The annual outdoor service will be held in Elizabeth Park in West Hartford.

Submitted

Cantor Robbie Solomon. Submitted photo

Congregation Beth Israel will mark the start of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah with a service in Elizabeth Park on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 5 p.m.

The family-friendly service is free and open to the public.

“Rosh Hashanah in the Park” has become a popular annual event, attracting hundreds of guests from the West Hartford Jewish community and beyond. According to Congregation Beth Israel’s Communications Coordinator Max Schwimmer, Rosh Hashanah in the Park is the synagogue’s “major community event of the year. … We see a lot of people from the Greater Hartford Jewish community, but it’s also a great event for people who may want to learn a little about Judaism or just enjoy a nice evening in Elizabeth Park.”

Rosh Hashanah is Hebrew for “head of the year,” and marks the new year according to the Hebrew calendar. One of the Jewish “High Holy Days,” Rosh Hashanah includes joyful celebration. The sounding of the shofar, a bugle-like instrument made from a ram’s horn, announces the beginning of the “Days of Awe” between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The Rosh Hashanah in the Park service will be led by Congregation Beth Israel’s rabbis, Michael Pincus and Andi Fliegel, and will feature participatory music with a live band. This year, CBI will also welcome Cantor Robbie Solomon to lead musical portions of the service. An accomplished composer and interpreter of Jewish vocal music, Cantor Solomon recently retired from Baltimore Hebrew Congregation after a career spanning 40 years.

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue of more than 700 families, tracing its history to 1843, when Jews were first given the legal right to establish a synagogue in the state of Connecticut. Today, Congregation Beth Israel is a welcoming community where people of all ages and backgrounds can deepen their spirituality and engagement in the world through prayer, celebration, learning, and efforts to repair the world.

For more information, please visit www.cbict.org.

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