RELIGION : SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FILE : Services to Mark High Holy Days and Start of Jewish New Year

Southern California Jews next week usher in their 10-day season of moral contemplation, penitence and forgiveness as they observe the start of the Jewish New Year and the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashana begins Friday at sundown with the blowing of the ram’s horn, known as a shofar. The horn is meant to awaken people to their hurtful actions of the past year and call them to penitence.

Righting relations with other people is the focus of the season’s first nine days, building up to Yom Kippur. On this day of solemn penitence, “we ask God to forgive us for the sins that only God knows,” said Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark, acting director of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California.

“The Jewish philosophy is to start the new year off by making amends with our fellow human beings and God, and the rest of the year you’re in with a clean slate instead of carrying these burdens on your shoulders constantly,” Goldmark said.

Here is a listing of some High Holy Days services around the Southland:

* Temple Rodeph Shalom services at Hacienda Hotel, 525 N. Sepulveda Blvd., El Segundo, 8 p.m. Friday. (562) 938-9805.

* Temple Ahavat Shalom, 18200 Rinaldi Place in Northridge, adult services Friday at 6:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., family services at 6:15 p.m. Adult services next Saturday at 8:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., family services at 8:45 a.m. (818) 360-2258.

* Congregation Mishkon Tephilo, 206 Main St. in Venice, Tashlich ritual to symbolically cast off sins, on the beach at Navy Street and Ocean Front Walk in Santa Monica, Sept. 12 at 5 p.m.

* Beth Shir Sholom, 1827 California Ave. in Santa Monica, services at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday. Meditation at 8 a.m. next Saturday, followed by services at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Services for children and young adults at 3 p.m. next Saturday, with a Tashlich service at 4 p.m. on the beach south of Loew’s Hotel in Santa Monica. (310) 453-3361.

* Shomrei Torah Synagogue, 7353 Valley Circle Blvd. in West Hills, family services at 6 p.m. Friday, combined services at 8:15 p.m. (818) 346-0811.

* Stephen S. Wise Temple, 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive in Los Angeles, services at Bel-Air Presbyterian Church and Skirball Cultural Center Auditorium on Friday at 6 p.m and 9 p.m., and next Saturday at 8:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Services Friday at Milken Community High School and Hershenson Hall at 7:15 p.m., and next Saturday at 10 a.m. (310) 476-8561.

* Temple Beth Am, 1039 S. La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles, minyan at 6:45 p.m. Friday and service at 8 p.m. in the main sanctuary. Next Saturday, services are at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and minyan at 6:45 p.m.; Sept. 12 services are at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. (310) 652-7353, ext. 223.

* Temple Etz Chaim, 1080 Janss Road in Thousand Oaks, will sponsor a High Holy Days yeshiva today featuring an 8 p.m. service and discussion groups on the shofar, seasonal songs, prayer books and other topics. Rosh Hashana services begin Friday at 8:15 p.m., next Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and Sept. 12 at 9:30 a.m. Children’s services begin at 2:30 p.m. next Saturday. (805) 497-6891.

* USC Hillel, 3300 S. Hoover Blvd. in Los Angeles, Friday dinner at 5:30 p.m., service at 7:30 p.m. and kiddush and student reception at 9 p.m. Next Saturday, service is at 9 a.m., kiddush at 12:30 p.m., student luncheon at 1 p.m., Reform havurah at 3 p.m. On Sept. 12, service is at 9 a.m., shofar blowing at noon, kiddush at 12:30 p.m., Tashlich at 1 p.m. (213) 747-9135.

* Temple Israel of Hollywood, 7300 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles, service Friday at 8 p.m. Next Saturday, children’s service at 9 a.m., youth program at 10:30 a.m., adult service at 10:30 a.m., adult minyan at 10:30 a.m. On Sept. 12, service is at 10 a.m. (323) 876-8330.

* Temple Akiba, 4117 Overland Ave. in Los Angeles, Friday service at 8 p.m. Next Saturday, adult service at 10 a.m. and children’s service at 3:30 p.m. (310) 398-5783.

* Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, 1434 N. Altadena Drive in Pasadena, services Friday at 8 p.m., next Saturday at 8:30 a.m., Sept. 12 at 8:30 a.m. (626) 798-1161.

* Temple Beth Torah, 11827 Venice Blvd. in Los Angeles, Selichot services at 11:57 p.m. today, and Rosh Hashana services at 8 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. next Saturday and Sept. 12 (310) 398-4536.

* Yeshiva of Los Angeles and the Community Beit Midrash will present lectures on preparing for the High Holy Days on Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of the Jewish Studies Institute, will speak at 9:45 a.m., and Rabbi Dovid Landesman, principal of the YULA Boys High School, will speak at 10:45 a.m. On Monday, Rabbi Nachum Sauer of Rosh Kollel will speak at 9:45 a.m. and Rabbi Shlomo Goldberg, dean of Ohr Eliyahu Academy, will speak at 10:45 a.m. The lectures will take place at 9760 W. Pico Blvd. (310) 772-2485 or e-mail: hgreenspan@yola.org.

The Jewish Theological Seminary has launched a Rosh Hashana Web site featuring New Year’s cards, sacred music, commentaries, general information and interactive opportunities for parents and children. The address is: https://learn.jtsa.edu/roshhashanah.

EVENTS

Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Han, a spiritual teacher, poet and author, will lead a five-day retreat beginning Monday at UC Santa Barbara. The retreat, entitled “Seven Miracles of Mindfulness,” will focus on transforming suffering and bringing forth peace, joy and freedom in daily life. (800) 863-5290.

* A documentary about Holocaust survivors, “Witness: Voices From the Holocaust,” will be screened today at 7:30 p.m. at Beth Shir Sholom, 1827 California Ave. in Santa Monica. (310) 453-3361.

* Stan Meyer, an evangelist with Jews for Jesus, will speak today at 2 p.m. at World Gospel Church, 380 E. Covina Blvd. in Covina. (626) 446-0391.

Notices may be mailed for consideration to Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or faxed to Southern California File at (213) 237-4712, or e-mailed to religion@latimes.com. Items should arrive two to three weeks before the event and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time. Because of the volume of submissions, we cannot guarantee publication.