classifieds

news

sports

opinions

comics

arts

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Yom Kippur celebration packs Hillel center

By Ryan Gabrielson

Arizona Daily Wildcat,
September 21, 1999

Due to a reporting error, the story ãYom Kippur celebration packs Hillel centerä in yesterdayâs Arizona Daily Wildcat misidentified UA professor Richard Green. While Green leads the reformed services at the Hillel Foundation during the high holidays, he is not a rabbi. The Wildcat regrets the error.

In celebrating the end of the Yom Kippur fast last night by breaking bread and orange juice, the Hillel Foundation worked to bind the Jewish members of the UA community together.

And one of those members - Rabbi Richard Green - took time away from his work as a professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona and the director of the Kitt Peak Observatory to lead yesterday's services.

Green said he is pleased with the foundation because "it maintains a sense of community. It helps us reach out to others - to become more inclusive."

Many of the 60 people who attended the ceremony were students.

According to Jared Koeppel, a UA economics senior, Hillel "makes it easier for students to come to these ceremonies."

Yom Kippur is the Jewish faith's holy day of atonement.

"It's a day that you ask God for forgiveness," said Jeanette Resnik, a UA communication freshman.

The ritual contained readings from the Mahzor, the book for the high holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Green also read the biblical story of Jonah as well as lists of boundaries for the faithful so that they may live a pure life.

"The sun is low, the hour is late. Let us enter the gates at last," Green read from the Mahzor.

The entire congregation read along with Green in Hebrew.

"The structure of the service and the way the words are sung is very pleasing," Green said.

In observing Yom Kippur, Jews fast from sundown to sundown, intermittently attending services.

"There is about a 26-hour fast," Green said. "No food, no liquid. It adds to the spiritual experience. What's so unique about this is it's not only purification. Every religion has a way to purify yourself. Our purification is done as a whole community."

The observance ended almost immediately after sundown at about 7 p.m. Food and drinks were then served to the members of the congregation.

Aside from housing religious ceremonies, Hillel's mission is to be "a diverse umbrella organization which serves an eclectic Jewish population."

It boasts a computer resource center, counseling services and a monitoring program.

The foundation also plans social meetings and outings to function as "mixers."

"We are more than just a religion. We are a people and a culture," Green said.