Hillel at UCLA invites you to join us in welcoming the Jewish New Year.
Greeting From Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller • 
About Our Services • Rosh Hashanah Services •  Yom Kippur Services • Ticket Information •  Parking Information • Yizkor •  Child Care  • Additional Resources 

A Greeting From Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller

"Hayom Harat Olam – today the world is conceived.” So do we declare in celebratory joy following the sounding of the shofar on Rosh HaShannah. Yet my teacher, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, has suggested that there is a deeper significance to this theme of renewal on the New Year. It is not simply the world that is renewed, but each and everyone of us is given the opportunity to recreate him/herself. At this time in our history fraught with looming dangers, and murderous strife we ought to be looking inward to contemplate our own personal transformation on the road to recreating God’s world. Only then might we be able to proclaim – “and behold, it is very good.”

High Holiday Message From Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller will be posted early September.

About Our Services

Traditional Services

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, Director of Hillel at UCLA, has been a catalyst for bringing spiritual inspiration, dynamic energy and intellectual rigor to Hillel’s work on campus for over three decades. He will be leading the Traditional Services and will be accompanied by the inspirational chanting and singing of Ronit Aranoff and Yael Aranoff. This service creates a spiritual environment conducive of introspection, reflection, study and discussion. While most of the davening is in Hebrew, English prayer will be interspersed throughout.

Ronit Aranoff graduated from New York University with a BFA in Drama. She has been seen in numerous productions including the Off-Broadway production of The Blue Bird (lead), Twelfth Night and Henry IV Part 1 at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Ronit is very much looking forward to the honor of carrying on the tradition of leading the community in davening where she and Yael grew up listening to their mother and aunt lead so beautifully.

 

Yael Aranoff is in her junior year at U.C. Berkeley, majoring in theater and history and minoring in music. She has been a counselor at Camp Ramah in Ojai. She is in the U.C. Berkeley Hillel choir, “Low Key,” and is leading the choir this semester. Last year, she led the 5th-9th grade High Holiday services at Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco. She is delighted to have the opportunity to join her sister, Ronit, in leading the High Holiday services that her Ema and Aunt Ruthie brilliantly led for many years.

 

 

 

Orthodox Services

Anchored by the dynamic and inspirational leadership of Rabbi Aryeh and Sharona Kaplan, our Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) provides for key Orthodox necessities such as Kashrut, Hagim, and Shabbat. This young energetic couple moved to Los Angeles after studying at Yeshiva University in NY. For over four years, they have helped Orthodox students at UCLA navigate the college environment and balance their Jewish commitments with their desire to engage in the secular world.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan will be hosting the High Holiday evening services at Hillel with prayers recited entirely in Hebrew and personalized by explanatory introductions and inspiring song. To join this warm Orthodox student community for this meaningful experience, please contact Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan at rabbiaryeh@uclahillel.org.

 

Reform Services

Lydia Bloom Medwin hails from a rabbinic family in Memphis, Tennessee and continues in our proud tradition of partnering with Rabbinic Interns from Hebrew Union College. This launches her year-long connection with Hillel students as she will be spearheading liberal outreach focusing on Shabbat, Holidays, Education, and Alternative Break Programs. She received her undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas. Lydia will be leading the Liberal Services in both English and Hebrew and will utilize Rabbi Richard Levy’s acclaimed prayer book On Wings of Awe. Lydia invites you to join her for a warm, inviting and spirited High Holiday experience.

 

 

 

 

 

Schedule of Services

Click here for a complete schedule of  Rosh Hashanah and  Yom Kippur services.

Ticket Information

Tickets are available at the cost of $268 per person. Young Adult (22-35 yrs) tickets are $118 per person. Save $18 by registering online! Student tickets are complimentary, with proof of school identification. Students are required to RSVP here.

Tickets and parking information will be mailed to you upon receipt of your reservation. Pre-paid ticket holders receive priority seating.

Please note that tickets include all services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Parking Information - Click here NOW for more information!

Important Traditional Service Parking Information

There is NO public parking on campus for:

Rosh Hashanah on Tuesday, September 30 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Yom Kippur on Thursday, October 9 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

We are providing near-by offsite parking and shuttle service packages each day each day for $18 per day per car ($10 parking fee and $8 shuttle fee). 

Parking registration is required to guarantee a space for each day.

TO GUARANTEE PARKING: Reservations for parking MUST be made no later that 12pm on Tuesday October 7, 2008.   After 12 pm, you can go straight to the lot and self pay but we cannot guarantee parking availability. 

For all other High Holiday services, parking will be available on campus at $9 per car. 

Vehicles with Disabled Placards can park on campus for all services (for services on 10/9 a parking pass needs to be obtained at an information kiosk so that you can enter the lot.  Show your placard to obtain a complimentary pass to open the gate.)

Yizkor - Remembering Those We Love

When a righteous person has died, we say of him or her “zikhrono livrakha” – may his or her memory be a blessing. The way that we turn the memories of our loved ones into blessings is by choosing to live lives that magnify and honor their values, and echo the best of who they were in the world.  During YIZKOR, observed five times each year, we remember friends and family who are no longer with us and affirm that we will strive to live lives that indeed make their memories blessings. (At YIZKOR we remember all those we have lost over the course of our lifetime, not only those who died within the past year.)

Who were the people who helped shape your life?  We ask you to share not only the names of your loved ones, but also to share some of the blessings of those individuals. How did you know her? What is your most profound memory of him?  How has she changed the way that you look at the world? In this way, we illuminate the gifts of those who touched our lives, allowing their values and deeds to reverberate through the entire community.

 

Please share a few sentences about this person(s) which will be printed in a booklet for the Yizkor Service. Simply send your thoughts with your ticket reservations or email  Sandra Lollino no later than September 19, 2008 to guarantee your placement in the booklet.  Please include your name, name of the deceased, your relationship, and any additional information you wish to include. You may also  submit your memories here.

 

We kindly request a minimum gift of $18 for each person you will be remembering this year.

 

(Idea and text courtesy of Rabbi Sharon Brous).

Child Care

Child care is available at the Traditional service only on October 9 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. 

Reservations are required. Cost is $15 per child.

Additional Resources

Click on the following links for additional information and resources on  Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) or  Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) .

We thank Dr. William Isacoff for his generous sponsorship of our High Holiday Services.

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