Rosh HaShanah is the Jewish New Year. The shofar (the ram’s horn), wakes us from our stupor and demands that we face ourselves and our wrongdoings. The liturgy of the holiday stresses that life is short, our days are numbered, and our chance to change, do good, repent, accomplish the things we dream of and treat the people we love as they deserve to be treated, is now.
The High Holy Days, unlike most Jewish holidays, are heavily focused on the synagogue. Many Jews who rarely attend synagogue will do so on these days. Although the process of teshuvah, repentance, is highly personal and introspective, we do it in the presence and solace of one another. The liturgy focuses on the themes of judgment, repentance, God’s majesty and memory.
This year, Temple Israel members will celebrate the start of the season with a special Seder together at 6:00 p.m. which proceeds our Erev Rosh HaShanah service immediately following. Rosh HaShanah morning services, which are accessible to all, will begin with a family service for those with young children at 9:00 a.m., traditional morning services at 10:30 a.m. and afternoon services broken down into several segments starting at 1:00 p.m. As our campus remains closed at this time due to COVID-19 health concerns, all services will be held virtually – via the intimate Zoom for our members and via our website and Facebook page for all others. Tashlich will be in-person, socially distanced, along the Intracoastal at 5:30 p.m.
