Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004 | 10:48 a.m.
Every new year brings a time of reflection and repentance, a chance to right past wrongs and to make resolutions to start anew.
It is the same in Judaism, local rabbis said, but with a decidedly spiritual edge.
The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which begins Friday at sundown, are marked by intense soul searching, rabbis said, as Jews are encouraged to reflect on their actions of the past year as well as on who they are. It is a time of reconciling with others, God and oneself, rabbis said.
"The High Holy Days is a time of finding yourself," said Rabbi Sanford Akselrad, of Congregation Ner Tamid, 2761 Emerson Ave. in Las Vegas.
"It's a time of questioning, soul searching, looking at life's meaning."
Yom Kippur is about trying to get in "touch with our spiritual selves," said Rabbi Richard Schachet, of the Valley Outreach Synagogue, 2524 Silver Beach Drive in Henderson.
"I think that is very important, to be aware of who we are, what we are and why we are," Schachet said.
Congregants are encouraged to practice tshuvah, which is often translated as repentance, on Yom Kippur and in the days leading up to the holiday, rabbis said.
Repentance means regretting any past wrong, stopping it, committing not to do it again and asking for forgiveness, said Rabbi Yitzchak Wyne, of the Orthodox Young Israel Aish HaTorah of Las Vegas, 9510 W. Sahara Ave. Congregants must ask forgiveness of whoever they have wronged, whether that is another person or God, Wyne said.
But tshuvah also means to return, Wyne said, both to God and to oneself, "to behave like I would really like to behave if not caught up in the world."
The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are also a time when Jews must choose where they will stand with God, rabbis said.
"Tradition says that during this period the book of life is open to all of us, and with our own hand we write what it is going to be in it," Schachet said.
"We do it with our own hand, it's not just happenstance. We direct our own lives -- to do good and evil, to know life and death, choose good and choose life."
As part of the atonement, Jews who are able should fast throughout the 25-hour holiday, rabbis said, abstaining from both food and drink. Orthodox Jews and some other denominations also abstain from wearing leather, bathing and from having sex.
By Saturday night, congregants should have a "greater sensitivity to the potential (that) the year holds out to them," said Rabbi Mel Hecht of Temple Beth Am, 9001 Hillpointe Road in Las Vegas.
"They should recognize that the good that happens in life is not something that happens it's something that is created."
Most synagogues in the Las Vegas Valley are hosting services Friday night and all day Saturday, with several offering the Yizkor, a special memorial service for the dead, on Saturday afternoon. Congregation Ner Tamid is also offering a special service of healing at 2 p.m. Saturday to pray for those who are sick or who have loved ones who are ill, Akselrad said.
Several area rabbis said they encouraged local Jews to attend whatever parts of the services they can, noting that as one of the most important days in the Jewish calendar, they get many visitors who do not attend synagogue on a regular basis.
"Five minutes coming is better than no minutes," Wyne said, "Even if someone just pops in and says their personal prayer to God."
Rabbi Felipe Goodman of Temple Beth Shalom will also be offering Yom Kippur prayers on the radio on Friday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on KLAV 1230-AM for those who are homebound. The national United Jewish Community and the Temple of the Air are offering a joint television broadcast on the PAX cable channel on Saturady at 11 a.m.
For a complete listing of local synagogues and temples, visit the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas Web site at jewishlasvegas.org.
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