eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
This year, the High Holiday of Rosh HaShanah ushers in the New Year of 5781, as Jewish families around the world gather for family dinners and wish each other «May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.» The foods and languages may differ, but the thoughts and prayers are the same. The Shofar is blown; its plaintive cry serves as a call to repentance. This year, 2020, has challenged us in many ways, as a pandemic sweeps across the globe. Rosh HaShanah will be very different this year. We may not have the luxury of large family gatherings. We may not be able to travel to visit loved ones. That does not mean that we will not observe our traditional customs, we will just perform them differently. A major reason for our survival as a people, as the Jewish people, has been our ability to adapt, very often to adversity. We will adapt this year and we will survive.
One of the more beautiful traditions in our Greek-Jewish community is the remembering of the deceased on Yom Kippur, as we read their names and say prayers during Kal Nidre on Erev Yom Kippur. At Kehila Kedosha Janina, we follow the centuries-old Romaniote custom of our people by reciting Hashkavoth (Memorial Prayers) and the individual names of our dearly departed during the Kal Nidre Yom Kippur Eve service. If you wish to honor your family members or friends in this very special way, please email their names as soon as possible to museum@kkjsm.org. It is customary to include a voluntary donation of your choosing. The names and donations may be submitted via PayPal on our website www.kkjsm.org. We wish everyone in our extended community a Happy, Healty, and Peaceful New Year.
This month’s E-Newsletter is sponsored by Rhonda and Murray Askinazi, in memory of their parents Benjamin and Fay Askinazi, and Daniel Lovett and Anne (Calef) Lovett. We are grateful for their generous support.
Attached below is this month’s E-Newsletter. If you would like to sponsor a KKJ E-Newsletter in Honor or in Memory of someone, please reach out to us at museum@kkjsm.org. We hope you enjoy this month’s E-Newsletter!
