Temple Adath Yeshurun blends tradition, change as High Holidays begin

MANCHESTER — For over a century, Temple Adath Yeshurun, also known as TAY, has been a gathering place for the Queen City’s Jewish community. With the Jewish High Holidays about to commence, that continues to be the case as TAY seeks to blend tradition with new updates intended to enhance its community’s spiritual experience.

Also known as the High Holy Days, the Jewish High Holidays begin with the Jewish New Year, better known as Rosh Hashanah and are generally considered to conclude ten days later with the Day of Atonement, better known as Yom Kippur. These ten days mark the first ten days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei and are considered a time of repentance for observant Jews, following a period of reflecting on the past year’s deeds just before Rosh Hashanah during the Hebrew month of Elul. Often, the Jewish High Holidays are considered to continue beyond Yom Kippur to subsequent holidays such as the Festival of Booths, also known as Sukkot.

As Rosh Hashanah starts on the evening of Friday, Sept. 11 and continues into the weekend, the Hebrew Year of 5787 also begins and with it the first High Holidays season for TAY’s spiritual leader, Cantor Harriet Dunkerley. Previously serving as the sole spiritual leader and director of education at Temple B’nai Chaim in Georgetown, Connecticut, Dunkerley has led TAY since July 1. Given that services during the High Holidays are often the most attended of the year and can draw out congregants who do not normally attend services much like the effect of Easter and Christmas masses for many Christian churches, Dunkerley says she is looking forward to meeting TAY members she may not have gotten the chance to meet so far during her tenure as well as sharing this spiritual time with those in the TAY community and fellow Jews across the world.

“I love the High Holidays. As a spiritual leader, everything sounds different, it is more elevated. Even though Yom Kippur is a solemn day, we have the opportunity to connect with something greater than we are,” she said. “In the anticipation and preparation of it, we have a whole month to ask how the past year has been and now the time to take a moment and ask what we can build in the upcoming year is suddenly here.”

Dunkerley noted that while the core of long-standing traditions relating to the observance of the High Holidays will remain the same, there will be some additions as well. A new family service will be added on Saturday afternoon prior to observance of the Tashlikh later at Dorrs Pond inside Livingston Park. Visual versions of the tefillah will also be provided.

There will also be a Yom Kippur family service at 1:30 pm on Sept. 21 with study sessions throughout the day and a Kol Nidre cello/piano duet opening the evening service.

In the lead up to the High Holidays, Dunkerley worked with the TAY Rituals Committee to balance the traditions in what is the oldest synagogue in New Hampshire with efforts to increase community engagement and accessibility intended to grow the community and attract Jews seeking spirituality more in tone with the 21st Century.

While it’s too soon to make predictions on the response to this year’s High Holidays programs, Dunkerley says that the Selichot services on Sept. 5 received a significant amount of positive feedback, something she reciprocates toward the community as a whole.

“(the people of TAY) are incredibly generous, kind, welcoming and supportive,” she said. “Everybody I’ve met in Manchester and New Hampshire so far have been incredibly nice.”

Dunkerley asks Manchester’s non-Jewish community to not place members of TAY into a position where they may have to choose between practicing their religion and attending another event, but she also notes that anyone can attend any of the services provided that they follow requested security protocols and with free ticket registration available at the TAY website.

Additional events in the near future include an open house for the TAY religious school on Sept. 27 and a string trio concert to benefit the Israel Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 15.

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