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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Temple ready for Jewish holidays

By Rabbi Robert Wolkoff, Special to the Post
On the evening of Sept. 24, Jews all over the world will begin the two-day celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
Traditionally, Rosh Hashanah is considered the birthday of the world, created (according to the biblical account) 5,775 years ago.
The celebration of the world’s beginning is marked by a time of deep personal introspection, in the hopes of making a new, personal, beginning in the year to come.
Jews are encouraged to do teshuvah, repentance, for the misdeeds of the past, thus enabling them to begin the year with a "clean slate."
During Rosh Hashanah services, the dominant color is white, signifying the sought-after moral and spiritual purity.
A ram’s horn, called shofar, is sounded 100 times.
This serves a dual purpose: "waking" participants from their moral lethargy; and reminding Jews of the crucial events of the past (such as the revelation at Mt. Sinai) and the future (such as the coming of the Messiah), with which the sound of the shofar is associated.
In the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, a special ceremony called tashlich is held.
Jews seek out streams and other moving bodies of water, and throw breadcrumbs into the water, symbolizing their desire that their sins be castaway and sink into the depths, out of sight and mind.
On Rosh Hashanah, it is traditional to eat apples dipped in honey, while sharing the wishes for a "good and sweet year."
Ten days later, on the evening of Oct. 3, the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar begins.
It is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
This is the day when the efforts of repentance begun on Rosh Hashanah come to their culmination.
Yom Kippur is a 25-hour fast.
Observant Jews abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations, focusing entirely on restoring their relationship with God.
In the evening, the service begins with the Kol Nidrei prayer. This solemn declaration, recognizing the sinful nature of the congregation, is arguably the single most dramatic moment in the entire Jewish year.
During the day, the services (which last from early morning until after sunset) include a description of the ancient sacrificial rites of Yom Kippur that took place in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, when the holy Temple was still standing.
The services also include a martyrology, making reference to the persecutions, which have plagued the Jewish people from Roman times until the present.
This service is based on the symbolism of heaven as a divine palace, where supplicants approach the gates of heaven which are about to be closed and locked.
This is the peak moment of Yom Kippur at which time Jews strive to break through whatever resistances remain so that they can truly begin the New Year in a state of moral wholeness.
Services conclude with one long sounding of the shofar, and a seven-fold declaration that "The Lord is God."