It is September and the Jewish community worldwide is preparing for the Jewish New Year 5784.
This includes observance of the High Holy Days and other holidays commemorating the harvest and beginning of the Torah reading cycle. This is the high point of the year at Temple Shalom of Central Florida, located in Oxford.
“Our High Holy Day prayer services embrace the joy and emotion of the season. We offer an opportunity to break from our normal routines and reflect on our past year achievements and challenges and explore how we might change in the future. We hope for good health, happiness and fulfillment for ourselves, our families and our community,” said Dennis Roth, president of Temple Shalom of Central Florida and a resident of Village of Dunedin.
Rabbi Zev Sonnenstein will lead all High Holy Day Services accompanied by the Temple Shalom Choir. Leora Kerness, clergy intern, will supply her beautiful voice to enhance services. Rabbi is assisted by the Temple Ritual Committee led by Samantha Sherman, Village of Buttonwood.
“On Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate life and the possibility of new beginnings. We affirm the freedom and responsibility we have, to conduct our lives with decency and morality. On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we focus on the mistakes we make when we fail to exercise our freedom with responsibility. We seek atonement and forgiveness for our mistakes, and we experience the fragility of life. We realize that we want to make a meaningful difference by the way we live our lives while we still can and do teshuvah. Contained within the word teshuvah is the root shuv, meaning to turn, return reflect and learn how we can be our best selves and our best as a community,” the rabbi said.
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts at sundown Friday, Sept. 15.
A Guide to the Jewish High Holidays
Rosh Hashanah, is the first Jewish High Holy Day occurring in early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. Customs include sounding the shofar (a ram’s horn), attending synagogue services and enjoying festive meals including apples dipped in honey, for a sweet new year.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest Jewish day of the year. It takes place 10 days after the New Year.
The Holidays continue with Sukkot or Festival of Shelters. During the existence of the Jerusalem Temple, it was one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivalswhich the Israelites were commanded to perform. It marks the end of the harvest and the agricultural year in Israel. It lasts seven days. The Sukkah is a temporarywalled structure covered with plant material, tableswhere meals are eaten and many people sleep there as well. Temple Shalom builds a Sukkah every year.
Simchat Torah
Following seven joyous days of Sukkot, come the happy holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.The second day is known as Simchat Torah, when we complete and immediately begin the new annual Torah reading cycle. This joyous milestone is marked with dancing as the Torah scrolls are held aloft.
For more information visit the Temple Shalom website www.tscfl.org, email at [email protected] or call 352-748-1800.