At Adas Israel, the Conservative congregation we belong to, Yom Kippur is an extravaganza. In fact all holidays are. Located about a mile from our house, just off Connecticut Avenue, the latest statistic that I have seen shows Adas with about 1900 membership units (a membership unit can be a family of 12, or a single individual). On Yom Kippur, for the most part, Adas holds three simultaneous services, a service in the sanctuary (which holds about 900), a more traditional service in a smaller room (which holds about 300), and an outdoors service under a large tent (which, according to one of the rabbis yesterday, has been set up with 2500 chairs). So, all in all, about 4000 people attend Yom Kippur services at Adas Israel.

We spent Friday night and Saturday in the tent. Throughout the day yesterday, the tent was pretty well filled. Yom Kippur at Adas Israel is also an all-day affair. Services begin at 9 a.m. The published schedule showed the services primarily ending with the blowing of the shofar (the only blowing this Yom Kippur, since the shofar is not blown on Shabbat) at 7:18 p.m. In fact, the shofar was blown at 7:18 p.m. Like clockwork.

Over Yom Kippur, we heard two sermons, one by each of the two senior rabbis. I thought they were both good. (I don’t always feel that way, of course). My very short descriptions of the sermons here won’t do them justice, and (in fact) may not even be accurate, but it is what I remember.

Rabbi Holtzblatt’s sermon was on being true to oneself in recognizing who and what you really are, something that she says is often hidden as you put up an identity for the public (and often private) that may not be your true self at all. She hears this as a rabbi when she counsels people and discovers that they may not, deep inside, be anything like what they appear to be. And she talked about herself. Her message was that Adas Israel was a community, and in this community, you should not be afraid to express and be your true self and, as a community member, you should be accepting and encouraging to those who let you in on who they really are. That Adas Israel should, in effect, be a safe space.

Rabbi Alexander’s sermon was on what happens after one’s life ends. No, not heaven and hell, or gehenna or any of those things. Not about resurrection of the dead, either. But about how the presence of people who have passed away continue to permeate one’s life. His prime examples related to his mother, who died eight years ago. When Rabbi Alexander and his brother were playing music together, he felt his mother’s presence. When he met the grandmother of a newborn (the grandmother not a member of the Congregation) and they both learned that she had worked with Rabbi’s Alexander’s mother in Florida for years and that they were very close, he felt his mother’s presence in the conversation. He elaborated from there, and went on to other things, but frankly I don’t remember where he went with the sermon, although I do recall that it was very passionate. Someone will remember this better than I, and tell me what I have already forgotten.

During the quiet time between the end of the morning service (which doesn’t end until close to 2 p.m., and the start of the afternoon service (about 4:30 or 5:00, I think), there is usually a prominent guest who gives an informal presentation. Last year, it was Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, who is a congregant and was back as a congregant this year. This year it was Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father Luis. I didn’t attend the talk (I am not that interested in the Mirandas), but I understand that the tent was packed and it was well received. The Mirandas, of course, are not Jewish, but there has been a fair amount of Jewish connection in their lives. One of the other Adas rabbis, the education director, was a college classmate of Lin-Manuel’s at Wesleyan (I think, Wesleyan) and they sang together in a Jewish acapella group at college. And, it turns out, that he has connections with a number of Adas congregants (who knew?).

Coincidentally, a law school classmate of mine who attends a synagogue in Los Angeles sent around a recording of a guest lecture from his synagogue yesterday, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. Booker is someone else who is not Jewish, but who has been surrounded by Jews his entire life, and whatever he says is, in my opinion, always inspiring.

At any rate, it was a very successful day at Adas Israel and, of course, when you attend, you do have a chance to greet and talk with many people you have known forever, but don’t necessarily see that often. And, yes, our daughters, son-in-law and grand children were there for part of the day as well. 9 year old Joan spent most of the time with her friends – neither her parents nor we had any idea where she was much of the time. And 3 year old Izzy got his glo-stick (is that what it is called?) to be able to join his sister and the other young children on the bima during the shofar blowing. Of course, he left the bima before the shofar blowing, heading into the crowd, and giving his sister (who was in charge of him) a panic attack. Naturally, all was well.

A break-fast at our house for our entire family (including those who are not Jewish or were unable to attend services) finished the day with equal success. Only two bagels remained uneaten – I thought that was almost as efficient as holding the 7:18 shofar blowing at 7:18.