Yom Kippur

Deepa Bharath It's a solemn day, but not a somber one for Jews all over the world. For Yom Kippur, literally translated, means "the day of atonement," said Rabbi Mark Miller of Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach. "We call this day the Sabbath of the Sabbaths," he said. "It's the holiest time of the year when we stand before God who judges us and seek his forgiveness through repentance. And we emerge with a feeling of purity, renewal and hope for a new year."

Every year at Temple Isaiah, hundreds of worshippers honor Yom Kippur by standing on the stage at the front of the synagogue and praying silently. Rabbi Marc Rubenstein, who originated the practice, said he modeled it after the Israelis who pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Rubenstein couldn't predict the prayers of all the worshippers in his temple, but after the last few hours of news coverage — centering around the shooting at an Amish school in Pennsylvania — he had a good guess.

Deirdre Newman Today is Yom Kippur, a day when Jews around the world look back at the past year, repent for their sins and set their moral compass for the upcoming year. "It's the most solemn time, and the time we feel when God is most accessible to our prayers, our entreaties, our resolutions," said Rabbi Mark Miller of Newport Beach's Temple Bat Yahm. "It's a very propitious time for increased spirituality." Yom Kippur started Wednesday at sundown and will end tonight at sundown.

The Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur begins at sundown Sunday, and local Jewish organizations are preparing to host their largest crowds of the year. The special events connected with Yom Kippur include a full day of services Monday, the Sunday-night singing of Kol Nidre, a prayer that addresses the failure to fulfill vows, and the saying of Yizkor, the prayer for the dead. The day attracts many Jews who do not attend services at other times, said Rabbi David Rosenberg of Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach.

Luis Pena For the past two years, the celebrations of the Jewish New Year have been unusually solemn. In 2001, Rosh Hashana, the two-day observance of the new year, came right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was an unusually difficult occasion in Newport-Mesa synagogues. Last year, thoughts stay turned to the tumultuous year after the attacks. Tonight, as the sun sets and the celebration begins, thoughts will be turned toward global problems, including the war in Iraq and the continuing violence in Israel, said Rabbi Marc Rubenstein of Temple Isaiah in Newport Beach.

Chabad Jewish Center will sponsor High Holiday Services in celebration of the Jewish New Year at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, 1107 Jamboree Road. The services are free and geared primarily toward families living in Orange County who might not be affiliated with any particular synagogue. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the holiest days of the year in the Jewish faith. Rabbi Reuven Mintz of the Jewish Center wants to ensure services are available for people who might not otherwise attend them.

For the past five years, Temple Bat Yahm member John Bernstein has spent the day after the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur overseeing the distribution of several tons of food, which the congregation amasses each year in a large diesel truck outside the temple. “For the Jewish faith there is the requirement of ‘sedakah,’ essentially being your brother’s keeper and taking care of those who aren’t as well off as you are, and this food drive is really a part of that,” said Bernstein, who oversees the food drive.

The search to identify a scapegoat for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg has preoccupied Civil War analysts since the smoke of that conflict cleared. When asked who he thought was most accountable, Gen. George Pickett replied: “I always thought the Union army had something to do with it.” Pickett refused to single out a culprit. In his forthrightness, we note a theme of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which Jewish people will observe Wednesday evening and Thursday.

Alex Coolman Local Jewish organizations celebrated Yom Kippur on Monday, greeting their largest crowds of the year for the traditional Day of Atonement. The event, the culmination of the Jewish High Holy Days that began Sept. 10 with Rosh Hashana, attracts more attendees than any other day of the year, said David Rosenberg of Newport Beach's Temple Isaiah. Around town, security guards were posted at the entrances to synagogues and community centers in response to the August shooting at a day-care center in Granada Hills and the shooting last week during a church service in Texas.

SPECIAL EVENTS DAYS OF AWE SERVICE Temple Bat Yahm will present a service in preparation for the Days of Awe, marked by S'lichot, at 8 p.m. today at 1011 Camelback St., Newport Beach. (949) 644-1999. S'LICHOT EVENING Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach will hold its S'lichot evening and open house at 8 p.m. today at 2401 Irvine Ave., Newport Beach. (949) 548-6900. PRAYER MEETING The Second Church of Christ, Scientist will hold a noon prayer meeting for an hour for the "protection, growth and guidance" of children on Wednesday at 3100 Pacific View Drive, Corona del Mar. Free.

Hasn’t everyone? For me, journeys of forgiveness begin with choosing non-retaliation, traveling through prayer and understanding, and, ideally, arriving at compassion; the process moves from hostility to hospitality. If I embrace the joy of God’s creativity in place of my own hurt and weakness, then God’s love can make me strong and rich and able to give and forgive. Forgiveness from the heart and mind is difficult, but once done what is shared is the laughter of God. The Very Rev. Canon Peter D. Haynes St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church of Corona del Mar How can one not struggle with forgiveness?

For the past five years, Temple Bat Yahm member John Bernstein has spent the day after the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur overseeing the distribution of several tons of food, which the congregation amasses each year in a large diesel truck outside the temple. “For the Jewish faith there is the requirement of ‘sedakah,’ essentially being your brother’s keeper and taking care of those who aren’t as well off as you are, and this food drive is really a part of that,” said Bernstein, who oversees the food drive.

Local children observed the most solemn High Holy Day of the Jewish year Monday with stories and songs. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a day of fasting, repentance and intense prayer for adult Jews. Upon their bar or bat mitzvah, Jewish youths join the adults in observing Yom Kippur. Tradition teaches that God uses a book on Rosh Hashana to list each person’s fate. That fate isn’t sealed until Yom Kippur. Before then, Jewish people seek forgiveness, both for things done against God and things done against other people.

More than a thousand Jews assembled for a solemn night of prayer at Temple Bat Yahm for the beginning of Yom Kippur on Wednesday night. A day of atonement and the beginning of a 24-hour fast, Yom Kippur is by far the most widely attended service of the year at the temple. The gathering has a heavy mood and is meant as a time for Jews to ask forgiveness from their family, friends and God for transgressions committed during the year. “It’s a beautiful ceremony, very serious,” said Executive Director Bill Shane.

For Rabbi Marc Rubenstein, or Newport Beach?s Temple Isaiah, Yom Kippur and the crisis in the financial markets are intimately related this year. The two-day Jewish holiday focuses on atonement, and in Rubenstein?s opinion people don?t take enough responsibility for the state of the economy. ?Everyone is blaming someone else, some Wall Street executive, when the whole thing that started this mess was us,? he said. At Temple Isaiah, services will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday, and a full day of prayer will start Thursday at 9:30 a.m. At the Hilton in Costa Mesa, Chabad Jewish Center will have its own services starting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The search to identify a scapegoat for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg has preoccupied Civil War analysts since the smoke of that conflict cleared. When asked who he thought was most accountable, Gen. George Pickett replied: “I always thought the Union army had something to do with it.” Pickett refused to single out a culprit. In his forthrightness, we note a theme of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which Jewish people will observe Wednesday evening and Thursday.

“Jerry” could have been any boy at any time, but I knew him 40 years ago. Back then, Jerry was the product of a mish-mosh of religions. Jerry’s father was baptized in the Roman Catholic church but then raised as a Protestant by his stepmother. Jerry’s father married a Jewish girl, Rachel. Rachel was the daughter of a rabbi. When Rachel’s father discovered she was dating and planned to marry a man outside of her faith, he refused to see or speak to her. Jerry and his family lived in a Jewish section of town, back when the town had distinct cultural and religious neighborhoods; before the days when money was the ticket to living anywhere you wanted.

We are victims of an inborn erroneous notion translated into a cultural delusion: that we exist in order to be happy. At midnight, Dec. 31, we wish one another a “Happy” New Year. But at the New Year of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Jewish people wish one another a “Good” New Year. Happiness is not always in our power to achieve, is often dependent on the decisions of others and is fleeting. Goodness lies within our control, arises from within and finds its permanence in God’s salvific plan.

Rosh Hashanah is the Creation of the World. It is a time to recreate ourselves by recognizing our faults, repenting and asking forgiveness from others for our sins, all leading to atonement, granted by God for our actions. Repentance involves knowing ourselves and changing to what God wants usto become. The major part of Rosh Hashanah is finding our real selves and achieving our goals in life, practicing mitzvot, good deeds for all. The process of trying to find our potential in life never ends.