New City Neighborhood Set to Continue Rosh Hashanah Tradition

Members of the Camelot community in New City are preparing for their annual Tashlich — "throwing or casting away" — holiday service on Thursday at Camelot Lake.

The service is a Jewish custom usually performed on the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which involves going to a body of water to throw in stones or bread as a symbolic way to ask forgiveness for sins over the past year, and to bless the community for the year to come.

Camelot resident Steve Gold said the 3:30 p.m. service is to be conducted by Adam Levin and Peter Kash, accompanied by the Norman Tabernacle Choir.

This service is open to all. The event includes cake from the recipes of Gussie Rados and Ruth Gold.

The service, which started as a small, family gathering, now involves as many as 150 people, said Steve Gold.

"It's really all about the kids," said Gold. "It's about passing on tradition."

Gold said his family took part in Tashlich services when he was a child. After moving into the Camelot development, Gold's father, the late Emanuel Gold, would visit for the holidays and brought the tradition with him.

"He wanted to show the kids what this was all about," said Gold, whose father was a Holocaust survivor. "He wanted to make sure the tradition was passed on to the children, and passed on to the grandchildren."

The lake is off Long Meadow Drive in New City, off East Cavalary Drive and Lady Godiva Way.