The Jewish High Holidays might be “late” this year but, at last, they are upon us.

On Rosh Hashanah, the two-day holiday that begins on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 2, Jews will usher in the year 5785. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins the following week with Kol Nidre services on the evening of Friday, Oct. 11 and continues through sundown on Saturday, Oct. 12.

However you like to celebrate these holiest of days on the Jewish calendar — whether it’s praying in synagogue with fellow Jews, gathering with friends and family, cooking a large meal or listening to music — there’s no shortage of options in this great and very Jewish city of ours.

If you’ve yet to finalize your plans, keep scrolling for our list of break-the-mold Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services and celebrations across the city, at all price points. Whether you see traditional synagogue services or something fun for the family, you’re sure to find something that suits you. Shana tova!

Is your synagogue or Jewish organization hosting High Holiday services or events that are open to the public? Send an email to lkeys@jewishweek.org with the details if you’d like us to add it to our list!

High Holiday services in Manhattan

Aviv at B’nai Jeshurun

An option for 20- and 30-something young professionals is Aviv at B’nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side (257 West 88th St.). Led by Rabbi Sammy Kanter, the senior rabbinic fellow at BJ, services include Erev Rosh Hashanah dinner, Rosh Hashanah morning services, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur morning services and a break-fast meal. Get access to one service for $45, or all of them for $180. 

Chabad Young Jewish Professionals

Subtweeting communities that charge fees or require tickets, Chabad YJP on the Upper East Side’s mantra is “If you’re Jewish, you are in!” The service will have a mechitza, a partition separating men and women. Erev Rosh Hashanah will take place at Kehilath Jeshurun (125 East 85th St.); Rosh Hashanah daytime services and Yom Kippur will take place at Bohemian National Hall (321 East 73rd St.). Free; donations are encouraged. Find more information here.

City Congregation

Join the City Congregation, a Humanistic synagogue that caters to secular and cultural Jews, for Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre, and Yom Kippur services at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights (490 Riverside Dr.), which will also be streamed via Zoom. Tickets range from free for first-time registrants under 35 to $350. Find more information here. 

High Holidays with 92NY

92NY and Romemu in Manhattan are co-hosting High Holiday services this year with the theme “The Honey and the Sting” at 92NY’s Upper East Side campus (1395 Lexington Ave.). There are also youth and young families services, as well as an online option. Get tickets, $400, for access to all services.

JCC Harlem 

JCC Harlem (318 West 118th St.) will host in-person services on each day of Rosh Hashanah, as well as on Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur, led by Rabbi Mira Rivera, one of our 2023 “36 to Watch” honorees, and Sara Sherman. Tickets range from $18 to $54. There will also be a free tashlich service in Morningside Park on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and a “wine-down” festival with food, drinks, music and crafts later that day for families with young children. Learn more here.

Kehillat Harlem 

Join Kehillat Harlem for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this year in Central Harlem (address provided upon RSVP). There will also be a dinner on Erev Rosh Hashanah. The services are free but a donation of $100 to $250 is encouraged. Find more information and RSVP here.

Lab/Shul

Lab/Shul, the “God-optional” artist-driven experimental Jewish community, will once again host High Holiday services at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center (199 Chambers St.). According to Lab/Shul’s website, the services will be “meaningful, musical and meditative celebrations that fuse our oldest liturgies with contemporary art, engaging learning programs, and communal conversations.” For non-members, tickets are $230 per service or $860 for all-access; they will also be livestreamed for free (donations encouraged). Register and learn more here.

Ohel Ayalah 

Ohel Ayalah, an outreach program designed for young professionals who don’t have a Jewish community in the city, is offering free, walk-in services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this year at the W83 Ministry Center (150 West 83rd St.). Walk-ins are welcome, or you can preregister and take a look at the schedule here.

SAJ: Judaism That Stands for All

This year, SAJ on the Upper West Side (15 West 86th St.) will host musical services — available both in-person and on Zoom —  and family services. The Reconstructionist congregation will also host “contemplative High Holiday services,” led by Rabbi Emeritus Michael Strassfeld, which will include “readings, spiritual teachings, wordless melodies (niggunim), and quiet reflection” that will take place at Trinity School Chapel (101 West 91st St.) The services are donation-based. Register here.

High Holiday services in Brooklyn

Brooklyn Jews with Congregation Beth Elohim 

Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope has a number of services open to non-members, including Brooklyn Jews, a group geared toward Brooklynites in their 20s and 30s, which will take place at CBE’s Union Temple House (17 Eastern Parkway). Tickets are $54 per service or $140 for an all-access pass. Register here.

Dirah 

Dirah, a Chabad-affiliated organization in Carroll Gardens, is holding High Holiday services this year at Hannah Senesh Community Day School (342 Smith St.). The services are open to all regardless of observance and no fees or membership are required to attend. There will also be a children’s service. Tashlich will be held at the Gowanus Canal. Register here.

Egalitarian Sephardi Mizrahi Community High Holidays

Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and the Egalitarian Sephardi and Mizrahi Community of New York are once again hosting services for Erev Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre and Neilah (the closing service on Yom Kippur afternoon). The services will be led by musician Laura Elkeslassy, a New York Jewish Week “36er” in 2022. Rosh Hashanah will take place at Union Temple (17 Eastern Parkway), and Yom Kippur services will take place at Urbane Arts Club (1016 Beverley Rd.). Suggested ticket price is $54; learn more here.

High Holidays with Selah

Selah, a Brooklyn-based Jewish community geared towards people in recovery, is hosting Dream Lab, “a sacred time in which we get to expand our understanding of who we can be beyond our limitations of ourselves” on the second day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur morning. Tickets are $18 for one service or $30 for both. Find more information and RSVP here.

Romemu Brooklyn 

Join Romemu Brooklyn, a “Renewal, Neo-Hasidic, egalitarian” congregation that’s a spinoff from the Manhattan original, for High Holy Days services at Greenwood Baptist Church (461 6th St.), led by Hazzan Basya Schechter, Kohenet Elna Brody, Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein and Rabbi Annie Lewis. The services are a “thoughtful blend of traditional and innovative prayers and melodies” with music and a full band. There are also children’s services available. Tickets are $180 per service or $540 for all-access. Find more information here and RSVP here.

High Holiday services in Queens

Ashreynu

Join Ashreynu, a pluralistic, musical congregation based in Astoria, for free High Holiday services open to the public. The first day of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will be at the synagogue (2114 30th Ave.) while the second day will be at Ralph Demarco Park in Astoria. RSVP and find the full schedule here.

Malkhut

Malkhut, a progressive Jewish spiritual community in Western Queens, hosts free and open-to-the-public High Holiday services with the theme “I seek Your (your) face.” The services are led by Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg and will take place at Renew Queens in Long Island City (47-20 11th St.). The services will also be livestreamed. Register and find more information here.

Beyond the Synagogue 

Bowl Hashanah at Brooklyn Bowl

Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave.) is once again hosting its annual “Bowl Hashanah” services and concert led by Rabbi Daniel Brenner, with musical performances by Jeremiah Lockwood and others. Get tickets for Erev Rosh Hashanah starting at $58 and the first day of Rosh Hashanah starting at $76, or $119 with lunch included at Blue Ribbon.

High Holiday tours at the Tenement Museum

The Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side (103 Orchard St.) is hosting number of events in honor of the High Holidays, including a tour of two tenement apartments that will be decorated and cleaned as if the families were celebrating the holidays, as well as a cooking demo of a cake from a 1901 Yiddish-language cookbook. Get tickets, $55, for the tour on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Jazz Holidays at Sim Shalom Universalist Synagogue

Sim Shalom, the Jewish universalist synagogue, will host ita annual concert and jazz-heavy services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur morning at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village (147 Bleecker St.). Led by Steven Blane, a musician and rabbi, and featuring a jazz quartet, the services will also be available to livestream. Tickets for services start at $149 each; online all-access services also start at $149.

Jewish Journaling with Hey Alma

On Oct. 9, ring in the Jewish new year with Hey Alma’s deputy managing editor Vanessa Friedman, who will guide a Zoom class about journaling in honor of the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Get tickets for $18.

Persian-style Selichot

The Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah is reserved for Selichot, a service that officially kicks off the High Holidays liturgical cycle. Most synagogues are having their own Selichot services, but B’nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side is also hosting a concert by Galeet Dardashti featuring her family’s Persian musical traditions. Saturday, Sept. 28 at BJ (257 West 88th St.); free but registration is required.

Public Shofar Blowing on the Upper East Side

A host of Upper East Side synagogues across denominations, including the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, Park East Synagogue, The Altneu, Chabad Young Professionals and Kehilat Jeshurun are partnering to host an outdoor, public shofar blowing across the neighborhood on both days of Rosh Hashanah. See the schedule and locations here.

Reverse Tashlich with Repair the Sea

Repair the Sea will host its annual “reverse tashlich” this year on Sept. 29. Join groups from Flatbush Jewish Center, Kane Street Synagogue, the Jewish Community Project, the Actors Temple, Central Synagogue or Congregation Rodeph Sholom for a day of volunteering in waterfront cleanup. Register here.

‘Rock Hashanah’ at Bowery Ballroom

For a totally different Selichot experience, join husband-and-wife team Joe Vincent and Sandy Lieb for a curated rock concert featuring songs by Jewish performers on Sept. 28 at the famed venue Bowery Ballroom. The organizers promise Manischewitz wine, surprise kugel and an appearance by a rabbi. Tickets are $18.

The Workers Circle

The Workers Circle will present free, virtual programming on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur morning, both of which will include readings, teachings and music. The services are hosted by Judy Bro and feature readings and performances from Jewish educators and Yiddish musicians including Aaron Alexander, Margo Leverett, Zisl and Dinah Slepovitch, Adah Hetko, Steven Skybell, Deborah Strauss and Jeff Warschauer. Tickets are $36 per service, register here for Rosh Hashanah and here for Yom Kippur.