In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe consist of:strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ;
by extension, the period of ten days including those holidays, known also as the Ten Days of Repentance ; or,
by a further extension, the entire 40-day penitential period in the Jewish year from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur, traditionally taken to represent the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai before coming down with the second ("replacement") set of the Tablets of Stone.
Ashkenazi-style shofar. The shofar is used during the High Holy Days.
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous revelation which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the Theophany at Mount Sinai. A highly liberal strand of Judaism, it is characterized by little stress on ritual and personal observance, regarding Jewish law as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous, and by a great openness to external influences and progressive values.
The interior of Congregation Emanu-El of New York, the largest Reform synagogue in the world.
A segment of the 1818 Hamburg prayer book. Stating "accept the uttering of our lips instead of our obligatory sacrifices" and omitting the traditional "O gather our dispersions... Conduct us unto Zion" passage.
A passage from the Reformed Society's prayerbook, which was mostly in English and theologically more radical than Hamburg's.
Rabbi Samuel Holdheim, circa 1850.