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Temple opens doors for Rosh Hashana
(by Sali McSherry - September 24, 2008)
Temple opens doors for Rosh Hashana
By SALI McSHERRY
Congregants at Temple Emanu El have much to celebrate during the High Holy Days from Sept. 29 through Oct. 9 at their new building in Orange Village.
Hundreds of congregants are expected to attend a variety of services for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Executive Director Renee Higer said. The days in between are known as the Days of Awe, or the Days of Repentance.
The 61-year-old Reform congregation will come together at its 37,000-square-foot temple on 10 acres at Brainard and Emery roads. The building was designed to focus on prayer, education and community, Ms. Higer said.
The temple relocated from a primarily Orthodox area on South Green Road in University Heights and sold that building to John Carroll University.
On the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashana, congregants will have the opportunity to participate in a tashlich service, which will be held at the pond in front of the temple, where people will symbolically cast off their sins, Ms. Higer said.
The women of Temple Enamu El will host a break the fast following Yom Kippur in the expansive, light-filled atrium, from where all activities flow in the temple, Ms. Higer said.
Congregants will participate in Sukkot, the celebration of the harvest, or day of booths, a seven-day Jewish festival that begins on the fifth day following Yom Kippur. Families will have the chance to decorate a sukkah, a temporary housing structure, on the back patio of the temple. And then congregants will celebrate Simchat Torah, Hebrew for rejoicing with the torah, Ms. Higer said.
Temple Emanu El Rabbi Steven Denker, of Solon, said the temple offers an innovative religious school, preschool, day care and family-oriented services.
It's all about the family, Ms. Higer said.
The sanctuary is located in the middle of the building with the social hall and board meeting room flowing off of it. The configuration will be useful if the sanctuary needs to be extended, Ms. Higer said, and could accommodate 1,000 people. Studio Techne, of Beachwood, designed the temple's signature wood-paneled circular chapel, along with the rest of the contemporary building that utilizes natural materials.
A life-cycles celebration room with a glass window overlooking the sanctuary serves multiple purposes, including a place for parents to take their babies who may have a difficult time managing during services. The room, which can be curtained off, also serves as a bride's room for weddings.
The building also features a professional-grade kitchen and a state-of-the-art preschool area and religious classrooms.
For more information about High Holy Days services, call (440) 454- 1300.
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