High Holy Days, Harvesting and Homelessness

We are delighted to report that Jewish Life at Georgetown is more vibrant and thriving than ever! Participation in Jewish Life events is consistently higher than we’ve seen in three years. But beyond and more important than numbers, is the fact that spirits are high and the community is energized. Services are more lively and the good feeling among Jewish student community is palpable.

During the High Holy Days and Sukkot, our community really shined. Three community members and one student gave sermons on the High Holy days, and a first-year student (with a gorgeous voice) led some of the service itself. On Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Gartner asked the community to email her their thoughts on the question “What is the mission of the Jewish people in today’s global world?” and on Yom Kippur these thoughts were shared in what the rabbi called her “outsourced sermon”! On Sukkot, we rebuilt our SukkahCIty inspired sukkah. The rain the week of Sukkot had a silver lining indeed. Due to this, our annual Shabbat-On-The-Lawn moved inside and became our First Ever Shabbat in the new Healey Family Student Center! It was wonderful for Shabbat to be one of the very first events held in this space. During the service we explored the issue of homes and homelessness, people were able to sign-up for Georgetown Ministry Center’s upcomingWalk for the Homeless, and we heard perspectives on homelessness from other Georgetown chaplains of different faith traditions.

As autumn progresses, and Sukkot – season of harvesting comes to a close – we here in Jewish Life at Georgetown hope you are harvesting the spiritual work of the High Holy Days and enjoying the fruits of a season of reflection and action. We are so very thankful for each of our supporters who have cultivated, nurtured and sustained these programs over the years and for generations to come.

Rabbi Rachel Gartner , Director for Jewish Life