Marlborough's 'Mighty' Synagogue Preps For High Holidays 2023

MARLBOROUGH, MA — Rosh Hashanah begins Friday, kicking off a series of important holidays for Jewish people across the globe.

In Marlborough, Temple Emanuel Cantor Wendy Siegel is reminding the wider community that the holidays are open to the all — either to learn about Jewish practices or maybe even to participate.

Temple Emanuel will begin its Rosh Hashanah observance Friday night with a service celebrating the eve of the two-day holiday. Saturday's main service will be followed by a "tashlich," or atonement ritual, at a park in Hudson overlooking the Assabet River followed by a community meal of pizza. Sunday will include a Torah study focusing on miracles.

"What really are the miracles? Are they the ones god did, the ones people did? What constitutes a miracle?" Siegel said.

Non-members of the temple are welcome to join the Rosh Hashanah observance, the Sunday session in particular, Siegel said (the congregation does ask for a $90 donation for costs related to services).

Siegel calls Temple Emanuel, which has been around for more than 75 years, a "small but mighty" congregation. Many of the members are married to non-Jews, she said, and the temple is welcoming to people of all backgrounds, anyway.

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Siegel has been cantor at Temple Emanuel for the past seven years. It used to be unheard of for a temple to not have a rabbi, but that has changed in recent years. Siegel studied liturgical music at Hebrew College in Newton, a school that ordains cantors to lead temples. Specializing in music is very important as a bond between congregations, she said.

"For Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, there are very specific melodies for prayers we say every day," she said. "This connects us to Jews all around the world."

Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, kicks off on Sept. 24 with Kol Nidre, a prayer sung in a specific melody. That opening service is used by worshipers to ask for forgiveness for their sins, which is the wider purpose of Yom Kippur's main day on Sept. 25. The holiday also involves fasting, and members of the temple each year donate what they would've eaten to the Marlborough Community Cupboard food pantry.

"Yom Kippur is a day between us and god, and us asking forgiveness for sins we have done for the last year," she said.

Following Yom Kippur is Sukkot, a seven-day observance starting Sept. 29 that might be the most familiar to non-Jews. During the observance, temples typically erect Sukkots, temporary huts that represent the ones Israelites lived in after escaping slavery in Egypt. The structures are typically on display in front of temples for anyone to visit.

The bottom line, Siegel says, is that temples — and Judaism — are not exclusionary. She recounted a recent loss in her congregation where member's Catholic husband died. Even with different burial traditions for Jews and Catholics, the congregation "stood up and showed up" every day for the widow, Siegel said. They delivered food and made sure she was never alone.

"We are very tolerant of all people, everyone is welcome," Siegel said.

New Jewish members and non-Jews are welcome to inquire about attending services at Temple Emanuel. Siegel advised anyone interested in attending to call the temple first. Find out more on the temple's website.