Creative services has become a popular trend among synagogues throughout the country, especially on the West. Concerned about the increasing rate of intermarriages, and because the younger generation of Jewish people are less knowledgeable about Judaism and rituals, more temples are conducting what is now being called, ‘creative services.’
JDCC was not able to find a rabbi to conduct this year’s High Holiday services in sign language. So when JDCC supporter Ira Rothenberg suggested explaining history, meanings and rituals during JDCC services, JDCC decided to lead Creative Services for this years Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
And guess what happened? JDCC now has their own “Three Wise Men’: Jeff Lubman, Steven Merkin and Ira Rothenberg led both Creative Services which enlightened JDCC participants. Boy, did we learn a lot! And we enjoyed it as well. Traditions . . . prayers, rituals and symbolism suddenly became more understandable, as well as surprising!
Group discussions were held during both services. For the new Jewish year of 5756, the topic was “Questions and Answers about Rosh Hashana.” During Yom Kippur, an even more controversial topic: Ritual vs. Spirituality. How many of you watched the O.J. Simpson verdict on TV after sunset of Yom Kippur? Or the baseball playoff series? Isn’t Yom Kippur supposed to be the most holy Jewish holiday? Oh yes, we also reamed that Yom Kippur isn’t the most holy Jewish holiday . . . it’s second after Sabbath! Why? Because Sabbath has more aliyots than Yom Kippur.
I am sure that JDCC friends all want to join me in a big round of applause end shanks for these Three Wise Men’: Jeff Lubman, Steven Merkin and Ira Rothenberg! Applause, a big pat on your backs!
SPECIAL THANKS TO . . .
Eric Brody, came all the way from UC Santa Barbara to participate in Rosh Hashana services. He had the honor of blowing the shofar for us – he did a great job!
Mindy Brown did a superb job ‘voice interpreting’ et both services.
Rabbi Menachem Gottesman of Hillel Hebrew Academy for letting us use their Library for our services.
COMMENTS . . .
Betty Rothenberg: The best services I ever attended! Enjoyed the services tremendously. Hats off to Ira, Jeff & Steve!
Alla Khodos: The three wise men did a marvelous job. Believe it or not, it really hit me that I really understand about being Jewish. All my He in Russia taught me not to practice Judaism. I became an atheist, I came to America and saw a lot of opportunity being a Jew by celebrating the Holidays. I went to Temple and celebrated holidays with friends but it was always to socialize with the deaf Jews. I always called myself Jewish as a nationality, not a religion. After attending both services, I really understood being a real Jew. I felt different and it affected me. I look forward to celebrating with my family next year. Without these three wise men, I guarantee you that I still would be an atheist. My future is to learn more about Jewish holidays and history.
Charlotte & Sam Kadin: There was a lot of things that I reamed from you and others that I feel a lot better about my background. Learned some things which I didn’t know and learned things in a short time. Since the services, I have been looking at books to find out many things which you were telling us. I feel closer to my fellow men. We felt very good about attending the services.
Ilene & Alan Rubin: We both really enjoyed the services. We both reamed some things that we never knew before. The interpreter was fantastic and surprisingly, my in-laws enjoyed it also on Yom Kippur.
Monica Schuster- Merkin: I enjoyed the services. I’ve never gone to Rosh Hashana 8 Yom Kippur services before. I found the cervices very informative and I reamed more about the Jewish tradition. The three wise men, Ira, Jeff and Steve did a wonderful job leading the services. My hats off to them!
