A Message from Rabbi Bellows

September 7, 2025 /14 Elul 5785 

Dear Beth Am Friends,

I hope you will join us this Saturday night, September 13, for a contemplative Selichot service as we gently open the gates to the High Holy Days. In calm and song, we’ll pause, breathe, and listen—really listen—to the stirrings of the heart. Through songs, quiet prayer, and brief reflection, we will ask: What do I want to release? What do I dare to begin?

Selichot (forgiveness prayers) invite us to soften judgment—of others and ourselves—and to return to the path of compassion, hesed, and justice. We’ll chant familiar lines, pray, sit in nourishing silence, and change our Torah covers from the everyday blue to the High Holy Day white.

Bring a friend, a journal if you like, and an open heart. Together we’ll set intention for 5786 and step into these holy days with tenderness, courage, and a listening spirit. All are warmly welcome. Please join us. Worship begins around 8:30 pm.

Please join us before Sleichot worship on the 13th at 7:30 pm for a screening of the 30-minute documentary “The Quilters,” which tells the story of men in a Missouri maximum-security prison who design and sew beautiful, personalized quilts for foster children. Afterward, we’ll discuss the film and have some nosh. Our Selichot Service begins around 8:30 pm.

Blessings for a good week,

Rabbi Lisa Bellows