Sounding of shofar starts Jewish holiday

The sounding of the shofar, the ram's horn, signals the beginning of Rosh Hashana at synagogues and congregations. The holiday marking the start of the new year begins Monday evening.

Special services are held Monday evening through Wednesday. Rosh Hashana ends at 6:49 p.m. Wednesday.

Unlike the frivolity associated with Dec. 31's New Year's Eve, Rosh Hashana is marked by reflection of deeds done and future dreams.

Ahwatukee resident Judy Stock and her family, members of Temple Emanuel of Tempe, will begin the holiday by entertaining friends and family on Monday night - the eve of Rosh Hashana.

"It's probably my favorite holiday," Stock said. "For my family it's a time of spiritual preparation - thinking about what you've done this year and what you can do to improve - what you can do to make the world a better place."

With her husband, John, 14-year-old son Ben and 12-year-old daughter Delaney, Stock enjoys traditional holiday foods. Apples dipped in honey signify a wish for a sweet new year. Round challah bread symbolizes the whole year.

Temple Emanuel includes children in Tuesday's Rosh Hashana with a 9 a.m. service. A traditional service follows at 10:30 a.m., and Wednesday at 10 a.m. Because the attendance numbers Tuesday are expected to exceed the temple's capacity, Tuesday's services will be held at the LDS Stake Center on 2707 S. College Avenue.

The first day of Rosh Hashana, Tuesday, will be marked by the Chabad of East Valley in Chandler with Tashlich - the traditional casting of sins into a body of water. Men, women and families of the congregation meet at 4 p.m. at the Chabad Center on Ray Road, and then walk to Desert Breeze Park. It's usually an attention-grabbing event, said Rabbi Mendy Lipskier, who shares rabbinical duties with Rabbi Mendy Deitsch.

"People sometimes stop to ask us who we are and what we're doing, walking all together," Lipskier said. "We even get people who take pictures of us. I think that when you see a group of people like that, all smiling and walking along with their families and friends, and so many of them, it gives onlookers a good feeling."

Ahwatukee's Congregation Eitz Chaim will begin its services at 6:30 Monday night, continuing at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. The congregation, celebrating its third year this Rosh Hashana, was recently left without a regular meeting place after monsoons flooded a portion of the Ahwatukee Foothills Prep. Their Rosh Hashana services, and October's Yom Kippur, will be at the Ahwatukee Foothills Golf Club, 2201 E. Clubhouse Drive off Liberty Lane.

Rabbi and cantor Victor I. Beck will be joined by Jack Cohen, a former cantor with the Great Synagogue of Brussels, Belgium. He and his wife, Karin Max, are new Ahwatukee residents.

Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley, 3400 N. Dobson Road in Chandler, will begin its Rosh Hashana services at 7 p.m. Monday, 9 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and a special Tashlich/Mincha service at 5 p.m. Tuesday.