Jewish families celebrate Rosh Hashana

Amy R. Spurgeon

NEWPORT MESA -- Hundreds of Jewish families gathered at sundown

Friday to observe the beginning of Rosh Hashana -- the Jewish holiday

that marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year.

The 10 days that follow are called the Days of Awe and Jews around the

world will spend time focusing on repentance, judgment and atonement. The

High Holy Days are considered the second major cycle of festivals in the

Jewish year and will end Sept. 20 with Yom Kippur.

“This is a time of introspection,” said Dr. Lee Berman, president of

Temple Bat Yahm of Newport Beach. “It is a time to be thankful for the

freedom to worship.

“This is a time for the Jewish community.”

Berman’s 14-year-old son, Joey, said High Holy Days are a special time

of year because he is reminded of the importance of being good and kind

toward others.

Hundreds of well-dressed people streamed into Temple Bat Yahm on

Friday while cars outside filled the streets. People young and old hugged

one another as they entered the large house of worship.

Holocaust survivor Erzsebeth Freifeld stood among the crowd while her

family found their seats.

“This holiday brings everything back,” said Freifeld, 83, who lost her

entire family in the Holocaust. “It reminds me of my parents.”

Wide-eyed 10-year-old Peter de Penne said this was his first time

worshiping at Temple Bat Yahm, which is a reform congregation. De Penne

comes from an Orthodox Jewish background where the rules are more strict.

“I kind of have to be here and I kind of want to be here,” de Penne

said while holding his prayer book and wearing the traditional yarmulke,

a skullcap Jewish men wear signifying the respect that man has for God.

One biblical ritual during Rosh Hashana is the blowing of the shofar,

or ram’s horn, which symbolizes the awakening of slumbering souls. Apples

and honey are also eaten to welcome a sweet new year.

Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach and Temple Bat Yahm both held services

at 8 p.m. Friday. Temple Isaiah will hold worship services at 10 a.m.

today and Sunday. Bat Yahm will hold a 9 and 10:45 a.m. service today.

“This is the beginning of a new spirit and a new hope,” said Flory Van

Beek of Temple Isaiah.

Bat Yahm members will join Rabbi Mark Miller and the cantor at North

Star Beach in Newport at 1:30 p.m. today for the “Tashlich,” or the

religious act of going to a body of water to cast away sins.

The Pacific Community of Secular Humanistic Jews is planning a Rosh

Hashana program for from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at the Marriott Suites

Hotel in Costa Mesa.

Yom Kippur services are slated for 1 p.m. Sept. 20 at Orange Coast

Unitarian Universalist Church in Costa Mesa. Group members said the

services will strive to demonstrate the response of Secular Humanistic

Judaism to the changes of the contemporary world.