Rabbi Alex Greenbaum, who is serving at Adas Yeshurun, and his wife, Rabbi Amy Greenbaum, sit in front of a memorial board for the dead at the synagogue. Rabbi Alex Greenbaum holds a ram's horn, called a shofar, that is blown during holy days.KATHY MOORE/STAFF

Rosh Hashana

Jewish new year a time to reflect on the past and resolve to do better in the future

Web posted September 27, 1997

By Virginia Norton
Staff Writer

During a morning service at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, a young man began to have difficulty breathing. Alarmed, fellow students Amy Schomer and another woman called an ambulance.

Paramedics determined the student was only hyperventilating, probably excited about the opening of school.

Enter student Alex Greenbaum, who brought breakfast to the two women.

``He started telling everyone that day that I had saved (the ill student's) life by mouth to mouth resuscitation and I went to strangle him,'' said Amy Shomer Greenbaum.

They were soon study buddies and eventually became husband and wife. Now, they are both rabbis. He is serving at Adas Yeshurun of Augusta and she is assisting with education programs at the synagogue and raising their 51/2 -month-old son, Justin.

It is a time of new beginnings for the couple, who moved from New York City to Augusta; for Adas Yeshurun with a new rabbi; and for the Jewish people, who on Thursday observe the beginning of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.

Rosh Hashana, calculated by the lunar calendar, begins the Jewish high holidays (10 days starting with Rosh Hashana and ending with Yom Kippur). Traditionally, Rosh Hashana (Hebrew for ``head of the year'') marks the beginning of the world - 5,758 years ago - or the beginning of civilization, according to the Chicago Tribune.

For the past month, Rabbi Alex Greenbaum has blown the shofar, a trumpet made from a ram's horn, for morning services. Adas Yeshurun is one of the few synagogues which has morning services during the week, he said.

The Jewish people were told to blow shofars before the walls of Jerico, and they would come tumbling down. Shofars also represent the ram that substituted for Isaac when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, he said.

Blowing the shofar is asking God to remember Abraham's righteousness and apply it to the Jewish people, said Rabbi Amy Greenbaum. ``To say, `Look at what our forefather was willing to do for you, count that on our behalf as you look at what we have done this year.''

, which comes every week, he said. ``This is the day God gave us to rest. Resting is very important if you want to keep on surviving,'' said Rabbi Alex. Shabbat is for God, for the Jewish people, for everyone around them, a day of rest, he said.

All Jewish life is structured around the one day of rest and six days of work, said Rabbi Amy.}

Yom Kippur is the Shabbat (Sabbath) of Shabbats, said Rabbi Alex Greenbaum. ``You can imagine how holy that is,'' he said. ``That is why we fast on that day. We not only give ourselves a break but we give our bodies a break from food.''

This is a season for people to ask forgiveness. However, it shouldn't be just during the high holy days. ``It is a continual process,'' said Rabbi Alex Greenbaum. It is something like Valentine's Day. ``On Valentine's Day, you have to make sure you say `I love you' even though you should be saying it every day of your life.''

Rosh Hashana is also a time of introspection, said Rabbi Amy Greenbaum. In Hebrew the word for repentance - teshuvah - also means to return, she said. ``I look at it as returning to one's self and looking and saying, `Is this the person that I want to be?'''

On Yom Kippur, Jews pray the Kol Nidre, mindful of the year past as well as the year ahead. Some would say it means vows or promises made

and broken during the year are rescinded, but it means more, he said. ``Although you can go and ask forgiveness from people and you can make mistakes and correct them, the mistake is still made,'' he said. Sometimes the injury or hurt cannot be repaired. ``If I embarrassed you, if I started rumors, these are insults or injuries that you can't repair. So we try to look ahead and say, `Let's not do it.'''

People may think all they need to do is ask God for forgiveness, said Rabbi Amy Greenbaum. ``But really, there is a saying that says that for sins against God, you go to God, but for sins against your fellow person, you have to go to that person.''

A person must make an effort at reconciliation, she said. ``You make an honest attempt to go to somebody three times and (if) they don't forgive you, then you are relieved of your obligation,'' she said.

There is the idea that even the worst of people can still repent, she said. ``The gates of heaven are open for God to listen even at the end of these holidays, so there is a little crack in the gate just in case you missed out on your opportunity.''