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Horn's Call: Reflect, Repent, Rejoice

By JEFF SCULLIN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2007

Once a year, Jews are called to atone formally for wrongdoings, humble their souls and cleanse themselves of sin before God.
Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the Jewish new year and of the Jewish High Holy Days.

This year, Rosh Hashanah will run from sundown Wednesday to sundown Friday. Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, will run from Sept. 21-22.

The holidays mark a period of serious reflection in the Jewish calendar, with Yom Kippur considered the holiest day of the year.

'It's a time to see what we have accomplished in the past year,' said Rabbi Yossi Eber of the Chabad Jewish Center of West Pasco.

'If you stop and you think and you meditate, it's just like taking an accounting of any corporation. ... It's the same thing on a personal level.'
Rosh Hashanah marks the creation of Adam and Eve and reminds believers of their relationship to God. The traditional shofar, or ram's horn, is sounded like a trumpet's blast as a call to repent. Rosh Hashanah also begins the 10 Days of Repentance, which culminate in Yom Kippur.

The holiday calls people to repent, pray and make resolutions for the new year, Eber said.

For Rosh Hashanah, people eat apples and challah bread dipped in honey. A fish head also typically is served, reminding people to be a head and not a tail. On the first day, people perform the Tashlich ceremony, symbolically casting their sins into the water.

'We're leaving our shortcomings behind us and starting a new, clean year,' Eber said.

During Yom Kippur, when sins are forgiven, Jews fast, abstain from bathing, wearing leather shoes and sex. The day includes five prayer services and concludes with a single blast from the shofar and the familiar words, 'Next year in Jerusalem,' an expression of hope for the messiah's coming and peace on Earth.

Messianic Jews, who believe Jesus, or Y'shua, was the messiah, celebrate the Jewish High Holy Days in much the same way, but the significance of the rituals is a little different, said Jeff Zaremsky, the rabbi at Beth El-Shalom synagogue in New Port Richey.

With services steeped in ritual and tradition, people coming to a messianic observance of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur would notice no difference from their own synagogue, save a sermon about Jesus, he said.

But messianic Jews interpret the rituals differently. Rosh Hashanah tells them to get ready for the Second Coming, while Yom Kippur relates to the final judgment.

Their belief in Jesus as the Jewish messiah also allows messianic Jews to incorporate concepts of forgiveness into the High Holy Days, Zaremsky said.

'His death gives us that forgiveness, and his life, because he's been resurrected, gives us the power to live new lives,' he said.

The solemnity of Yom Kippur gives way to traditional song and dance and, of course, a big meal. A few days later, Sukkot begins, commemorating the 40 years the Jews spent wandering the desert and living in temporary shelters. During Sukkot, people build a temporary hut, known as a sukkah, outdoors, and eat there for seven days.

'The singing and dancing is to show that we're sure that God has forgiven us and given us a good new year, a sweet new year,' Eber said. 'There's a lot of positive thinking there.'
HIGH HOLY DAYS SERVICES

Congregation Beth Tefillah

Jewish Community Center of West Pasco, 9841 Scenic Drive, Port Richey, (727) 847-3814

Selichos: today, refreshments at 9 and services at 10 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah: Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.

Yom Kippur:

Kol Nidre, Sept. 21, 7 p.m

Yom Kippur, Sept. 22, 9 a.m.

Yizkor, 5:30 p.m.

Mincha, 6 p.m.

Neilah, 7 p.m.

Cost: $35 for members, $75 for nonmembers, $10 for ages 14-18, $5 for ages 6-13, free for children 5 and younger. Buy tickets in the office from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Chabad of West Pasco
Services at the Quality Inn, 5316 U.S. 19, New Port Richey, (727) 376-3366 or

www.chabadwp.com

Rosh Hashanah: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m.; Friday, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. (shofar blowing)

Yom Kippur:

Kol Nidre, Sept. 21, 7 p.m.

Morning service, Sept. 22, 9:30 a.m.

Yizkor, 11:30 a.m.

Neilah, 6:45 p.m.

Breakfast, 8:03 p.m.

Cost: Free

Beth El-Shalom

6209 Congress St., New Port Richey, (727) 375-7502