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BANGOR – In synagogues around the world, the shofar, a ram’s horn, will be blown 100 times on Thursday to ring in Rosh Hashana – the Jewish New Year 5768.
Rosh Hashana, which begins at sundown Wednesday, is a day of joyous celebration balanced against a humbling and solemn consideration of how well or poorly Jews have used the gift of the previous year. The High Holidays, which encourage profound self-examination and repentance, end with Yom Kippur on Sept. 21 and 22.
It is one of the few times of the year when Jews are called to worship in community led by a rabbi and cantor rather than by lay leaders or marking a holiday such as Passover at home. Synagogues without rabbis or cantors hire them for the holidays.
Beth Israel, Bangor’s Conservative synagogue, will bring a familiar voice to town to serve as its cantor. Max Furmansky has visited the Queen City since 1998 for the High Holidays. Rabbi Slomo “Steven” Zacharow of Jerusalem, on the other hand, will visit Maine for the first time this week. The synagogue needed to hire a rabbi for the High Holidays this year as it continues its search for a permanent rabbi.
“I am looking forward to spending the most spiritually intense and concentrated time of the Jewish year with a traditional, established and intimate community,” Zacharow said in an e-mail response to questions. “I am not visiting as a ‘tourist’ in the typical sense, but will be jettisoned into a key role where I will be privileged to experience the inner workings of a reputable congregation.”
Zacharow grew up in Trumbull, Conn., and moved to Israel in 1991 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. After becoming a rabbi, he served for several years in a congregation before joining the faculty of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He serves as rabbi of Camp Ramah in Palmer, Mass., during the summer.
“This educational post has allowed me to work abroad for the Jewish ‘High Holidays,’ including communities in South Africa, Australia and Europe,” he wrote. “Although I am from New England, this will actually be the first time that I will be spending quality time in ‘The Pine Tree State.'”
Furmansky, a Holocaust survivor, was born in Poland in the 1920s and now lives in Israel. He was first selected nine years ago from a large number of cassette tapes sent in to audition for the job of cantor.
Mel Braverman, who was a member of the committee that selected him, told the Bangor Daily News in 1999 that Furmansky surpassed their expectations.
“We thought we were just hiring a cantor,” Braverman said eight years ago, “and along came this guy who is not only a real cantor, but he turned the synagogue on its ear. He’s a showman who is very personable.”
Despite the loss of his entire family under the Third Reich, Furmansky’s calling is his music.
“This is my life,” he said one year after singing the prayers by heart. “When I do this, I am another man. I am not Max Furmansky. I am saliah tsibur. A sender from the community. That’s what I am.”
Services for High Holidays
Adas Yoshuron (unaffiliated)
50 Willow St., Rockland 594-4523; www.midcoast.com/~yoshuron
Erev Rosh Hashanah
7 p.m. Sept. 12
First Day of Rosh Hashanah
9:30 a.m. Sept. 13, Adult service
10:30 a.m. Sept. 13, Children’s service
Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
9:30 a.m. Sept. 14
Kol Nidre
6:30 p.m. Sept. 21
Yom Kippur
9:30 a.m. Sept. 22, Adult service
10:30 a.m. Sept. 22, Children’s service
7:30 p.m. Sept. 22, Break-the-fast
Congregation Beth El (Reform)
183 French St., Bangor; 945-4578; http://me002.urj.net
Rosh Hashanah Evening Service
7:30 p.m. Sept. 12
Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 13
10 a.m. Morning service
1 p.m. Rosh Hashanah family service
3 p.m. Tashlich
Shabbat Shuvah Service
10 a.m. Sept. 15
Evening Service-Kol Nidre
7:30 p.m. Sept. 21
Yom Kippur, Sept. 22
10 a.m. Morning service
1 p.m. Just Jonah Discussion
2 p.m. Family service
3 p.m. Afternoon service
4:30 p.m. Yizkor service
5 p.m. Worship-Neilah service
6 p.m. Break-the-fast
Beth Israel (Conservative)
144 York St., Bangor 945-3433; www.cbisrael.com
Erev Rosh Hashanah,
5:30 p.m. Sept. 12, Mincha-Ma’ariv
First Day of Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 13
8 a.m. Shacharit
10 am. Children’s service
5:30 p.m. Mincha-Tashlich-Ma’ariv
Second Day of Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 14
8 a.m. Shacharit
10 a.m. Children’s service
5:30 p.m. Mincha-Ma’ariv
Yom Kippur, Sept. 21-22
1 p.m. Mincha
5:45 p.m. Kol Nidre
8 a.m. Shacharit
10 a.m. Children’s service
4 p.m. Micha-Ne’ila
7:17 p.m. Break-the-fast
Beth Abraham (Orthodox)
145 York St., Bangor 947-0876; www.jewishbangor.com
Erev Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 12
6:30 p.m. Mincha
First Day of Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 13
8 a.m. Morning services
6:30 p.m. Mincha
Second day of Rosh Hashanah
8 a.m. Morning services
6:30 p.m. Mincha
Yom Kippur, Sept. 21-22
Mincha
6 p.m. Kol Nidre
8 a.m. Morning services
Yiskor
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