FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Rabbi Itchel Krasnjansky and his son, Tzviki Krasnjansky.
"The deepest stuff is taught to Jewish children," said the
leader of Chabad Lubavitch of Hawaii.

Jewish New Year
observance a time
for reverence
and reflection

Rosh Hashanah on Monday kicks
off a 10-day period of
prayer and meditation

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By Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.com

When 13-year-old Tzuiki Krasnjansky joins his parents in observing the Jewish High Holy Days this month, he will be expected to participate as an adult.

Tzuiki's latest birthday in August was celebrated with his bar mitzvah, a religious rite of passage into adulthood.

What is ahead for him and others of the Jewish faith is a New Year's celebration Monday that will include a festive meal, but otherwise could not be farther from the gaiety and excess of the secular observance of New Year.

It begins a 10-day period of prayer, meditation and reflection which has its climax in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Tzuiki will join other observant Jews in a 25-hour fast from all food and drink, including water, that will end at sundown Sept. 28.

"The deepest stuff is taught to Jewish children," said Rabbi Itchel Krasnjansky, leader of Chabad Lubavitch of Hawaii. "The very first prayer they are taught is 'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one.' It was Solomon's advice that a child be taught when he is young, so that when he's older it won't leave him."

Children in the Chabad Hebrew school last weekend made honey cake and other foods traditional at New Year. Apples dipped in honey are served, symbolically asking that the year ahead be sweet, and spicy, salty food is avoided -- "we don't want a sharp year." Fish is served and the head is eaten, as people vow to be like the head and not the tail in life. The loaves of challah, Sabbath bread, are baked round to symbolize the year.

"We refer to Rosh Hashanah as the head of the year. It's more than the beginning -- it reflects that the head directs the life of the entire body," said the rabbi.

Rosh Hashanah begins Monday evening, marking the creation of the world, which, based on the Torah, was 5,762 years ago. "It is a time when the whole world gets reinfused with God's sustaining power, the source of life, the creator of the world," said the rabbi.

"In the light of what's been going on this week, I expect there will be much greater reflection and meditation on the fundamental and integral things of life. This act, which was so horrific, shakes you to the core. It is a time for re-evaluating life and what's important, and what we can do to make the world a better place."

The High Holy Days are a time when even Jews who seldom attend a synagogue will do so.

"In Jewish tradition all religious functions are done in communal form," Krasnjansky said, and there is a 10-man quorum, called a minyan, required before some prayers can be recited. "Where one might be inclined to draw inward and wrestle in private with spiritual concerns ... this helps us realize that no one is an island unto one's self, and only by interacting with others does one get help in facing situations."

"We rejoice on one hand and tremble on the other. ... There is this awe as we beseech God." The New Year's greeting that is exchanged is "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life," and at Yom Kippur, "May you be sealed in the Book of Life."

Krasnjansky and his wife, Pearl, came to Hawaii from New York 14 years ago to found the local Chabad branch.

The Orthodox Jewish organization, which teaches in the tradition of Hasidic mysticism, was founded by the late Rebbe Menachem Schneirson and has branches around the world.

CELEBRATING THE HEBREW NEW YEAR Monday evening is Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the New Year in the Hebrew calendar. The High Holy Days, a period of prayer, fasting, self-examination and repentance, continue through Sept. 27 when solemn services mark Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Local Jewish congregations have planned services as follows: CHABAD OF HAWAII The group meet at Sunrise Towers, 419 Atkinson Dr., sixth-floor meeting hall. Reservations are required for the community festival meal following Monday services. Call 735-8161. Monday: 6:45 p.m. service. Tuesday: 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. children's service, 7 p.m. evening service. Wednesday: 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. children's service. Kiddush will follow all morning services. Sept. 26: 6 p.m. Kol Nidre. Sept. 27: 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. children's service, 1:30 p.m. Yizkor, 5 p.m. Neilah evening service. Break-the-fast refreshments will follow evening service. CONGREGATION SOF MA'ARAV The Conservative congregation meets at 2500 Pali Hwy. Child care is provided during services. Call 595-3678. Monday: 8 p.m. Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 26: 6:30 p.m. Kol Nidre. Sept. 27: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5 to 7 p.m. A potluck break-the-fast will follow. TEMPLE BET SHALOM The Reform congregation meets at Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave. Call 395-4760. Monday: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday: 10:30 a.m. Sept. 26: 7:30 p.m. Kol Nidre. Sept. 27: 10:30 a.m., 3 p.m., 3:45 p.m. Yizkor, 4:15 p.m. Neilah. KAHILAT HAMELECH The Messianic congregation will hold services at Waikiki Community Center chapel, 277 Ohua Ave. Monday: 6:30 p.m., followed by a potluck supper. Tuesday: 12:30 p.m. Sept. 26: 7 p.m. Sept. 27: 12:30 p.m. TEMPLE EMANU-EL Holds Traditional and Reform services at 2550 Pali Hwy. Call 595-7521. Monday: 6:45 p.m. Traditional, 7 p.m. Reform. Tuesday: 9 a.m. Traditional, 9:30 a.m. Reform, 2 p.m. children's service, 4 p.m. tashlich at Magic Island. Sept. 26: 6:30 p.m. Traditional, 9:30 p.m. Reform. Sept. 27: 9 a.m. Traditional, 9:30 a.m. Reform, 2 p.m. children's service, 3 p.m. Reform.

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