High Holydays Q&A

Do I need to book for services this year?
For the most part no. You will have received a ticket for High Holyday services that confirms the venues you are allocated to attend for each of the large adult services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The only services you do need to please book for are:

a) any of the Family Services, Explanatory Services and inclusive Sunflower Services taking place on Rosh Hashanah Days 1 and 2 and on Yom Kippur – more information and book online here

b) any of our Teens activities - more information and book online here

c) the Quiet (Highlights) Services on Rosh Hashanah Day 2 and Kol Nidrei - book here.

Will I get a physical ticket and what must I bring to the service to confirm my booking? 
This year we are not sending physical tickets by post. You are being sent your ticket by email which we ask you to print (ideally in colour) and bring with you to enter the site. For security purposes, to save us having to look up large numbers of members on attendance lists it will be much quicker for you to show your printed emailed ticket – PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING IT WITH YOU! 

For those who are unable to print their email ticket, please let the Office know so that we can make suitable alternative arrangements for you. 

Where are services being held? 
At both the Sternberg Centre (in our own building and the Old Synagogue Hall) and the Avenue. There will be full disabled access to all spaces. Your tickets will specify what spaces we ask you to go to for each service. Click here for a full listing of all services and their locations.

Where is the Avenue?
The Avenue is the function suite at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel at Henlys Corner, being a space we have used over the last 3 years. It is a 10-15 minute stroll from NNLS at 58 Regents Park Road, N3 3JN

Will there be Traditional and Egalitarian services? 
Yes, there will be both Traditional and Egalitarian services throughout Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidrei and Yom Kippur. Over the High Holydays, Assif and Hakol Olin join forces to deliver our Egalitarian services.

What if I have an ‘Avenue’ ticket for first day Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur but want to attend one of the Family or other smaller services happening on the Sternberg Centre site?
All Quiet (Highlights) Services, Children’s Services, Family, Explanatory and Sunflower Services and the Teens Programme will be taking place at the Sternberg Centre site. When attending any of these services, you/your children will be allowed access to those services, even if you have an Avenue based ticket. However, we ask that you still honour your original allocation for main adult services.

Will there be streamed services this year?
This year a number of services that will be taking place in the Beit Knesset will be live streamed - namely, our full Egalitarian services on Rosh Hashanah Day 1, Kol Nidrei and, save for Minchah, services throughout Yom Kippur day. The style of these streamed services will be more fly on the wall, than the bespoke streamed services we have offered in recent years.

For members who are not keen to be on screen there are large clearly signed sections of the Beit Knesset that will be off camera. And, for members who do not want to attend a streamed service, your tickets will be valid at alternative Egalitarian services taking place at each of these times.

Streamed services can be accessed via our NNLS YouTube channel. You can click here for instructions for you to be able to switch on and leave your computer running in a halachic-friendly way over the chag without having to engage with it to receive our streaming.

How will I be able to follow the service? 
A list of page numbers for the Koren, Birnbaum, Artscroll and Routledge machzorim will be available in each service; page numbers will also announced intermittently throughout the services. 

Will I be able to use one of the Synagogue’s community machzorim (prayer books)  when I attend a service? 
Whilst there will be community machzorim available, we encourage as many members as possible to bring their own.  

We recommend you buy the Koren, which you can get online at:  
Rosh Hashanah Koren Machzor: Aisenthal Judaica or at Amazon;  
Yom Kippur Koren Machzor: Aisenthal Judaica or at Amazon 

Are there extra Yizkor services on Yom Kippur?
In addition to Yizkor being included in each of the three large services on Yom Kippur morning, a further additional stand-alone Yizkor service will be happening at 4pm in the Beit Midrash.

Can I book guest tickets for family who are not members of NNLS? 
A limited number of guest tickets for the High Holydays will be available this year for immediate family (parent, child, sibling, spouse/partner) of members of NNLS. Members can request tickets via this form. Requests will be dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis.

How can I help?
We welcome any offers of help, large or small, to assist us in the mammoth operation that is the High Holydays at NNLS. The key roles we are still looking for volunteers to fill are help with security and greeting. If you’ve not already received emails about either of these and would like to sign up for a shift, please contact Louise Froggett to play your part. Thank you.