Rabbis Prepare for Holy Day of Atoning

At sundown today, the start of Yom Kippur, Rabbi Bernie King’s thoughts will turn to Ronald Lyle Goldman’s grieving parents, with whom he speaks by telephone every few nights.

King will talk about the stabbing death of the Goldmans’ 25-year-old son in his opening sermon for Yom Kippur, a holiday of atonement and forgiveness that is the most solemn day of the Jewish year. By the time King delivers his sermon, the Goldmans, whom he befriended at a candlelight vigil for parents of slain children, will know whether O.J. Simpson has been convicted of murdering their son and Nicole Brown Simpson.

“In terms of the Goldmans themselves, I hope that this period would open their hearts . . . that they could find, somehow, some modicum of forgiveness for the kind of person that could do such an act,” said King, rabbi at Congregation Shir Hama’alot.

Throughout Orange County, rabbis will incorporate the themes of atonement and forgiveness in their services for the most important Jewish holiday of the year. On Yom Kippur, which lasts until Wednesday at sundown, the faithful abstain from eating, drinking and working, and they ask forgiveness from God and those close to them. Some congregations sponsor food drives for the needy to mark the holy day.

King acknowledges it will not be easy for the Goldmans to forgive the killer of their son, who was slain last June along with Nicole Brown Simpson.

“That’s probably as hard as it gets,” said King, who helped lead a second candlelight vigil for Ron Goldman on June 12, the one-year anniversary of his death.

Yom Kippur is the time to buckle down and work on forgiveness, said Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark.

“In the past week, people have come to me and said, ‘Rabbi, if I have hurt you in some way, I’m sorry,’ and I’ve done the same thing,” said Goldmark of Temple Beth Ohr in La Mirada. “And that’s what it’s all about: to try to wipe the slate clean and not to carry burdens in the coming year.”

Goldmark said his Yom Kippur sermon will focus on the simple act of listening.

“So often, we’re so busy talking and responding to what people say that we really don’t spend time to listen to them,” he said. “And that is one of the major themes of Yom Kippur--listening to what God is saying to us and, of course, listening to the people around us.”

The holy day also is a time for Jews to re-evaluate their faith, said Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson of Congregation Eilat in Mission Viejo.

“I want to speak about how you need to be able to see someone’s faith,” he said, “such as by feeding the hungry or observing the Sabbath or visiting the sick or working with the homeless.”

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In Aliso Viejo, Temple Beth El will hold a special “healing service” for the first time, to pray for people who need physical or spiritual healing, said cantor Shula Kalir-Merton.

“Because of the kind of lives we lead and the world we live in, it is geared to narrow the bridge between the human soul and God,” she said.

Rabbi Allen Krause at Temple Beth El said he will talk about turning to God in troubled times.

“The role of the rabbi is to disturb those who are sort of smug and comfort those who are troubled,” he said, “and so I think both of those elements are part of the messages I’m going to be giving. I think a lot of people need spiritual comforting.

“It’s hard out there.”