Preparing Our Hearts and Minds for the Holy Days:
Elul Events at United Hebrew

The month of Elul is a time when we reflect on where we stand and where we should be going. Traditionally, the shofar is blown each morning, from the first day of Elul until the day before Rosh Hashanah. The sound is intended to awaken the soul and kickstart the spiritual accounting that occurs throughout the month. This year we have multiple offerings for learning and connection.

Register for all programs by using the links below, emailing Esther Olson, or by calling the office at (314) 469-0700.  

Eitz Chayim: Cultivating the Tree of Life: An Elul Journey to the High Holy Days with Rabbi Rosenberg

Saturday, August 15 | 12:30–2 p.m. and Monday, September 28 | 7–8:30p.m.

Just as healthy trees begin with deep roots, our spiritual lives flourish when we take time to prepare. Come explore the traditions of Elul and practical ways to prepare our hearts and souls for the High Holy Days with Rabbi Rosenberg. You’ll journey through Elul with a companion journal featuring brief weekly readings, reflections, and spiritual practices designed to fit into everyday life. Then, we’ll gather again during Sukkot to celebrate the journey, reflect on what has taken root, and discover the fruit that has emerged from a month of intentional spiritual growth. $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Register online.

Between the Trees: An Elul Family Program

Sunday, August 16 | 10–11:30 am 

At the center of Gan Eden stood two trees — the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. Between them, a question echoes through time: Ayeka? Where are you? 

There’s a moment in the Torah when God walks through the garden in the cool of the day and calls out that question. It’s the oldest question in the book. And every Elul, it finds us again. 

This year, bring your family into that question. We’ll gather, tell the story, make something beautiful together with our hands — something to light your home and hang in your sukkah — and begin the work of teshuvah not alone, but with the people we love most. Come ready to reflect, to create, and to light your way into 5787. This program is for families with children in K–5.  Register online.

Challah for the Holidays

Monday, August 24 | 6:30 p.m.

or Wednesday, September 2 | 11:30 a.m.

Choose the date that best works with your schedule. We’ll demonstrate several challah braiding techniques, and you’ll leave with enough dough to bake two beautiful challot at home.

$15 per person for members and $18 per person for non-members. Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult. Register by August 19 for Monday night or August 26 for Wednesday morning.

Register for Monday August 24

Register for Wednesday, September 2

Hebrew for the High Holy Days

Choose Mornings or Evenings: 4 Tuesdays | August 25, September 1, 8, & 15 · 6:30–7:30 pm

OR 4 Wednesdays | August 26, September 2, 9, & 16 · 10:30–11:30 am

You’ve sung Kol Nidre. You’ve chanted Avinu Malkeinu. You’ve said Shanah Tovah your whole life. But what are you actually saying? Join us for a four-week Hebrew class designed for adult learners — fun, relaxed, and surprisingly deep.

Each 60-minute session unlocks one or two prayers from the High Holiday machzor and pairs them with conversational Hebrew you can actually use this season. No fluency required, just curiosity.

Over four weeks, you’ll dig into Zochreinu, Unetaneh Tokef, Kol Nidre, Avinu Malkeinu, and Ashamnu, learning the Hebrew, the roots, and the theology hidden inside words you’ve been saying for years. Discover why Kol Nidre is in Aramaic, what teshuvah literally means, and how to say a lot more than Shanah Tovah by the time the holidays arrive.

Open to all levels. Come ready to learn, ask questions, and finally mean every word. Members: $18/series, Non-Members: $25/series. Register online

Whiskey & Wisdom

Wednesday, August 26 | 7:30 p.m.

Register online.

Preparing Your Soul for the Holy Days: An Afternoon of Music, Reflection, and Psalm 27 with Rabbi Rosenberg and Carol Joy Loeb

Saturday, August 29 | 2 p.m.

Through music, text study, reflection, and communal singing, participants will encounter Psalm 27 not simply as a biblical text, but as a daily spiritual companion. Carol Joy Loeb’s original musical setting of Achat Sha’alti serves as both the opening and closing prayer of the afternoon, framing our time together and inviting participants to experience how meaning deepens through study, conversation, and practice. Register online.