wfn.org | UAHC Publishes High Holy Days Study Guide

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Emily Grotta
UAHC Director of Communications
(212) 650-4227
EGrotta@uahc.org
http://uahc.org

UAHC Publishes Guide for S'lichot, Yom Kippur Study Project Latest in 
Reform Worship Initiative

In an effort to make congregation-wide study an essential part of the Jewish
High Holy Days of S'lichot and Yom Kippur, the Reform Movement has published
Reaching for Holiness, a study guide to be used in the more than 900
congregations that are part of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.

The book is part of the UAHC's ongoing Worship Initiative, a project which
seeks to engage Reform Jews in worship that is meaningful, uplifting, and
inspirational. The full program can be downloaded from the World Wide Web at
http://uahc.org/growth/.

"We want to make sure that adult Jewish study is a priority in our
congregations," said Rabbi Pamela Wax, Assistant Director of the UAHC's
Department of Adult Jewish Growth. "We also want to make sure that we
provide our worshippers with materials that make study interesting,
enriching, and engaging. Reaching for Holiness not only provides congregants
with eleven wonderful opportunities to learn, it promises to instill a
greater sense of observance to the holiday of S'lichot."

  S'lichot is a service of repentance and preparation held late in the
evening on the Saturday before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, which
falls this year on September 8. The guide is also designed to be used for
study on the afternoon of Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), celebrated this
year on September 26.

The guide contains information and materials for eleven different workshops
and one guided meditation so that each congregation that uses it can create
a study program that is unique and appropriate to its members.

"Reaching for Holiness contains a tremendous variety of materials, allowing
congregations to mold their study programs to the needs of their
worshippers," Wax said. There are  workshops for nearly everybody - from
ones that focus on entertainment to ones that allow creative people to write
their own poetry and prose, to those that involve serious text study."

In the eleven workshops, congregants are asked to contemplate the meanings
of t'shuvah (forgiveness and repentance) and how it can impact their lives.
In one exercise, participants analyze and discuss the poetry of Yehuda
Amichai, looking at how the poet views mercy, and then compose their own
poems that explore how Jewish values and rituals influence their views. In
another, they compose their own prayers of repentance; in yet another they
examine the theme of t'shuvah in contemporary popular culture by looking at
the theme of repentance in the film Groundhog Day. Participants examine how
issues of social justice relate to the High Holy Days, and examine relevant
themes in the works of authors John Hollander, Ze'ev Falk, Gail Sheehy,
Merle Feld, and Harvey Shapiro.

The study guide comes with an audiocassette that allows participants to
examine the music of the High Holy Days. This music is incorporated into a
number of the workshops, with questions asking participants their responses
to the melodies and interpretations of the texts.

Reaching for Holiness is available, free of charge, to all UAHC
congregations. It can be ordered by contacting the Department of Adult
Jewish Growth at (212) 650-4087, ajgrowth@uahc.org.

The Union of American Hebrew Congregations is the synagogue arm of the
Reform Movement in North America, and unifies over 1.5 million Jews in more
than 900 synagogues in the United States and Canada. UAHC programs include
camping and Israel programs for youth, adult education opportunities,
outreach to unaffiliated and intermarried Jews, music and book publishing,
and the Religious Action Center in Washington, DC.

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