Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins Monday evening and is the start of high holidays that are a chance for a fresh look and a new opportunity, said Rabbi Yosef Wolvovsky of the Glastonbury Chabad Jewish Center .
Rosh Hashanah begins on Monday at sundown, and it concludes at nightfall on Wednesday. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins Oct. 1
Rosh Hashanah is observed on the first two days of the Jewish new year, and it’s celebrated with candle lighting in the evenings, festive meals with sweet delicacies during the night and day, prayer services that include the sounding of the ram’s horn (shofar) on both mornings, and desisting from creative work,” according to chabad.org.
Wolvovsky said message for Rosh Hashanah, especially this year, is unity.
“A basic Jewish idea about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is not just the same old same old,” Wolvovsky said.
Photo from a recent High Holiday Fair at the Chabad Jewish Center. (Contributed)
“It’s not another day on the calendar. It’s a fresh energy. God gives us a new opportunity. A divine potential that has never been in the universe before. Every one of us receives a new opportunity for a fresh look. A new opportunity to a fresh look of how we are behaving to our families,” Wolvovsky said.
“A new opportunity to how we are with our communities. This year I’m thinking of how we can be more inclusively and open-minded way to not to agree on everything but to respect all good people even if we disagree. It’s a symptom of humanity. We get in the same routine, and we end up in this permanent cycle of division or conflict. Rosh Hashanah said we could do better.”
For Jewish congregations across the United States, the upcoming High Holy Days — always a compelling mix of celebration and repentance — will be more charged than usual this year, the Associated Press reported. Rabbis say many of their congregants are worried by a surge of antisemitism, including two deadly attacks in the spring, yet are all the more determined to worship together in the coming days. The Israel-Hamas war also is ongoing.
An Anti-Defamation League audit of antisemitic incidents revealed a high number of recorded antisemitic incidents in 2024 in Connecticut.
“This year, not only what is going on in Israel, but also the way it’s affecting the Jewish people all over the world we are all trying to increase opportunities for people to get together. Throughout the state our 26 centers will be opening our doors, especially for the Jewish New Year and high holidays to give them an opportunity to get together,” Wolvovsky said.
The Glastonbury Chabad Jewish Center, one of 26 centers in the state, is hosting five events starting Monday evening at 6 p.m., with “Apple and Honey Rosh Hashana Dinner.”
On Tuesday, there will be two opportunities to hear the Shofar blast: 11 a.m. at the Chabad Jewish Center at 25 Harris Street, and at 6 p.m. at Salmon Brook Pond at 39 New London
Turnpike. On Wednesday, there will be two other celebrations. One will be at 11 a.m. at the Chabad Jewish Center and at 6:30 p.m. at Fountain Green at the corner Main and Hebron streets.
Other congregations in Connecticut also are holding Rosh Hashanah events.
“There’s no question the people of Israel are going through a difficult time but there’s no question it affects Jewish families and Jewish individuals all over the world and in faraway places and right here in the United States,” Wolvovsky said.
“It hit home for local families. As a rabbi, what I’ve noticed is people in a community are looking to connect back to our roots, back to our history and back to our communities and back to our traditions.”
“This year we are tapping into that thirst. We are trying to match people’s desire for community and for grounding in our centers and open to events in public places,” Wolvovsky said.
Wolvovsky said there is hope for unity and that he has witnessed people making an extra effort to reach out in friendship to people with whom they would otherwise disagree.
“I’m really starting to see it. There are clearly more sharp differences both domestically and around the world politically and on religious issues. People are starting to understand as Jewish people. We have a lot more than unites us in terms of tradition and our shared history. We have much more that unites us than pulls us apart. It is true that certain events and certain factors creates tension and the potential for division. I think people are realizing more and more that our unity is our strength and our greatest source of blessing,” Wolvovsky said.
Wolvovsky said that people see the reality of today as a symptom of perhaps something deeper and looking for greater purpose or more direction in life.
“When we have the Jewish New Year, we stop for a moment and say, ‘What does my Judaism mean to me? How do I find relevance in all of these traditions that go back thousands of years in 2025 America?’
“I think it allows us to think more creatively and more broadminded about all of the messages of Judaism that we learn both from the Bible, from our history, from our holidays. But the questions is what does that mean to us today. When it comes to the Jewish New Year, we come together. We put our differences aside as much as possible and come together. We stand before God, and we are all your children we ask for your blessing for a blessed year.”
Wolvovsky said in times like these people must stand together.
“People become timid and stay in our own little enclaves and over time I think we realize that’s not the healthy way. That’s not the productive way and it’s not going to solve any issues,” Wolvovsky said. “Good people have to stand strong. Not in a contentious way. Not in a argumentative way that I want to be with good people. We open the doors to anyone who wishes to celebrate the new year together celebrate with no strings attached.”
Photos from a recent High Holiday Fair at the Chabad Jewish Center. (Contributed)
Wolvovsky said there is no conventional model that people become members of a synagogue.
“People are looking for a connection. People are looking for friendship and they are looking for place to share their concerns and their perspectives in a way that is not threatening and in a way that is accepting and respected,” Wolvovsky said. “Once people feel comfortable coming in the door, then the sky’s the limit.”
For those interested in attending these events should contact the Chabad Jewish Center by phone at (860) 659-2422, email Rabbi@ChabadER.com or visit ChabadER.com.
Reporting by the Associated Press is included in this story.
