Congregations Mark Jewish High Holy Days

As the sun dipped into the Pacific on Friday, Jews throughout Ventura County celebrated the start of year 5757 of the Jewish calendar with song and solemn prayer.

Sundown marked the start of Rosh Hashana, the first of the Jewish High Holy Days that will culminate with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on Sept. 23.

It is a season when Jews celebrate the creation of the world and reflect on their actions during the past year. It is also the time when many who don’t attend temple regularly flock to synagogues to reconnect with their people and their faith.

“Synagogues fill up at this time of year more than at any other time, so it’s kind of a homecoming,” said Rabbi Michael Berk of Ventura’s Temple Beth Torah. “It’s like a great in-gathering of the Jewish people.”

Congregations throughout the county had spent the week preparing for the High Holy Days, in some cases renting spaces outside their temples to handle the expected overflow crowds. Rabbis polished their speeches, preparing comments that ranged from reflections on morality to assessments of how the Jewish people worldwide had fared during the previous year.

At Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, Rabbi Shimon Paskow prepared a speech reviewing the past 100 years of Jewish history. In 1896, Paskow noted, Theodor Herzl published “The Jewish State,” a book that called for an independent Jewish homeland at a time when Jews were widely persecuted throughout Europe.

“We’ve come a long way,” Paskow said. “In those days, very few people even spoke Hebrew.”

He also saw Friday night’s two services--one in the temple and an overflow service in the neighboring Methodist church--as a chance to encourage his congregation to become more involved in the larger community. Worshipers would receive bags during the services along with a request to return them filled with food that could be donated to local charities.

“Here in America, we’re in the midst, in a way, of a golden age,” Paskow said. “But not everyone is prospering.”

In Simi Valley, Paskow’s daughter, Michele, had drawn up a similar sermon. As rabbi of Congregation B’Nai Emet, the younger Paskow wanted to talk about the Jewish people’s future.

“I like to create an upbeat and festive and spiritual atmosphere,” she said.

Her congregation would celebrate all the High Holy Days at the Rancho Santa Susana Community Center, a far bigger space than its usual place of worship in a Simi Valley industrial park. Although some of those attending might not set foot inside a synagogue any other time of the year, Paskow welcomed their presence.

“I try to make it meaningful for them,” she said. “For some people, that’s their time to check in and get in touch with the community.”

In Ojai, Friday marked the third Rosh Hashana celebration for one of Ventura County’s newest Jewish congregations. The Jewish Community of the Oaks formed in 1994 from a disparate group of people who have since grown close in their faith, said David R. Feigin, co-president of the congregation’s Jewish Center.

“We started basically as strangers having the common threads of Judaism and living in Ojai,” he said. “It’s going very, very well.”

This year, the celebration will include several younger members talking about what Rosh Hashana means to them.

Services will continue today, with some congregations holding Sunday services as well. And several groups plan to visit area lakes and beaches Sunday to symbolically cast their sins into the water, easing their burden as they enter the new year.