Monday, September 28, 2009
The holiest day of the Jewish calendar observed at a Catholic Church
Yom Kippur, considered the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, is being observed today in synagogues and in some cases, churches.
The holiday culminates the Days of Awe, or the Jewish High Holy Days. It is a day of fasting and prayer among Jews and is known as the Day of Atonement. Observant Jews usually take the day off from work, and spend the day in services or in synagogue to repent for their sins against God. Jews believe that God seals the book of judgment on this day.
Yom Kippur officially began at sunset on Sunday, and will end with the sounding of the shofar and breaking of the fast this evening.
Because of the nature of the holiday, observant Jews and their visiting relatives can crowd synagogues, so it’s not uncommon for Jewish congregations to have Yom Kippur services in larger venues like high school gyms or in the sanctuaries of Christian churches.
Temple Beth Shalom, which has an estimated 1200 individual members, has grown so much over the years that space is usually a concern for Yom Kippur, Rabbi Alan Freedman said. A year ago, Father Larry Covington at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church offered the church as a worship space during High Holy Days.
“The space is so magnificent that I think it added a certain dimension to the services,” Freedman said, referring to Rosh Hashana, or the two-day Jewish New Year celebration, which began on September 18th.
The ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are devoted to self-examination and repentance. “The idea is that this is a time to mend relationships and to look at ourselves,” Freedman said. “It’s also a time to seek forgiveness and ultimately turn to God to help us move our lives in better directions.”
A shared Catholic church pulpit between a rabbi and a priest on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar holds particular significance.
“There’s certainly some symbolism to this since Jewish-Catholic relations have not always been easy ones,” Freedman said. “But while that history is something that lingers in the background, holding services at the church was initiated in friendship.”
The Rev. Covington said that offering the church to Beth Shalom was a small gesture of hospitality. “There is no way that these gestures can repair the kind of damage that Christians have caused Jews over the years,” Covington said. “We hope that even small gestures like this one can begin a better future of gestures of goodwill between Jews and Christians and growing in a deeper understanding of our own tradition as it has emerged from the Jewish tradition.”
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/faith/entries/2009/09/28/the_holiest_day_of_the_jewish.html
The holiday culminates the Days of Awe, or the Jewish High Holy Days. It is a day of fasting and prayer among Jews and is known as the Day of Atonement. Observant Jews usually take the day off from work, and spend the day in services or in synagogue to repent for their sins against God. Jews believe that God seals the book of judgment on this day.
Yom Kippur officially began at sunset on Sunday, and will end with the sounding of the shofar and breaking of the fast this evening.
Because of the nature of the holiday, observant Jews and their visiting relatives can crowd synagogues, so it’s not uncommon for Jewish congregations to have Yom Kippur services in larger venues like high school gyms or in the sanctuaries of Christian churches.
Temple Beth Shalom, which has an estimated 1200 individual members, has grown so much over the years that space is usually a concern for Yom Kippur, Rabbi Alan Freedman said. A year ago, Father Larry Covington at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church offered the church as a worship space during High Holy Days.
“The space is so magnificent that I think it added a certain dimension to the services,” Freedman said, referring to Rosh Hashana, or the two-day Jewish New Year celebration, which began on September 18th.
The ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are devoted to self-examination and repentance. “The idea is that this is a time to mend relationships and to look at ourselves,” Freedman said. “It’s also a time to seek forgiveness and ultimately turn to God to help us move our lives in better directions.”
A shared Catholic church pulpit between a rabbi and a priest on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar holds particular significance.
“There’s certainly some symbolism to this since Jewish-Catholic relations have not always been easy ones,” Freedman said. “But while that history is something that lingers in the background, holding services at the church was initiated in friendship.”
The Rev. Covington said that offering the church to Beth Shalom was a small gesture of hospitality. “There is no way that these gestures can repair the kind of damage that Christians have caused Jews over the years,” Covington said. “We hope that even small gestures like this one can begin a better future of gestures of goodwill between Jews and Christians and growing in a deeper understanding of our own tradition as it has emerged from the Jewish tradition.”
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/faith/entries/2009/09/28/the_holiest_day_of_the_jewish.html
Comments:
I think it's highly appropriate that people who go once a year to synagogue on Yom Kippur should do so in a church.
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: October 05, 2009 9:59 PM
: October 05, 2009 9:59 PM
