Chabad of the Bluegrass will celebrate Days of Awe with UK students

This past week Jews around the world celebrated Rosh Hashanah, commonly translated as Jewish New year. Commemorating the creation of man, this year marked the 5,781st year on the Jewish calendar.

On Sept. 28, Jews will celebrate Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year.

Combined they are called the Days of Awe, and are the highest attendance days of the year for synagogues.

This year however, with COVID-19 restrictions, many of these traditional communal celebrations have become hazardous, and have been canceled or revised.

While COVID-19 is a new challenge, Judaism teaches that God always provides the solution before the problem presents itself.

My personal mentor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, commonly referred to as the Rebbe, laid the groundwork for such a solution decades ago.

In the aftermath of the destruction of much of European Jewry, the Rebbe’s response was to turn outward. He began to send students all around the world to open Jewish centers. He instructed his students to work to ensure every Jewish person had an opportunity to engage in their heritage.

That outlook was more crucial this year than any year before, and it inspired a plethora of options.

This Rosh Hashanah began on the Jewish Sabbath, when Judaism forbids the usual blast of the Shofar to commemorate the day but Sunday, the second day of Rosh Hashanah saw over a dozen Shofar services around Lexington, including the annual Shofar service outside the William T Young Library at the University of Kentucky.

For Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, Chabad has constructed an open-air sanctuary, to enable worship and prayer at a social distance, and to allow participation in the holy day.

Chabad will host a variety of short services over Yom Kippur, which begins in Lexington at 7:08 pm Sunday the 27th, ending 8:05 pm Monday evening.

The first service will be the Kol Nidrei. The prayer which ushers in the holy day of Yom Kippur, is perhaps the most famous one in Jewish liturgy. The following service includes the Shema, the Amidah, the Al-Cheit confession of sins, and special additional prayers unique to Yom Kippur.

The service will continue Monday, and include a beginners service exclusively for University of Kentucky Students.

Services continue with a noon Yizkor Memorial service. Recited by community members who have experienced the death (G-d forbid) in the family, Yizkor gives space to remember one’s loved ones communally on a day that emphasizes communal unity and personal growth. This year, the Yizkor will have in mind all those lost to COVID-19 throughout our community, and the world.

Yom Kippur concludes with the Neilla Prayer, at 7 p.m. Monday evening. Neilla is the last chance to be “sealed in the Book of Life,” and its prayers invoke martyrs throughout Jewish history, intending that God will judge the community favorably in light of the dedication these martyrs had to their religion and people. The service ends with a final blast of the shofar that also signifies the conclusion of Yom Kippur.

All services will take place at Chabads new open-air sanctuary, at 568 Columbia Avenue in Lexington.

While Yom Kippur is often portrayed as a solemn day, Jewish tradition recognizes it as the happiest day of the year.

We look back over the past year, recognizing where we as individuals and as a society triumphed and where we failed, and celebrate the opportunity to do better in the future.

Yom Kippur is a celebration of God’s forgiveness, of being blessed with another year, and the ability to improve in the future. All CDC guidelines and all precautions must be taken, but that celebration cannot even be halted by a pandemic.

To reserve your seat at no cost contact Chabad at chabadofthebluegrass@gmail.com

Rabbi Shlomo Litvin is executive director of Chabad of the Bluegrass.