High Holy Day Childcare and Family Programming
Childcare is available on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur while parents are attending services.
Pre-registration is required to participate.
Rosh Hashanah Day 1
Thursday, October 3
• 9:00am-12:45pm (During Early Service) for Ages 2-5, Grades K-6 and Grades 7-12 ("Holy ViBeS")
• 2:00-5:15pm (During Late Service) for Ages 2-5, Grades K-6
Yom Kippur
Saturday, October 12
• 9:00am-12:45pm (During Early Service) for Ages 2-5, Grades K-6
• 10:30-11:30am for Grades 7-12 ("Holy ViBeS")
• 2:00-5:00pm (During Late Service) for Ages 2-5 and Grades K-6 only
Note: Programming for Grades 7-12 is not offered during Late Service
Pre-Registration
Family Services
Tot Shofar and B'Yachad Family Services welcome our littlest congregants (school-aged children). These lively service options include storytelling and singing. This year, Family Services will be led by VBS Rabbinic Intern Avi Kushlan.
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 (Thursday, October 3):
- 9:00-9:45am: Tot Shofar Family Service (tailored for ECC ages 5 and under)
- 10:30-11:30am: B'Yachad Family Service (tailored for elementary school ages)
Rosh Hashanah Day 2 (Friday, October 4):
- 10:00am: Beach & Blessings Family Service and Tashlich (off-site)
OFF-SITE LOCATION:
415 Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica (adjacent to Annenberg Community Beach House) between lifeguard towers 2 and 4All are welcome to gather in song and celebrate the New Year together with our Family Service Musicians for a casual and meaningful outdoor Rosh Hashanah experience. We will come together for a brief service, shofar blowing and Tashlich – bring your own earth-conscious crumbs, shofars and picnic lunch. Click here to help plan your visit to this location >
RSVP Requested > click here 
5:00pm: Tashlich at Lake Balboa (off-site)
Click here for details
Yom Kippur (Monday, September 25):
- 9:00-9:45am: Tot Shofar Family Service
- 10:30-11:30am: B'Yachad Family Service
- All are welcome to join together for Mincha, Neilah and the Final Sounding of the Shofar at approximately 7:24pm
Click here for service times and options
Meet Our Family Service Musicians
Daphna Gutman, Cantorial Soloist
Daphna Venyige Gutman is a Los Angeles native who currently serves as Valley Beth Shalom’s Music Coordinator for ECC and Young Families. She has been singing, performing, and playing music since childhood.
She was the Director of the Parent-Child program at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach during 2011 -2014, and for almost a decade Daphna was a Music Together teacher and director in Miami, leading large classes of parents and children in music, rhythm, and movement. During this time Daphna came to learn how music-making can transform the relationship between child and caregiver in rich and meaningful ways, as well as how music has the power to instill a love of the Hebrew language, Judaica, and Yiddishkeit in children (and parents) of all ages.
Before moving to Miami, Daphna was employed for over a decade at ABC News in Jerusalem where she had the privilege of working with Diane Sawyer, Ted Koppel, and the late Peter Jennings, to name a few. She moonlit for Time Warner Hong Kong as the lead role of “Nicky” in their award winning program, English Time, a musical, multi-media language course to teach Asian students to speak, read, and write in English. She'd moved from LA to Israel after high school, first working the fields of Kibbutz Tzorah for four years while serving in the IDF as a "lone soldier."
Daphna has a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from UC Berkeley. She is married to Matt Gutman and together they have two children, Libby and Ben, two dogs, and a cat.
Yoni Arbel, guitar
Yoni Arbel is a multi-instrumentalist composer from Los Angeles, California. He plays guitar, bass, saxophone, flute, and raps in a variety of musical styles and groups. Since graduating from the University of Southern California in 2015, Yoni has written and recorded several albums of original songs with his band, performed with musicians throughout the area, and has taught music in schools and privately. He also performs frequently at events in the LA Jewish community. Recently, Yoni was awarded the Bruce Geller Memorial Word Grant from AJU for his work.
Noam Israeli, percussion
Noam Israeli is a Los Angeles based drummer, producer and recording artist from Israel. Ever since being young, he has been fascinated with music - trying different instruments until he fell in love with the drums at age 12. Israeli has studied at the Rimon School of Jazz, Israel Conservatory of Music and The Berklee College of Music, from which he graduated with a Masters degree in music performance and production. Through his studies in Berklee, he was a member of the prestigious Berklee Global Jazz Institute, led by virtuoso pianist Danilo Perez. In 2013, Israeli was a finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Drum Competition, held in Washington DC. Noam Israeli has performed in major festivals and famous venues and halls around the world, and performed with notable musicians such as Danilo Perez, Joe Lovano, Ben Street, Miguel Zenon and others.
Par Par, vocals 
Par Par (Hebrew for butterfly) has been a professional recording touring musician and songwriter, songleader, and Jewish Educator in Los Angeles for over fifteen years. New to the VBS family, she hopes to support children in discovering, developing, and expressing their Jewish identities and music appreciation through the sentiment of song.
Originally raised in the Los Angeles area, she is a graduate of UCLA in Ethnomusicology (Jazz, Vocal). Par Par has worked with Wilshire Blvd Temple, Kehillat Ma’arav, Temple Aliyah and many more since her first memorable moments of being deeply inspired by Judaism, Jewish music, and Jewish life as a bright-eyed camper at Gindling Hilltop Jewish Sleep Away Summer Camp in Malibu. It was initially at summer camp as a camper where she first developed a deep connection to Judaism, later having the opportunity as a returning staff member to harness skills as a songleader and educator in Jewish music, life, culture, ethics, values, morals, spirituality, and way of life through music, theatre, art, creative writing and crafty Limud programs. It is Par Par's passion to connect with youth of all ages offering a platform of possibilities with Torah as a tool to become their best possible selves while discovering, developing, and defining what Jewish identity means to them. She hopes to add ruach and chutzpah to VBS through the music team.
Wed, December 18 2024
17 Kislev 5785
Wed, December 18 2024 17 Kislev 5785
