Local Jews prepare for Yom Kippur

Stacy J. Willis

Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur -- when God seals the future in the Book of Life for another year -- begins at sundown tonight.

Many of the more than 76,000 Las Vegas Jews will put on prayer shawls and yarmulkes and head to valley synagogues to observe the most solemn of all Jewish holidays, also called the Day of Atonement.

Jews believe that at the turn of the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana, God judges mankind and records his judgment in the Book of Life, but does not seal the book for 10 days.

On Yom Kippur Jews fast, confess their sins and ask God for forgiveness before the Book of Life is closed and sealed.

"On Yom Kippur, we actually go through the process of confession together in services. It's between you and God, but you do it in public to recognize that we are all guilty of sin throughout the year," Rabbi Craig Rosenstein of Ahavat Torah Synagogue said.

"You also make amends with others. You look others in the eye and say, 'I'm sorry for the things I've done,' " Rosenstein said.

In a final ceremony of Yom Kippur, called "Ne'ila," Jewish congregations are given a last call for repentance. This is the only time all year when the doors to "the ark," the case in which the Torah is housed, remain open -- signifying the open gates of Heaven.

This year, in the aftermath of terrorist attacks on the United States, local rabbis say Yom Kippur services will be especially solemn.

"There is a certain intensity this year because of the attacks," Rabbi Mel Hecht of Temple Beth Am said.

"All of the prayers we have been reciting for generations have taken on a different, or fuller, meaning this year," Hecht said.

"For example, 'Who shall live and who shall die, who by fire and who by war?' Those prayers come alive for us this year."

While the synagogue grounds are under construction, Temple Beth Am's Yom Kippur services will be held next door at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple is at 9001 Hillpointe Drive in Summerlin.

Temple Beth Am is nearly finished with the first phase of a construction project that includes a school, adult day care center and an event center. The 26,000-square-foot facility will serve both Jewish and non-Jewish children and senior citizens, Hecht said. The next phase of construction will include a new synagogue.