Saturday, September 9, 7:00pm
Join Temple Beth Abraham for the official beginning of the High Holyday season! The word selichot means forgiveness, and for 500 years Jews have held a service on the Saturday evening before Rosh Hashanah to start the process of seeking forgiveness. It is a brief, powerful and beautiful ritual, during which we put the Torah scrolls in their white mantles, introduce the musical themes of the Holydays, and prepare ourselves for the season of repentance.
Traditionally this service begins at midnight, but at TBA we do it a little differently.
It is the custom at TBA to begin at 7:00pm with a program and discussion about repentance and forgiveness, followed by a short oneg (coffee and cake), and then the service itself. You are welcome to attend all or part of the evening’s activities.
This year, we will be screening and then discussing a very powerful movie called The Quarrel. Based on a short story by Chaim Grade, it details the stormy reunion of two Jews who had been good friends as teens in Europe, but drifted apart after the Holocaust when one remained religious and the other became agnostic. Their passionate debate about God, who is to blame for evil, and who should be asking forgiveness from whom, makes for truly powerful cinema. After the screening, we will talk about how these themes apply to the High Holy Days, to our obligations to others, and to our own understanding of the role of God in our lives.
- 7:00pm Screening of the movie The Quarrel followed by discussion led by Rabbi David Holtz
- 9:00pm Refreshments and Social Time, followed by Havdalah (Observance for the end of Shabbat)
- 9:30pm Selichot service
