September Anniversaries
9/12 Pam & Jay Kaplan
9/25 Stefanie & Richard Keen
9/25 Mary & Arthur Freedman
9/12 Pam & Jay Kaplan
9/25 Stefanie & Richard Keen
9/25 Mary & Arthur Freedman
9/4 Nancy Rosenberg
9/6 Irene White
9/8 Diana Parnes
9/9 Benjamin Koser
9/10 Steve Smiley
9/12 Karen Lyon
9/12 Samuel Noah Zusmer
9/13 Gary Smiley
9/17 Andrew Green
9/19 Eileen Acanfora
9/19 Dorothy Cohen
August 31 & September 1
Friday: 6:00 Kabbalat Shabbat-Dinner Out After
Saturday: Morning Service 9:30
September 7 & 8
Friday: 5:30 Refreshments 6:00 Kabbalat Shabbat
Saturday: Morning Service 9:30
September 9
Erev Rosh Hashanah Service at 7:30 pm
September 10 & 11
Rosh Hashanah Services at 9:30 am
September 14 & 15
Friday: 5:30 Refreshments 6:00 Kabbalat Shabbat
Saturday: Morning Service 9:30 Minyan Tisch
September 18 & 19
Erev Yom Kippur Service at 7:30 &
Yom Kippur Services beginning at 9:30 am
September 21 & 22
Friday: 5:30 Refreshments 6:00 Kabbalat Shabbat
Saturday: Morning Service 9:30
September 28 & 29
Friday: 6:00 Sukkot Dinner 7:30 Service
Saturday: Morning Service 9:30
Greetings! September is finally here, with a hint of fall in the air some mornings. The High Holidays are just around the corner.
May you have a sweet year and a year of good health. May it be a year of abundance of all things important and all things deeply good.
I look forward to seeing you and your family during the High Holidays and at other services and activities at the Temple throughout the year.
L’Shana Tova
The name Spartanburg, South Carolina brings many things to mind. Some people may think of the large number of colleges we have, such as Wofford, Converse, and USC Upstate. Others may connect Spartanburg with its nickname, Hub City, which refers to the role the city played in the 19th century railroad network in this region of the state. But if there’s one man whose name is easily associated with Spartanburg, it’s most certainly Junie White.
Now in his third term as mayor, Junie is a native of Gaffney. Shortly after graduating from high school in 1957, he joined the Navy and was stationed at Virginia Beach. And a lucky thing that was, too. For it was there that he met Irene, a young Jewish Canadian wom- an, whom he married in 1961.
For just a few months, the couple remained in Montreal, the city of Irene’s birth. After returning to the Upstate with his bride, Junie accepted a job with a local insurance company. One day, while driving down the not-yet-finished interstate highway running just outside of town, he noticed a gas station located on a frontage road that had recently come up for sale. Junie bought the business, though at the time he knew little about fixing cars. But he hired the best mechanics he could find and learned whatever he needed to know directly from his em- ployees. Now in its third location on South Pine Street, Junie’s Exxon station is among the best-known businesses in Spartanburg and Junie White one of the city’s best-known business- men.
Sometime during the late 70s or early 80s, Rabbi Stauber stopped by the station and spoke with Junie about conversion. The idea seemed inviting, realizing as he did that one family should have one faith. But Junie didn’t merely become a member of the Spartanburg Jewish community; he assumed a leading role in the life of the temple, serving for many years on the board, as president, a very generous contributor, and as advisor-at-large to rabbis and congregants alike.
Those of us who have lived in Spartanburg for more than just a few years can remem- ber when it was small and sleepy with a quiet downtown, and not much else. But during Junie’s tenure as mayor, we have seen the city develop in ways that few of us could have im- agined. Morgan Square now bustles with restaurants, clubs, boutiques and other kinds of businesses that earlier, we would have needed to go to Greenville to see. Spartanburg has changed socially in very positive ways, too. Junie is extremely proud of the city’s welcoming culture, making it a place where people of all races, religions, creeds and orientations easily find themselves at home. Much of the credit belongs to Mayor Junie, whose openness, energy and leadership have enabled Spartanburg to grow into what he rightfully says is “one of the finer cities in the South.”
But when asked just what role he played in the Spartanburg Renaissance, Junie replied as one might expect of a man who learns from his employees and makes his wife’s people his own: “I’m just a little part of that.”
Photo Credit: Spartanburg Herald Journal
I am pleased to announce the birth of a new member of our congregation. Raphael was born to Mauro and Susi Wilk.
Raphael Wilk
Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz
ROSH HASHANAH is the Jewish New Year marking the anniversary of the creation of the world. Rosh Hashanah is also called the Day of Judgment. God is said to inscribe the fate of every person for the upcom- ing year in the Book of Life. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Ten Days of Awe, during which time Jews seek forgiveness for their transgressions.
TESHUVAh – The Hebrew word for “sin” is “chet,” derived from an old archery term used when an arch- er “misses the mark.” Teshuva is the process by which Jews atone throughout the Ten Days of Awe.
MITZVAH OF THE SHOFAR – The essential mitzvah (commandment) of Rosh Hashanah is to hear the sounding of the shofar.
APPLES AND HONEY- There is many Rosh Hashanah food customs but the most common is the dipping of apples into honey to signify our wishes for a sweet new year. A special round loaf of challah symbolizes the cycle of time.
“L’SHANA TOVAH” -The traditional Rosh Hashanah greeting appropriate for Jewish friends on Rosh Hashanah is “L’Shana Tovah” or simply “Shana Tovah” which loosely translates as “Happy New Year or “L’Shana Tovah u’Metukah,” wishing someone a “good and sweet year.”
TASHLICH – On Rosh Hashanah, many Jews may follow a custom called Tashlich (“casting off”) symboli- cally cast off their sins into the water by throwing pieces of bread into the stream.
YOM KIPPUR – DAY OF ATONEMENT was instituted long ago Leviticus 23: And the Eternal spoke unto Moses, saying: “Howbeit on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; there shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; and ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the Eternal. ……to make atonement for you before the Eternal your God.” It is our last chance to change God’s judgment of one’s deeds in the previous year who decides our fate in the coming year. In the Bible, Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shabbaton, “Sabbath of Sabbaths. “Abstention from work and solemnity characterize the Sabbath as most complete.
In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, the high priest conducted an elaborate sacrificial ceremony on Yom Kippur. Clothed in white linen, he successively confessed his own sins, the sins of priest, and the sins of the people, and then entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice and offer in- cense. The priest then sent a goat (the “scapegoat”) into the wilderness, where it was driven to its death, to symbolically carry away the sins of Israel.
OBSERVANCES OF YOM KIPPUR – On the eve of Yom Kippur, the Kol Nidre is recited. The Kol Nidre (“all vows”) annuls all vows made throughout the year. But the Kol Nidre actually refers only to vows made between oneself and God, and especially frivolous vows made to God or those made under duress. Even so, obligations towards other people must be upheld. God will forgive sins one commits, but if one has wronged another person, he must seek forgiveness from that person and try to make it right. The Mishna teaches, “Yom Kippur does not atone until one appeases his neighbors.” In the Yom Kippur synagogue ser- vice the confession is recited in the first person plural to emphasize communal responsibility for sins. The concluding service N’ilah is the last chances to get in a “good word” before God’s judgment are sealed. At nightfall, the Yom Kippur service concludes with one last long blast on the shofar.
HAPPIEST TIME OF THE YEAR – There were no days as happy for the Jewish people as the 15th of Av [when marriages were arranged] and Yom Kippur. It brings about reconciliation with God and other peo- ple. Thus, if they have observed it properly, many people feel a deep sense of serenity by the end of the fast.