The Inner Harbor is a special place for Baltimoreans. Every year, since 2012, Jewish Baltimoreans attending Chabad Lubavitch of Downtown Baltimore’s Rosh Hashanah services have gathered at the Inner Harbor to celebrate the Jewish new year with food, prayers and the blowing of the shofar.
Due to the big crowds that the High Holiday services bring, Chabad Lubavitch of Downtown Baltimore had to offer its services at a location bigger than the Chabad House. In the last couple of years, Chabad Lubavitch of Downtown Baltimore has hosted its Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services at the Pier 5 Hotel, which overlooks the harbor and provides more space for the services.
“The program is designed to give people who could not make it to shul during the day a chance to celebrate the holiday,” Rabbi Levi Druk, director of Chabad Lubavitch of Downtown Baltimore, said. “In addition, many who have been at services join us too, for the camaraderie and Tashlich.”
The evening program at the harbor was originally known as “Rosh Hashanah Slackers’ Service,” but the Chabad House rebranded it a couple of years ago and now calls it “Shofar @ the Harbor.”
“We get together for shofar blowing, the main mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah. We pray the short afternoon Mincha prayer, recite the Tashlich at the harbor and enjoy some holiday treats like apples dipped in honey and honey cake,” Druk said.
Druk noted that the programming has evolved over the years, with more services and community events being added to meet the interests and schedules of downtown residents.
“Over the years, we’ve added more programming,” Druk explained. “Sometime around 2012 or 2013, we started with a late-afternoon shofar service. Finally, in the last couple of years, based on popular demand, we added to the [programs] a full schedule of Rosh Hashanah services and Kiddush lunch.”
Chabad’s offerings have grown to include preholiday traditions such as a challah bake, where participants prepare sweet, round loaves of challah to share with the community. Additionally, a Young Jewish Professionals’ dinner and community Rosh Hashanah meals have become part of the annual calendar, reflecting the Chabad House’s mission to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for Jews of all backgrounds.
In the early years, Druk and volunteers would also visit patients in downtown hospitals during Rosh Hashanah, bringing with them the sound of the shofar and the warmth of the holiday.
Druk said that they haven’t run into many issues with using the Inner Harbor as a place for their evening services, but one time, Druk explained, there was a group occupying the place where they had planned to do their service.
“The harbor is a busy place, and there are lots of people doing lots of different things,” he explained. “We once came to our designated spot and found a group doing yoga. We waited for them to finish, and it all worked out.”
Tashlich, the Rosh Hashanah custom of casting away one’s sins, typically done by throwing pieces of bread into a body of water, remains an important part of the Chabad’s Rosh Hashanah service. All other programs for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will be held at the Pier 5 Hotel, just a block away.
For Druk and many in the downtown Jewish community, holding these ceremonies at such a prominent city landmark adds a layer of meaning.
“The harbor is a Baltimore landmark and the center of downtown. I think it is very special to get to do a mitzvah there and create a sense of Jewish pride.”
