Prayers for Middle East End High Holy Days

Roni Shelcoviz, an Israeli citizen who lives in Irvine, doesn’t attend temple much, not even on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

But the 19-year-old found herself Monday at Irvine’s Congregation Shir Ha Ma’alot, observing the Day of Atonement. The escalating conflict in her homeland brought her to the synagogue.

“I feel like since I’m here and not in Israel, this is the least I can do,” said Shelcoviz, who works at the temple and whose parents live in Tel Aviv.

Against the background of renewed violence in Israel, tens of thousands packed Orange County synagogues Sunday evening and Monday to observe Yom Kippur, a time when Jews fast; ask God, family, friends and enemies for forgiveness; and grant it to others.

It’s a somber holiday, made more so this week by the bloodshed in Israel, where many Orange County Jews have friends and relatives.

“It just breaks my heart,” said Jean Marcus, a former Roman Catholic nun who is a member of Shir Ha Ma’alot and has a daughter and four grandchildren living in Jerusalem. “We were so close to peace.”

Yom Kippur’s theme of forgiveness and repentance can be difficult to carry out at a time when the Jewish community faces yet another deadly conflict with an old adversary.

“It’s very sad [the conflict] [is] this time of year,” said Paul Levine, a teacher at the temple. “Why couldn’t they do this in July?”

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Older members of the congregation said they keep flashing back to Yom Kippur 1973, when Egypt launched a surprise attack on Israeli forces in the Sinai.

“All of that comes back,” temple member Beth Baumann said. “It makes the day a lot more solemn.”

In the spirit of Yom Kippur, Rabbi Bernard King told his congregation that the Jewish people need to be careful not to blame the Palestinians solely “because, when you point a finger, there are three fingers pointing back at you.”

“This is a time of introspection,” King said. “There’s blame enough to go around. If we were to apply the lessons of Yom Kippur, that would be very much in order.”

Others attending the services tried to follow his lead.

“This being the Day of Atonement, we look at forgiveness. It’s not about who’s right or wrong,” congregant Michele Silver said. The Middle East “is special to a lot of people from a lot of different religions.”

King said events in Israel didn’t alter his planned sermon, though he did offer an impromptu prayer for both Israelis and Palestinians at the end of one service.

“I usually deal with universal themes during the High Holy Days, something that 10, 20, 100 years from now will be relevant,” King said. “I want to deal with the soul and with our brokenness.”

Rabbi Mark Miller used a similar strategy when addressing overflow crowds of more than 1,300 at Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach.

“People need something else today on the holiest of days,” Miller said. “They need something for their own spirit that will carry them throughout the year.”

Still, the prayers, songs and chants of Yom Kippur, which ended at sundown Monday, took on added meaning this year.

“I think it deepens our prayers when we speak of Israel,” King said. “I hope what is going on will spur the peace process forward. I fear what will happen if it doesn’t.”

Miller closed one of his Yom Kippur services with a prayer for peace in Israel.

“We pray for the land of Israel and its people,” Miller said. “May the bonds of faith and fate which unite the Jews of all lands be a source of strength to Israel. Our constant prayer [is] . . . that Israel achieves some degree of security under the protection of God above.”

Miller finished with a Hebrew prayer, which he translated: “Peace, peace to those far and near.”