ROSH HASHANAH: The Jewish New Year began...

ROSH HASHANAH: The Jewish New Year began Sunday night with the sounding of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah eve services. Services were held in synagogues and other facilities used to accommodate the crowds at the start of the 10-day introspective period. . . . Ten percent of San Fernando Valley adults are Jewish, a Times Poll found in 1991, compared to a 2% Jewish population nationally.

DAYS OFF: Valley schools and workplaces may notice a difference because of the Holy Days, starting today. Rosh Hashanah is observed one day by Reform Jews and two days by Conservative and Orthodox adherents. . . . The High Holy Days culminate with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on Oct. 4, when even many of the marginally religious will be at synagogues rather than at work.

MOTIVES: Temple Aliyah’s Rabbi Stewart Vogel in Woodland Hills says many Jews find the repentance rites meaningful. But Vogel, above, also welcomes “bettors” (“Just in case you are really there, God, I am sorry for everything!”) and “afflicters,” who believe “the pain they endure sitting through services” fulfills their spiritual duty.

INTELLECT: The 5,000 people attending Encino’s Valley Beth Shalom expect intellectual sermons from Rabbi Harold Schulweis on Rosh Hashanah. This year’s topic: “Social Darwinism and Jewish Political Life.” . . . But Schulweis also has a playful side: He portrays a rabbi with three lines of dialogue in the new movie “Unstrung Heroes.” The scene was shot, however, at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, not Valley Beth Shalom.

GOD-TALK: Spiritual/mystical sermons are more popular this year, says Rabbi William Kramer of Temple Beth Emet in Burbank. . . . “I’ll be talking about searching the message of our own soul,” he said. The meditative-mystical Makom Ohr Shalom temple, based in Woodland Hills, led by Rabbi Mordecai Finley, is holding holiday services this year at roomier Santa Monica High School.