A mix of students, college faculty and staff, and Hillsdale residents gathered Sept. 25 in a Kendall Hall classroom for a service to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the civil new year in Judaism.
“It celebrates, first, God’s creation of the world, but it also sets off the days of repentance,” said Assistant Professor of Classics Joshua Fincher, who teaches biblical Hebrew, as well as Greek and Latin at the college.
Rosh Hashanah is the second holiest day in Judaism. Yom Kippur is the first, a full day of fasting 10 days later.
The holiday has three themes, according to Fincher. The first is creation, celebrated at the beginning of a new year. The second is judgment because Rosh Hashanah begins the judgment period. The final theme is kingship because Judaism celebrates God’s sovereignty on Rosh Hashanah.
“Throughout the month of Elul, which proceeds Rosh Hashanah, everyone needs to repent of their sins because on Rosh Hashanah God begins to judge people for the year,” Fincher said. “On Rosh Hashanah, he opens the books of judgment and looks at everything you’ve done the whole past year. Because Judaism believes that God punishes you for your sins in this life, then everything you’ve done he assigns a punishment to in this coming year.”
Fincher said God will close the books of judgment on Yom Kippur.
“We have 10 days to repent before the book of judgment is closed,” Fincher said. “Then, all the punishments that will happen are set in place and can’t be changed.”
Fincher led the service as the “shaliach tzibbur,” representative of the congregation. Members of the congregation took turns reciting prayers or reading text printed on sheets passed around to those in attendance.
The service lasted about an hour, and consisted of prayers pleading for peace and readings recounting the history of the Jewish people. Fincher would sound a “shofar,” a trumpet resembling a horn, at points throughout the service. Fincher said his selection of prayers was similar to what would be found in an orthodox synagogue.
“A bunch of pieces are in English, rather than Hebrew,” Fincher said. “In an orthodox synagogue, they would all be in Hebrew. I basically kept it all in and tried to make it simpler by removing some of the Hebrew so everybody can participate.”
The service concluded with a ritual meal, which included apples to “sweeten the new year” and spinach to “foil the plans of those who mean to do you harm,” according to Fincher.
Senior Alexander Haddad, president of the Jewish student organization the Mishpacha Society, said the organization holds services weekly for Shabbat as well as for each of the Jewish holidays.
“We are few but mighty,” Haddad said. “We usually hover between three to five people per year, with seniors coming out and freshmen coming in. But it works really well. We all work together.”
Fincher said holding services for the Jewish community on campus and in Hillsdale is important.
“If there’s a Jewish community here, then they deserve a level of religious representation,” Fincher said. “Holding services like this is one way that we can represent Judaism on this campus.”
The organization will hold an evening service Oct. 4 and a morning service Oct. 5 for Yom Kippur, according to Fincher. He said he hopes non-Jewish students will attend the services.
“I would hope that everybody who’s interested would come,” Fincher said. “It’s having a personal experience and having things be a little less mystified that will promote understanding.”