High Holy Day tickets are included in your WHC membership for those listed on your household account. Temple members whose accounts are current are welcome to reserve one ticket for each member in their household for any service.

Example: A family of four may request up to four tickets for Erev Rosh HaShanah on 9/25 and up to four tickets for Rosh HaShanah Day on 9/26. They can also select up to four tickets for a Family or Preschool service. 

WHC will continue its annual tradition of collecting canned and non-perishable foods to help those in our area struggling with hunger and food insecurity. We will distribute bags during Rosh HaShanah services that can be filled and brought back to Temple on Yom Kippur (or anytime leading up to Yom Kippur.)

You are also welcome to drop off donations at any time leading up to Yom Kippur during normal business hours at either JBSC or Temple.

Donations from this year’s drive will benefit Nourish Now and N Street Village.

First impressions are so important.

Our Greeters ensure that each person feels very welcome in our communal spaces and that every member recognizes they belong at WHC.

Belonging to a synagogue is about creating a community and building lifelong relationships. We embrace the Jewish value of kavod — dignity — which guides us to create a culture of respect from the moment anyone enters our spaces.

We celebrate the diversity of all the individuals and families who call WHC home.

Apply to be a Greeter

Our High Holy Day machzor (prayer book) is Mishkan HaNefesh.

At Temple & JBSC, we have prayer books for you to use when you come for services. If you have your own copies, you are invited to bring them.

Interested in ordering prayer books?

• Hard Copy: Email orders@press.uchicago.edu, call (800) 621-2736, or order the book directly from CCAR Press with the following links:
  • Standard edition
  • Large print edition
• Digital Version: Order your Kindle edition on Amazon.

If you would like to use your Historic Seats, please call the Temple office at 202-362-7100 or email jhonigman@whctemple.org.

Signature Catering has a holiday menu you can order for pickup at the Julia Bindeman Suburban Center (JBSC) on Sunday, September 25, 8:30 am–9:00 am.

Deadline to order is Thursday, September 15, at 11:59 pm. 

To view the menu and pricing, follow these steps:
Order Rosh HaShanah Dinner

• At the top of the page, click “Select order type.”
• Select “Pickup”
• Scroll down and select “Washington Hebrew Potomac”
• Click “Start order”

Additional pickup locations are available throughout the D.C. area.

We’re partnering with Sunflower Bakery again this year and if you’re interested, order by September 15 at noon to pick up at Washington Hebrew Congregation on Wednesday, September 21 from 11 am-4 pm. Sunflower offers holiday favorites, delicious new desserts, and round challah (traditional, almond, raisin, and honey whole wheat) to usher in the New Year. Holiday menu available for online ordering on August 15.

See Sunflower’s Rosh Hashanah menu below. Questions? Contact Sunflower at info@sunflowerbakery.org or call 240.361.3698.

Sunflower Bakery and Café Sunflower are dedicated to providing skilled job training and employment for adults 18+ with learning differences in pastry arts, production baking, barista service, and front-of-house operations. Sunflower Bakery is one-of-a-kind and the only inclusive training program in Maryland that prepares young adults with learning differences for employment success in pastry arts, baking, or related industries. A community-based social enterprise focused on expanding job training and employment opportunities, workforce skills learned at Sunflower Bakery and Café Sunflower are marketable and transferable.

Our religion gives us the opportunity to honor a long life with the beautiful custom of celebrating a second (or first!) B’nei Mitzvah when a person turns 83.

If you celebrated or will celebrate your 83rd birthday between Yom Kippur 2021 (9/16/21) and this Yom Kippur (10/5/22), we invite you to read the Torah blessings with us during our morning Congregational Services on Yom Kippur – safely from your seat at Temple, JBSC, or home! To participate in this aliyah, please contact Rebecca Rosenblum, rrosenblum@whctemple.org or 202-895-6307.

On Rosh HaShanah day, we have a wonderful tradition of reading the names of all the babies and children who have come into the lives of our Temple families during the past year.

If you welcomed a new child or grandchild after Rosh HaShanah 2021 and would us like to include them in this reading, please contact Rebecca Rosenblum or call 202-895-6307, with their name and date of birth.

The deadline for Memorial Book submissions was September 2.

If you did not receive our Memorial Book mailer or have questions about your tributes, please contact Eliza Prince at eprince@whctemple.org.

At Temple, there is a chair glide at the parking lot entrance. Our restrooms and worship spaces are all accessible.

At JBSC, the main entrance is wheelchair accessible, and for anyone attending the outdoor Erev Rosh HaShonah service, there is a ramp located through the lunchroom that will take you directly outside to the worship area.

We will also have designated seating reserved at both JBSC and Temple for those with special needs. When you arrive for services, please see an usher who can direct you.

We will have licensed paramedics on hand at both Temple and JBSC just in case there is a need.

ASL interpretation (in-person) and/or Closed Captioning (livestream) is available upon request for any service or Study Session with at least two weeks’ notice. Please contact Rich Gordon with any questions.

We currently plan to have ASL interpretation for the following services:

• Rosh HaShanah Family Service, Temple, 1-2 pm
• Yom Kippur Family Service, Temple, 1-2 pm

At Temple, Kaufmann Sanctuary, Albert & Shirley Small Chapel, and Irwin & Ginny Edlavitch Hall are equipped with infrared listening systems. Wireless headphones needed to utilize the systems are available in Hurston Library.

For services at Temple, large print prayer books are available in Hurston Library.

For services at JBSC, large print prayer books are available in the Teen Lounge.