By Khalida Sarwari
This time of year, Jewish communities throughout the world celebrate the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and the Jewish community in the South Bay is no different.
Rosh Hashana begins the 10 days of penitence culminating in Yom Kippur, known as the Day of Atonement, the most solemn religious fast of the Jewish year. During this period, it is common for Jews to examine their deeds and repent for sins they’ve committed against other people and God in the form of additional supplications, confessing their deeds before God, fasting, self-reflection and an increase of involvement with, or donations to, charity.
Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos will hold services for these holidays beginning on Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. Services for the two-day holiday continue on Sept. 25 at 10 a.m.
On Sept. 27, the synagogue will hold a ceremony commemorating Tashlich, an ancient Jewish custom of symbolically casting one’s sins into a body of running water. The act is meant to symbolize the removal of bad traits “and the things we want to separate ourselves from so we can head off to be a better person in the new year,” said Rabbi Melanie Rabbi Aron.
That service will be held at 10:30 a.m. at Wildwood Park. Held previously for two decades at Vasona Park in Los Gatos, this is the synagogue’s third year holding the service at Wildwood, which as it turned out, is the perfect venue for such a ceremony, Aron said.
“There’s a little wooden stage there,” she said. “We bring the whole congregation up there. It’s just a beautiful, shaded and very lovely place to have a prayer service. And then you can also walk to the creek. It’s very accessible for the older members of the congregation that want to come but can’t walk far distances.”
To add a modern twist to this ritual, Aron said, congregants cast pebbles on the water instead of bread, which communities have historically used to represent their sins. They began doing this only within the last seven years after a ranger reminded them that bread crumbs are not healthy for wildfowl. Realizing that it wasn’t in line with the spirit of Judaism to hurt animals, the synagogue switched to pebbles instead, Aron said.
During the Tashlich ceremony, congregants will gather for a prayer service in the morning, followed by a walk to the creek for a prayer recitation, a moment of reflection and casting of pebbles. Throughout the afternoon, there will be activities for children and a potluck picnic. Typically, about 80 people attend this ceremony, according to Aron. Observers come from all over the South Bay, with a third attending from Saratoga, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno.
Yom Kippur services will be held Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. and resume at 10 a.m. the following day until the conclusion of the fast at sunset. Most people will usually spend the day in prayer or studying scripture. There are also programs for children.
“The theme of the holiday,” said Aron, “is atonement and wanting to put oneself back on the right path and rebuilding relationships that have been damaged in the year that went by.”
Services for Yom Kippur will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Saratoga. This year marks the synagogue’s 15th year of holding its High Holiday services there.
Shir Hadash is a reform synagogue with more than 600 member families based in Los Gatos and Saratoga.
Link: Shir Hadash to hold Jewish High Holy Days services at Wildwood
