The holidays

● The two events are called the High Holidays.

l Rosh Hashana — a two-day religious celebration of the Jewish New Year. It begins at sunset today with reflection and commitment for positive change. Good wishes for a sweet year come with apples dipped in honey.

l Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement that follows Rosh Hashana at sunset Oct. 1 and ends at nightfall Oct. 2. It is observed with prayers, a fast and a communal confession.

l The Days of Awe, or Days of Repentance, begin with Rosh Hashana and culminate with Yom Kippur. Jews confess to God and vow to avoid repeating mistakes. They also make amends to those they have wronged.

Congregation marks new year with creativity

As today's sunset ushers in the Jewish New Year, members of Congregation Bet Shalom will celebrate Rosh Hashana with a creative twist.

Between readings of traditional prayers, several members of the Conservative synagogue will share with fellow worshippers the poems, prayers and commentary they created in a writing workshop leading up to the Jewish High Holy Days. The observance of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins Oct. 1.

"It's a way to deepen our understanding of the spiritual themes of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in this case; we're writing about them to ask questions," said Lynn Saul, who led the workshop.

The idea of writing new interpretations of traditional prayers is not unique, Saul said. What is new is that lay members of the Foothills synagogue — rather than scholars or professional writers — produced the work meant to add meaning to the religious holidays.

The writings sometimes challenge traditional liturgy, Saul said. In one of the poems, for instance, the writer added words of war to a well-known medieval poem.

"The Jewish tradition is about questioning and confronting, and everybody doesn't have to agree with it," said Saul, who teaches writing at Pima Community College.

In last year's writings, the first time they were done for the High Holy Days, the writers stirred a bit of controversy among congregants, she recalled.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, workshop participants felt compelled to write about it, Saul said, but some worshippers criticized their work as being too political.

For the most part, people have enjoyed the original works of fellow worshippers, she noted. "It's a new method of engaging members of the congregation," Saul said.

Carol Blatter, who was part of the workshop, said she hopes the writings will encourage congregants to think about the religious stories they have heard for years.

"This is about telling a story in our own voice," said Blatter, whose writing contributions include an essay about weeping women based on a story from Genesis, the first book of the Torah — the main document of Judaism.

Blatter, a family counselor, said the writings help fill in the spaces where Jewish scripture is vague or omits information.

This was the second year Blatter was involved in the writing workshops, which she said have helped her feel more connected to her religion.

And as she immerses herself in prayer and reflection during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Blatter said she expects to find more meaning in the holidays.

"My hope is that our work will resonate with worshippers," she said.

Sophia Bressler, a Holocaust survivor, said the workshop brought out suppressed childhood memories

"When I started to write about the High Holidays, my mind went back to Europe, a little town in Poland," she said.

Sernik, where she lived as a girl during World War II, figures prominently in a poem she wrote about the killing of Jews in the early 1940s.

● Contact reporter Lourdes Medrano at 573-4347 or lmedrano@azstarnet.com