service with more opportunity to delve into the depths of the service regardless of your Jewish background.
Whether you enjoy a traditional service in Hebrew, or you prefer more explanations and prayers in English, or you want to hear inspiring classes that we will give you focus for your new year, the Lev High Holiday Experience will offer different options for you to experience these “Days of Awesome”, in a way that will be most meaningful for you!
At the Hilton Garden Inn Rockville-Gaithersburg
14975 Shady Grove Road Rockville, Maryland 20850 USA
Rosh Hashana: September 15th-17th
Yom Kippur: September 24th-25th
High Holidays FAQ
Who is this program for?
Lev High Holidays is for the individual who enjoys learning, singing, and an intimate community feel. You do not have to have attended a Lev program before and there are no “Lev members”. We do hope, however, that you will enjoy High Holidays so much, you will be exciting to join us throughout the year!
What will services be like?
The High Holiday experience offers different tracks at different times to cater to our wide range of attendees.
At times, everyone will be together to experience parts of the service. At other times our attendees can choose to join a more traditional service (user-friendly with page numbers announced, short explanations, and lots of singing) or a more interactive experience with more explanations and more prayers in English).
Please note that in the traditional service and at certain times when everyone is together, there will be separate sides of the room for men and women. There will be family seating in the interactive track and all classes.
There are no musical instruments at any of the service. All melodies will be led by Rabbi Buxbaum “and special guests”.
Rosh Hashana Schedule
Click here to download a PDF of the full detailed schedule.
Erev Rosh Hashanah- Friday, September 15th
7 pm– Evening Services
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 &2- Sunday and Monday, September 16 & 17
9 am: Traditional Shacharit Service* (Until 10 am)
9:45 am: Understanding the Prayers (Alternative explanatory service with Rabbi Shlomo)
11 am: Torah Reading + Breakout Classes (Adults w/ Devorah Buxbaum; Teens with Abba Florans)
11:45 am: Rabbi Shlomo Buxbaum’s Address
12 pm: Mussaf Service* (Day 1)/ Shofar Blowing (Day 2)
12:15 pm: Mussaf Service* (Day 2)
12:30 pm: Breakout Session/Wrap up with Rabbi Shlomo and Devorah
*This part of the service will have separate sides of the room for men and women
Yom Kippur Schedule
Click here to download a PDF of the full detailed schedule.
Yom Kippur Eve- Sunday, September 24, 2023
6:30 pm Candle Lighting Ceremony
6:50 pm– Kol Nidre Service*
7:45 pm– Guided Evening Service*
Yom Kippur Day- Monday, September 25, 2023
9:15 am: Traditional Shacharit Service*
10 am: Rabbi Shlomo’s Explanatory Prayer
11 am: Yizkor
11:30 am: Torah Reading and Breakout Session with Devorah Buxbaum
12:15 am: Guided Traditional Mussaf Service*
1:15 pm: Breakout Sessions with Rabbi Avichai Pepper
5 pm: Afternoon Minchah Services
6:15 pm– Neila Service*
*This part of the service will have separate sections for men and women
Are there options to come for only some of the time?
Many of our Lev friends attend services at other synagogues. All are welcome to join us for classes, meals, and second day Rosh Hashana only. See below for special drop-in prices.
What is the cost?
A full ticket for adults and children is $180 for RH and YK. (We do not offer a YK only option).
There is a $720 family max per holiday. (Can be used for parents and children coming with their parents.)
For Rosh Hashana there is a special “drop-in price” of $45 for those who are attending services elsewhere but would like to join for some classes or second day RH only.
There is a special rate for young professionals (ages 21-35) of $100 for RH and YK.
If any of the costs above are prohibitive, please feel free to reach out to us at info@levx.org.
The Hotel
Services will be held in the main ballroom of the Hilton Garden Inn.
The Buxbaum family and several friends will be staying at the hotel. There is a special Lev discount for those who would like to take hotel rooms or suite rooms in the adjoining Homewood suites.
Help Support Our Mission
The Lev Experience is listed by the IRS as an independent 501 (c)(3) non-profit. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.