During our Kol Nidre ceremony, which occurs on the evening that begins Yom Kippur, we hear “Kol Nidre” three times: once with the traditional text chanted, a second time as an instrumental performance, and finally with a modern adapted text chanted to the traditional melody. The traditional Kol Nidre text anticipates that people will make commitments that they cannot keep, and purports to excuse them of their failures in advance. We preserve it in our service because Jews throughout the centuries have found the traditional text to be extraordinarily powerful. It reminds us explicitly how fallible we truly are. We hear an instrumental version of the Kol Nidre melody so that we can focus on the power of the melody itself. And we hear an adapted Humanistic version of Kol Nidre so that, even as we recognize that we can fail, we can also reaffirm our commitments to acting in concert with our core values as Humanistic Jews.
Also in keeping with Jewish tradition, we include memorial sections in both our Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur day ceremonies. Consistent with our beliefs as Humanistic Jews, we call these sections Nizkor, “Let us remember.” Nizkor affirms that human beings preserve the memory of the dead.
At Yom Kippur we donate to a local food bank representing food not eaten by those who choose to fast for that day. On Yom Kippur morning, we have a Children’s Service prior to the Main service. We sometimes include a talk by one of our members in our Main service .