High Holy Days are here

Young Chang

Children from Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach will send helium balloons

with paper promises tucked inside up to the heavens Sunday.

The promises, their Jewish New Year’s resolutions, include “I will be

kind to pets,” “I will not steal” and “I will be a better person.”

All week, the children have been working on the project, which is

their way of starting off fresh, Rabbi Marc Rubenstein said.

Adults will do the same this Rosh Hashana, which means “head of the

year,” by taking stock of who they’ve been and who they want to be.

The celebration marks the beginning of High Holy Days, which includes

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, starting at sundown Oct. 8.

“It’s a time of introspection,” said Selma Sladek, director of arts

and culture for the Jewish Community Center in Costa Mesa. “It’s a time

of looking inward and setting goals for the new year and looking at what

you didn’t accomplish.”

Even singles and people who aren’t affiliated with a local temple had

a place to go Friday, the evening of Rosh Hashana. A singles service was

held at the center because this is a time of year when Jews like to come

together and celebrate their roots, Sladek said.

High Holy Days services at the center will continue through Oct. 9,

when a memorial service will be held.

Jews fast on Yom Kippur to ignore their physical desires and instead

concentrate on spiritual needs -- prayer, repentance and

self-improvement. A break-the-fast supper will follow the memorial

service, Sladek said.

The center plans every service according to the mahzor, the High Holy

Days prayer book, Sladek said. The center follows the order of services

and prayers according to the book’s instructions.

“It’s very much a time of prayer and making amends and asking that we

be inscribed for a life of goodness and justice and love and peace,” she

said. “The belief is that our fate is sealed for this time period, and

there is a communal confession of sins.”

Temple Isaiah has lined up an upbeat service, Rubenstein said, with

messages touching on such contemporary issues as the Olympics,

presidential and vice presidential candidates, the mapping of human

genes, and the right to life.

“That makes High Holy Days come alive for people, instead of just

prayers read out of a prayer book,” the rabbi said. “I certainly am

trying to be a catalyst of transformation to create a new spiritual

year.”

Friday night’s service included a festive Oneg Shabbat/Rosh Hashana

reception. Traditional morning services will take place today and Sunday.

On Oct. 8, a Holy Kol Nidre service will be held.

“Kol Nidre” means “all vows” and is the name of a liturgical formula

chanted by Jews on Yom Kippur.

The all-day Yom Kippur service will begin at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 9 and last

through sundown. A break-the-fast meal will also be served.

Rubenstein sums up Rosh Hashana by saying it’s about two things: hope

and reflection. People pray confessions and for forgiveness because

there’s a difference between error and sin.

“We put erasers on pencils,” Rubenstein said. “God doesn’t expect

anyone to be perfect.”

FYI

WHAT: High Holy Days services at the Jewish Community Center

WHEN: 10 a.m. today, and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 and 9 a.m. Oct. 9 for Yom

Kippur. A memorial service at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 9 will conclude High Holy

Days. A break-the-fast supper will follow.

WHERE: 250 E. Baker St., Suite C, Costa Mesa

CALL: (714) 755-0340

WHAT: High Holy Days services at Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach

WHEN: A traditional morning service at 9:30 a.m. today and Sunday. The

Holy Kol Nidre service will begin at 7 p.m. Oct. 8 and the all-day Yom

Kippur service will begin at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 9 and run through sundown. A

break-the-fast meal will be served.

WHERE: 2401 Irvine Ave., Newport Beach

CALL: (949) 548-6900