Cantor Short: The Cantor's Countdown - High Holy Days in July

This article first appeared in our July/Aug '25 edition of The Bulletin

Every year on July 1, my desk turns into preparation mode, and the countdown begins. Music, binders, cue sheets - CHECK. Everything laid out neatly and color coded. Anyone who enters my office during this time knows exactly what is on my mind - High Holy Days.

I’m sure you must be thinking, “Cantor…it is July. Why on EARTH are you planning the High Holy Days NOW?” Truthfully, I start this far in advance so I can be more spiritually present closer to the holidays. This year, most of July and August are the Hebrew months of Tammuz and Av, with my favorite month, Elul, closing out our Jewish year. If I can get a majority of my planning done during Tammuz and Av, I can enjoy the month of Elul leading into Rosh Hashanah. Tammuz famously doesn’t have any Jewish holidays that Reform Jews celebrate, so it is a quieter time in the office. The perfect moment to plan our biggest services of the year.

The month of Tammuz is named after the Babylonian month Tammuz, which focuses on vegetation, fertility, and food. It is at this point in our year that our final harvests are complete and summer is in full swing. We experience dry weather, hot and humid, in stark contrast to our bitter cold winters. Tammuz brings us our longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice. Days get shorter and darker faster.

Tammuz is a moment in the Jewish calendar where families escape the heat by swimming in their pools, going on summer vacations, or perhaps, embracing a much needed and deserved rest. Before we know it, we begin to transition from summer fun into a month of pain and lamentation, Av. The month of Av is famously known for the holiday, Tisha B’Av. This Jewish holiday focuses on lamenting the destruction of the Temple, while simultaneously hoping for the return of the Messiah.

In Reform Judaism, we often don’t acknowledge Tisha B’Av. Rabbi Joseph B. Meszler writes that, “In the 19th century, the earliest Reform Rabbis rejected all end of days beliefs as superstitious and anti-intellectual. They made a radical change: instead of praying for a Messiah, we now pray for a Messianic Age. In Hebrew, in the prayer for our ancestors, instead of praying for a go’el or ‘redeemer,’ the Reform siddur refers to ge’ula or ‘redemption.’ These changes have been maintained from the earliest Reform innovations and continue today. It takes the ideal of waiting on one person to save us all and empowers each individual to better themselves, so collectively we can all bring upon a world of redemption.

Since we don’t celebrate Tisha B’Av at Beth Emeth, I use that day as the start of my personal reflections. We’ve almost made it through another year of the Jewish calendar. I think back on all the amazing accomplishments, celebrations, losses, and memorable moments we’ve shared as a community. I complete my preparations for the High Holy Days knowing that long days of rehearsals and programming are ahead of me. I pause - thinking of all those who came before me and their memories that I hope to honor.

This year, I know that these moments of reflection will look different. As first time parents to two amazing foster children, Frankie and I are learning and growing alongside each other. I ask myself what I hope to do better for them in the next year, what lessons I have learned, and where I can add more patience and love.

Our Jewish world transitions from Tammuz, a month of warm escapes and relaxation, to Av, a month of heated topics and reflections on redemption. These months guide us into Elul, a month of spiritual refocusing, a chance to look back on the year behind us and consider the highs and the lows. That is the beauty of Judaism. We hold the highest of highs alongside the lowest of lows. We lift each other up in the celebratory moments, while holding each other in the painful ones.

Frankie, Seamus, Freya, and I wish each of you summer joy, warmth, and renewal, as we begin to make our way towards 5786!