Jews Mark Start of High Holy Days

Jews throughout Ventura County gathered Thursday for services to celebrate Rosh Hashana, the start of the Jewish High Holy Days, a time for reflection and spiritual renewal.

For Thousand Oaks resident Cara Galpher, Rosh Hashana, also known as the Jewish New Year, is a reminder of the need to be more tolerant of others and to appreciate those close to her.

“I’m more thankful about my family’s health and happiness,” said Galpher, 39, who was among those who attended services at Temple Adat Elohim.

Mathew Spilka, 36, of Westlake Village, said Thursday’s service made him realize he could be more patient with his children and not yell as much.

“That would make me a better parent,” he said.

In a ceremony across the county in Ventura, about 200 Jews gathered just before sunset to symbolically rid their souls of sin by casting bread crumbs into the water at Marina Park Beach.

“It’s a time to start over, a happy time,” said 15-year-old Allison Flam, who has participated in the ceremony every year since she was about 5.

Ruth Owens, 39, another participant, said Rosh Hashana marks a new beginning for her. She said she plans to spend the next year being more active in her congregation.

“The rabbi talked last night about building a better Jewish community,” said Owens, who has been attending for the last five years. “It made me think about how I want to participate and be more involved.”

After a brief ceremony with prayer, guitar music and song, members of the Temple Beth Torah congregation threw pieces of bread into the crashing waves at Marina Park.

Some brought only a slice or two of bread, while others came with several loaves.

Called “Tashlich”--meaning “to cast” in Hebrew--the ritual is part of the High Holy Days that began at sundown Wednesday with Rosh Hashana and end Oct. 11 with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

“The Tashlich is based on a quote out of the Book of Micah in Chapter 7, which states, ‘You’ll hurl all of our sins into the depths of the sea,’ ” said Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller of Temple Beth Torah.

“So, we do so figuratively by going down to the water and emptying crumbs out of our pockets into the sea or a moving body of water,” Hochberg-Miller said. “What we actually end up doing, though, is bringing bread crumbs.”

Although casting off sins is a little more complicated than simply casting bread crumbs into the ocean, Hochberg-Miller said Tashlich is psychologically beneficial to the congregation.

“It’s the experiential of what we’re speaking about in prayer during services,” she said. “We speak about casting off our sins, so this is a concrete, physical activity to remind us of what we are trying to do spiritually and personally.”

Rosh Hashana is celebrated in October, or Tishrei, because it is the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Jews are welcoming in the year 5758.

The Tashlich tradition has experienced a recent resurgence in Reform Jewish rituals, whereas it has always had a ceremonial place for Orthodox Jews.

“The pride of the early Reform was to be very rational, so many practices were disregarded because they were more symbolic and mystical,” said cantor Ralph Moses. “We’re still very practical but feel that symbolism is part of our lives because parts of our lives are very mystical.”

Asked if he felt better after throwing his crumbs in the water, Marty Ross-Kinrose, 44, said, “Absolutely, and my feet are cooler too. I feel like maybe I could have used another loaf, though.”

Traditionally, the 10 days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are a time for Jews to reflect on their lives and renew their faith.

“Jews are supposed to be going through a process of asking for repentance from people who we’ve wronged and making amends,” Hochberg-Miller said.

Yom Kippur, then, is a day of fasting and of atoning with God.

“It’s a somber day where Jews are in the synagogue the whole day,” Hochberg-Miller said. “During the prior 10 days we atone with the people we’ve hurt and on this day we atone with God for not living up to the best we can be.”

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Times correspondent David Greenberg contributed to this story.