Temple Shalom of Central Florida in Oxford prepares for the 5785 Jewish New Year.

This includes observing our High Holidays and other holidays commemorating the harvest and the beginning of the Torah reading cycle. This is the highlight of the year at Temple Shalom in Central Florida.

Events began last Saturday evening with a Selichot service that included Jewish poems and prayers leading up to the High Holidays. All Torah covers and tablecloths were changed from their normal colorful covers to white to symbolize purity and atonement, and to represent the desire for sins to become white as snow through repentance.

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sunset on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Samantha Sherman, president of Temple Shalom and resident of Buttonwood Village, extends her best wishes to the entire Tri-County community. “As Rosh Hashanah approaches, this holiday offers each of us the chance to renew our personal hopes and aspirations for the coming year. It is a time for us to continue the introspection of Selichot and focus on new beginnings. Whatever our intentions may be on Saturday eveningLet’s now begin the process of making it a reality.

One of the most powerful elements of Rosh Hashanah is the call of the shofar (ram’s horn), which echoes through time and touches something deep within us. Its ancient explosion is a reminder of where we have been and where we want to go. The sound of the shofar calls us to wake up, listen carefully and respond with purpose.

Rabbi Zev Sonnenstein will lead all High Holy Day services, accompanied by the Temple Shalom Choir. Rabbi is assisted by the Temple Ritual Committee, which plans all holiday services and events.

“On Rosh Hashanah we celebrate life and the possibility of a new beginning. We affirm the freedom and responsibility we have to live our lives with decency and morality. On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we focus on the mistakes we make when we fail to exercise our freedom responsibly. We seek redress and forgiveness for our mistakes and experience the fragility of life. We realize that we want to make a meaningful difference in the way we live our lives while we still can and do Teshuvah. “Implicit in the word teshuvah is the root shuv, which means to turn, to repent, to reflect and to learn how to be our best selves and our best as a community,” the rabbi said.

The full schedule and events can be found on the temple website tscfl.org. Tickets are required for some events. Questions by email [email protected] or call 352-748-1800.