- Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, marks the end of ten holy days beginning with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
- The Congregation Micah, a Reform Jewish synagogue in Brentwood, hosted a series of events on Yom Kippur that explored educational and political issues.
- At Yom Kippur’s morning service on Wednesday, Rabbi Philip ‘Flip’ Rice said, ‘Today is meant to free us from the worries of our little minds.
Congregation For Micah, the pursuit of fairness and justice goes hand in hand with observing the Jewish Day of Atonement.
“We Jews should not wait until the end before asking ourselves these questions,” Rabbi Laurie Rice said at Yom Kippur’s morning service on Wednesday. We shouldn’t ask. There may be nothing we can do then, but we will only regret it.”
Yom Kippur marks the end of the High Holy Days, a ten-day event that begins with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
Rice’s message was about the importance of people asking tough questions and gathering wisdom about themselves. Ligation Mika encouraged its members to think about social issues as well.
After Wednesday morning services, the synagogue hosted an interfaith panel on education sponsored by the Nashville Organization for Action and Hope, known as NOAH, with representatives from Rep. John Ray Clemons, Nashville Democratic Rep., Metro Nashville Public It featured the school’s Bertenna Rep. Navarr McKinney. board member.
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“We need to be aware of the language being used and the policies being passed by the most powerful individuals in the state,” said Clemons, a member of Congregation Mika. The ultimate goal is to completely undermine the teacher and public school system.”
Clemmons and Nabaa-McKinney spoke about book censorship, classroom curricula on the “notion of division,” and various education-related controversies related to charter schools, such as Hillsdale College-sponsored charter applications. The Republican-majority Tennessee legislature took the lead in passing a number of bills that discouraged progressive legislators and residents. Republicans have long argued that providing families with more educational options and choices is the right way to go.
Many of the state-level educational measures are aimed primarily at claims about important race theory, an academic concept taught at the law school or college level, but Navarre-McKinney said it was aimed at minority groups. He said it affected education about religious groups.
“We continue to see history repeating itself, not only for Muslims, but also for the Jewish community, and as long as we continue to see those changes exist, it will continue,” the public office said.
One member of the audience, a member of Congregation Micah, and an educator expressed concern about using excerpts from Mouse, a graphic novel about the Holocaust that was removed in another Tennessee school district.
Even if some ideas and concepts are not explicitly prohibited, some of the new teaching laws create an environment of fear that teachers are allowed to teach, Clemons and Nava McKinney said. rice field.
“The purpose of this is to completely sabotage or eliminate any discussion of certain aspects of our national and international history,” Clemons said.
Rice said Wednesday’s panel was general for Yom Kippur’s congregation Mika.
“We have a panel discussion each year, often one of the Bible readings on Holy Day, brought from the prophet Isaiah, who is responsible for making the world a better place for all. It is devoted to some sort of social justice issue along the lines of,” Rice said in an email Thursday.
After a panel discussion on education, more than a dozen members of the Congregation Micah gathered to exchange “chatter and opinion.” The roundtable event referenced discussions from previous panels, followed by conversations on the economy, voter disenfranchisement, the Supreme Court and abortion.
During “Chat and Opinions,” members raised their hands to give each other a chance to speak by repeating previous comments or offering alternative points of view.
Yom Kippur is also a day to commemorate progress as a result of the focus on the idea of repentance, as Rabbi Philip “Flip” Rice, who is married to Laurie Rice, at a Wednesday morning service.
“Failing and surviving life’s difficulties breeds growth,” Rabbi Fripp Rice said during the service. increase.”
Other Holy Day Celebrations
Here are some ways other Jewish communities in Nashville, in addition to Congregational Micah, have observed the Holy Day.
- One week before the official start of the holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the West End Synagogue, a conservative Jewish congregation, hosts a prayer service called the Ma’rib and a candle-lighting ceremony called the Havdala, followed by a dessert. A reception and documentary screening were held. Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
- Chabad, Nashville, a local chapter of the Hasidic organization Chabad Lubavitch, held a “Shofar in the Park” event celebrating Rosh Hashanah at Edwin Warner Park, enjoying apples and honey as part of the celebration is.
- A Reformed synagogue, the Temple hosted prayers called Tashrich in the stream that ran along the synagogue grounds after the Rosh Hashanah service.
- The Orthodox congregation, Sherith Israel, held a community luncheon at Rosh Hashanah.
Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Contact him at ladams@tennessean.com or Twitter @liamsadams.