Free Rosh Hashana services will be held Saturday at The Laugh Factory Hollywood and Clover Park in Santa Monica continuing to mark the start of the year 5787 on the Hebrew calendar.
Most congregations require membership and tickets for High Holy Days services.
The Laugh Factory Hollywood will begin its 46th annual High Holy Day services with a morning service at 11 a.m.
“People around the world are facing the threat of war, severe economic challenges, and a growing sense of isolation and division,” Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada said in a statement.
“Our High Holiday services are about bringing people together to pray with one voice for hope, healing, and peace. These are values that can inspire and uplift us all.”
The Sholem Community will conduct Rosh Hashana in the Park at 11 a.m. at Barbecue Area 2 at Clover Park, 2600 Ocean Park Blvd.
The secular observance will draw from Jewish history, folk traditions, contemporary readings and social justice themes, according to Sholem.
Sholem describes its celebration as family friendly and “perfect for interfaith families and those seeking cultural Jewish celebration without religious requirements.”
Attendees are asked to bring their own picnic lunch and a dessert to share and blankets or chairs to sit on. Traditional apples, honey and challah will be provided.
The Sholem Community bills itself as “a secular and progressive Jewish educational, cultural, and social institution.
The Chai Center will conduct a free service at 10 a.m. at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills., 135 S. Doheny Drive.
The center describes itself as “a very nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the Jewish community of Greater Los Angeles” with such events as a “Dinner for 60 Strangers” each Friday evening, classes on a variety of topics of Judaism and singles parties “for Conservative, Reform, non-affiliates and any Jew that moves.”
Other free services will be held at Chabad locations throughout Los Angeles County, the JEM Community Center, 9930 S. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills and the Jewish Community Center, 2108 Vail Ave. in Redondo Beach.
Rosh Hashana began at sundown Friday and will end at sundown Sunday. The day begins at sundown on the lunisolar Hebrew calendar, which is based on both the sun and moon.
Rosh Hashana is a time when Jews gather with family members and their communities to reflect on the past year and the one beginning. Celebrants also eat festive meals featuring apples dipped in honey, symbolic of the wishes for a sweet year.
Rosh Hashana services customarily feature the blowing of the shofar, a ram’s horn mentioned in the Torah and used by ancient Jews in religious ceremonies and as a call to arms.
However, because Rosh Hashana began on Sabbath this year, the shofar will not be sounded until after sundown Saturday.
“We look at Rosh Hashana as the birthday of the universe, and we share this universe with one another,” Rabbi David Baron of the Temple of the Arts told KTLA.
Rosh Hashana ushers in the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of repentance and contemplation culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Judaism’s most solemn and somber day.
During the High Holy Days, Jewish tradition holds that God records the fate of each person for the coming year in the Book of Life, which is sealed at the end of Yom Kippur.
Due to the longtime threat of terrorism and the worldwide spike in antisemitism following Israel’s response to the October 7th, 2023 rocket barrage and militants attack on the Gaza-Israel border, law enforcement organizations conduct increased patrols around Jewish institutions during the High Holy Days, augmented by private security.
A sign on the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills where the Temple of the Arts conducts its services declares, “Premises Under 24/7 Surveillance.”
“We have to do things like security checks and metal detectors,” Baron told KTLA.
In his Rosh Hashana message, President Donald Trump said, “The Jewish community around the world marks the anniversary of when the Almighty created Adam and Eve and the story of humanity began. These two days open a solemn season of prayer, repentance, and spiritual renewal in preparation for Yom Kippur.
“My administration reaffirms our steadfast commitment to ushering in a historic renewal of faith across our country, eliminating the scourge of antisemitism and defending the sacred right of religious liberty for every single American.”