While the Jewish New Year is celebrated starting at sundown Friday through nightfall Sunday, the gathering of friends and family won’t be the same during the pandemic.
As it did in April during Passover, Chabad of Savannah will deliver meals to 100 people still separated from family during Rosh Hashana. For this High Holiday, two outdoor services are scheduled at Starland Yard, and there will be a special time for the shofar to be heard Sunday at Forsyth Park.
“You have to keep adapting and growing and adjusting to the need” of the people, said Rabbi Zalman Refson.
Literally meaning “head of the year,” the two-day holiday commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of introspection and repentance that culminates in Yom Kippur. Learn more at Chabad.org/HighHolidays.
“With the High Holidays approaching and COVID-19 creating difficulties for many in joining a traditional synagogue service, Chabad of Savannah will hold an outdoor socially distanced Rosh Hashana service,” said Refson. There will be services at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday in Starland Yard, 2411 De Soto Ave. It is open to all Jewish people in the Savannah area.
The service, which will include prayers for the well-being of all humanity -- a key theme of Rosh Hashana -- will also be centered around the sound of the shofar (a Jewish ritual object made from a ram’s horn), the central observance of the holiday, Refson said.
For those unable to attend the full service, there will be a short gathering focused on the shofar observance with select prayers from the High Holiday liturgy -- called shofar in the park -- at Forsyth Park in front of the white stage at 4 p.m. Sunday.
The cry of the shofar is a call to repentance as Jews look back at misdeeds of the past year and resolve to improve during the coming one. For more on the shofar, visit Chabad.org/Shofar.
An RSVP is required. Those present at the event will be asked to wear masks and stay 6 feet from people not living in the same household.
With the help of local donors and volunteers, Chabad of Savannah is also offering Rosh Hashana-at-Home kits free of charge, enabling people to bring the joy and inspiration of the holiday into their homes, Refson said. The kits will include a holiday guide, candles and traditional Rosh Hashana foods, including apples, honey (donated by Savannah Bee Co.) and round challah bread.
“One of the foods we eat is honey. We are asking for a sweet new year, that the upcoming year is a happy new year. We dip an apple in honey to symbolize our request for a happy and healthy new year,” Refson said.
“Chabad of Savannah has always prioritized making Judaism available to all by creating a welcoming atmosphere and affordability, with no expectation of membership or affiliation,” Refson said. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, this has taken on a whole new meaning, but our mission to serve everyone remains the same.
“Our goal is to lower the barriers of entry, and to encourage each and every Jewish person to actively participate in the observances of Rosh Hashana,” said Refson. “This year, that means bringing a Rosh Hashana service to a location where people can safely participate and enabling people to bring the Holiday observances into their own home with the Rosh Hashana kits.”
For more information and to RSVP, email Rabbi@jewishsav.org or visit Jewishsav.org/celebrate.
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