Holidays & Rituals
SHABBAT SERVICES
SHABBAT SERVICES are held every FRIDAY evening at 6:00 pm with an Oneg or social following.
Visitors are welcome. Feel free to Join us virtually on our live stream
SATURDAY MORNING TORAH STUDY dates are detailed in our Weekly Bulletin that is sent to members of the congregation. Our "Knosh and Knowledge" Bagel Bar is set to begin in October, 2025.
HIGH HOLY DAYS
SELICHOT is always on the Saturday before Rosh Hashanah. Selichot, a Hebrew word meaning "forgiveness," refers to the special penitential prayers recited by Jews
throughout the High Holy Days.
ROSH HASHANAH (literally, "Head of the Year") is the Jewish Spiritual New Year, which marks the beginning of a 10-day period of prayer, self-examination and repentance. This period, known as the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe or High Holy Days), is widely observed by Jews throughout the world, many with prayer and reflection in a synagogue. There also are several holiday rituals observed at home. Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which—because of differences in the solar and lunar calendar—corresponds to September or October on the secular calendar. Customs associated with the holiday include sounding the shofar, eating a round challah, and tasting apples and honey to represent a sweet New Year. Sometime during the Rosh Hashanah period, we go to the river and symbolically cast away our sins in the ceremony of Tashlich. This ritual actually acts as a liturgical precursor to the confession of sin on Yom Kippur.
YOM KIPPUR - THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
Ten days after Rosh Hashanah
Yom Kippur means "Day of Atonement" and refers to the annual Jewish observance of fasting, prayer and repentance. Yom Kippur is considered the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. In three separate passages in the Torah, the Jewish people are told, "the tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred occasion for you: You shall practice self-denial."(Leviticus 23:27). Fasting is seen as fulfilling this biblical commandment. The Yom Kippur fast also enables us to put aside our physical desires to concentrate on our spiritual needs through prayer, repentance and self-improvement.
The evening service of Yom Kippur (named Kol Nidre after the prayer of the same name), is hauntingly beautiful. The congregation is somber, a full fast has begun and hearts are heavy and often mournful. The Kol Nidre prayer is a legal formula absolving us of vows or oaths made under duress. It probably developed in medieval times and the melody we hear is equally as old.
YIZKOR
During the afternoon of Yom Kippur, the liturgy provides us an opportunity to mourn for those members of our families and community who have died. The contemporary Yizkor service also acknowledges the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, as well as all the martyrs of our people. Our Yizkor service includes poetry and music representing the wealth of Jewish expression. But our hearts ache, and even the most beautiful melodies and most sincere words cannot express our grief. Our tears are intermingled, as we mourn both for personal loss and communal tragedy.
NEILAH
The word “Neilah” means “to lock” and refers to the locking of the gates of heaven. Many of the prayers are the same as we have prayed earlier in the day, but Neilah introduces yet more new “nusach.” The melodies have an urgency and desperation that seem to implore God to listen to our prayers, to give heed to our voices. Once again the melody of Sh’ma Koleinu asks God not to turn away from us. Hungry and tired from fasting all day, we are presented with a spiritual rebirth with the sounding of the final Tekiah Gedolah. Like the crash of a cymbal in an orchestral symphony, the shofar’s call awakens us. Through prayer, song, and the blessing of community we are spiritually reborn. A New Year has begun, and we pray, oh God, to have the opportunity to hear it again next year.
The High Holy Days usually end with a Havdalah service, separating the holy days from the routine days. Then we are able to break our fast with food and drink.
In 2025, Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of September 22 and ends at sundown on September 23. Yom Kippur, begins at sundown on October 1 and ends at sundown on October 2.
HOLIDAYS - In order of the Jewish calendar which begins in the Sping
PASSOVER, A NEW BEGINNING
Passover marks the beginning of our Jewish calendar. Passover celebrates the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt and the Haggadah tells the story. This is when we first became a community. Jewish people have always had a fascination with numbers – the number 18 stands for chai or life, the Jewish people wandered for 40 years in the desert, we light 8 candles on Chanukah, etc. So, it is no different with Passover. In the Haggadah, the number “4” is very significant. There are 4 specific instances in the Haggadah where the number 4 is prominent.
There are traditionally 4 cups of wine consumed as part of our Passover seders. The first cup of wine accompanies Kiddush and serves to sanctify the holiday. The second cup of wine is the cup of redemption because it is drunk after the telling of the Passover story when the Jews were redeemed from slavery in Egypt. The third cup of wine is drunk after the birkat hamazon, the blessing after the meal. It represents gratitude to God who sustains us. And, the fourth cup of wine is symbolic of the future. It is drunk near the conclusion of the seder when we pray for an age of peace for all humankind.
The four questions are typically recited at the seder table by the youngest person who is able to recite them. The answers all have to do with our unique history of slavery and redemption of the body and the soul. On Pesach we enjoy special freedoms that we did not enjoy when we were slaves. And it is our obligation to teach our children about Jewish customs and rituals.
There are four sons – the wise son, the wicked son, the simple son and the son who does not know enough to ask. The wise son is eager to learn. He embraces his Jewish heritage and tries to lead a righteous life. The wise son will insure the perpetuation of future Jewish generations. The wicked son sees the requirements in the Torah as constraints on his freedom. If future Jewish generations must rely on him, there will be nothing that separates us as Jews from anyone else. The simple son has the capacity to learn, but he is lazy. He wants everything to be immediate and does not want to spend time learning or understanding about his Jewish heritage. He needs to understand that learning does not come all at once. Learning is an on-going process we continue throughout our lives. And the son who does not know enough to ask relies on each and every Jewish person to teach him the ways of Judaism to insure that he and his future generations will be Jewish.
There are four mentions of redemption in the story of the Exodus. The first, “I am Adonai and I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt” tells how Adonai showed the Egyptians that our God is a mighty God. The second, “I shall save you from their service” tells how Adonai brought the plagues upon the Egyptians and lead the Jewish people out from slavery. The third, “I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments” tells of the miraculous parting of the Red Sea where the Jewish people crossed on dry land while the sea swallowed up the pursuing Egyptians. And the fourth, “I shall take you to me as a People, and I shall be a God to you” tells of the spiritual redemption of the Jewish people to become a holy nation.
HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY - YOM HA-SHOAH
In the month of April, Jews celebrate three relatively modern Israeli national holidays that came into existence since the formation of the State of Israel as a Jewish homeland in 1948. The first of these holidays is Yom Ha-shoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day. This holiday commemorates the lives of those who perished in the Shoah or Holocaust. The Shoah was the mass murder of European Jews by the Nazis during World War II. In 1951, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) proclaimed Yom Hashoah would fall on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan each year. This date allows the holiday to fall after Pesach but still within the time span of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In Israel, Yom Hashoah is a national holiday and all public entertainment ceases on that day. In fact, at 10 am a siren is sounded throughout Israel and everyone stops what they are doing to stand in remembrance for a minute or two. Here in the United States we commemorate Yom Hashoah with special services where we light memorial candles and recite Kaddish to remember the six million Jews and many others who perished at the hands of the Nazis. Our congregation typically holds a Holocaust Memorial Service (which is open to the entire community) on the Monday closest to Yom Hashoah.
ISRAELI NATIONAL HOLIDAY: ISRAEL REMEMBRANCE DAY - YOM HAZIKARON
This holiday is always celebrated on the day preceding Israel’s Independence Day. It is Israel’s Memorial Day, a day to remember all military personnel who were killed while in active duty in Israel’s armed forces. There is a special reason why Yom Hazikaron is always the day before Yom Haatzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) because by linking the two days together, it shows that Israelis owe their independence and the existence of the Jewish state to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it. For the entire day of Yom Hazikaron, all public places of entertainment in Israel are closed. A siren sounds two times for 2 minute “standstills” of traffic and all daily activities. The first siren is at 8 pm marking the beginning of the observance and the second siren is at 11 am on the day of the holiday. After the second siren, prayers are recited at military cemeteries throughout Israel.
ISRAELI INDEPENDENCE DAY - YOM HAATZMAUT
Israelis, and friends of Israel, celebrate Yom Haatzmaut – their Independence Day. At this time, right before sundown, there is an official switch from the somber mood of Yom Hazikaron to the more celebratory mood of Yom Haatzmaut. The celebration begins with a ceremony at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem where the Israeli flag is raised from half-mast to the top of the flag pole. The holiday celebrates the formation of the Jewish National State in 1948 and in Israel it is celebrated with parades, singing and dancing in the streets. The celebration ends with the Israel Prize ceremony (which is similar to our Kennedy Center Honors) recognizing individual Israelis for their contributions to culture, science, arts and humanities. American Jews celebrate Yom Haatzmaut to show their solidarity to the state of Israel.
SHAVUOT
Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah by God to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai more than 3300 years ago. Every year on the holiday of Shavuot we renew our acceptance of God's gift, and God "re-gives" the Torah. The word Shavuot means "weeks." It marks the completion of the seven-week counting period between Passover and Shavuot. The giving of the Torah was a far-reaching spiritual event - one that touched the essence of the Jewish soul for all times.
JEWISH HIGH HOLY DAYS (see above)
SUKKOT - FESTIVAL OF THANKS FOR THE FALL HARVEST
Sukkot, a Hebrew word meaning "booths" or "huts," refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest. It also commemorates the 40 years of Jewish wandering in the desert after the giving of the Torah atop Mt. Sinai. Sukkot is celebrated five days after Yom Kippur on the 15th of Tishrei, and is marked by several distinct traditions. One, which takes the commandment to dwell in booths literally, is to erect a sukkah, a small, temporary booth or hut. Sukkot (in this case, the plural of sukkah) are commonly used during the seven-day festival for eating, entertaining and even for sleeping.
SIMCHAT TORAH - REJOICING IN THE LAW, THE LAW OF TORAH
Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Law) celebrates the completion of the annual reading of the Torah. This joyous festival provides opportunities for Jews to affirm the centrality of Torah in their lives, as well as to demonstrate their commitment to lifelong study. As part of the celebration, the Torah scrolls are taken from the ark and carried or danced around the synagogue seven times. During the Torah service, the concluding section of the fifth book of the Torah, D’varim (Deuteronomy), is read, and immediately following, the opening section of Genesis, or B'reisheet as it is called in Hebrew, is read. This practice represents the cyclical nature of the relationship between the Jewish people and the reading of the Torah.
CHANUKAH
Chanukah is a Jewish festival commemorating the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BCE after the Maccabees defeated the Syrian Greeks. Chanukah is always celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. The holiday lasts for eight days and eight nights. Traditionally, we light a 9 branched candle holder called a menorah. It hold one candle for each of the 8 nights and a helper candle (Shamash) which lights the other candles. The legend says that when things were destroyed in the Temple, the eternal light (which was an oil lamp at the time) was knocked over. The lamp was picked up and a tiny bit of oil was found to relight it. A messenger was sent to get more oil. It took him 8 days and 8 nights to bring more oil for the lamp, but miraculously, the lamp stayed lit until he returned. This is the miracle of Chanukah and why we light 8 candles. We also eat foods fried in oil like potato latkes and sufganiyot (jelly donuts). We often play a game with a top called a dredyl.
TU BISH'VAT
Tu Bish'vat is the birthday of the trees in Israel. The name of the holiday - Tu Bish'vat - tells us the date on the Jewish calendar on which the holiday falls - the 15th day of the month of Shevat. This is a very important holiday in Israel as trees are an important part of the land. You can plant a tree in Israel for only $18 by going to www.jnf.org.
PURIM
Purim celebrates the story found in the book of Esther which took place in Persia (modern day Iran) many years ago. King Ahashueros married Esther without knowling she was Jewish. The king's prime minister, an evil man named Haman, hated the Jewish people and he cast lots to determine the day on which they should all die. The word Purim actually means "Lots." Esther found out about his plot and confessed to the king that she was Jewish. She begs him to save her and her people. The Jews are saved and Haman is hanged instead. This holiday is fun and festive similar to our Louisiana Mardi Gras. We celebrate with masks and costumes because Esther hid her true self (and religion) from the king and we rejoice with parades, merriment and food in celebration of Jewish survival. We eat cookies called Hamantaschen which are made in the shape of a triangle representing the three cornered hat that Haman was said to have worn.
LIFE CYCLES
BIRTHS
Baby Naming, Brit Milah, and Brit Bat ceremonies are available to Temple members and unafilliated as ways to welcome children into Judaism. These celebrations honor our Jewish traditions and families, and bring the joy of beginnings to all who participate. Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim celebrates families and includes parents from different heritages, same-sex parents, adopted children – your family is our family. Our Rabbi will help you to create a meaningful ceremony either public or private at home or in our sanctuary.
WEDDINGS
The Rabbi of Gemiluth Chassodim helps couples celebrate their weddings in authentically Jewish, joyous, warm and welcoming ways all year long. In our synagogue and at locations in CENLA, our Rabbi will partner with you to create a vibrant and beautiful ceremony. Couples with partners from different backgrounds, interfaith couples, same-sex couples – we want to sanctify your relationships as you become a Jewish family.
MARRIAGE
Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim celebrates our married couples at every age and stage of life. From Milestone anniversary blessings at a Shabbat Evening Service to discussions about partnering and parenting with clergy, our synagogue family supports your family.
CONVERSION
Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim warmly welcomes and encourages non-Jews to learn about and explore Judaism. Through informal meetings, Torah Study classes, our weekly services and one-on-one discussions with our Rabbi, we make becoming Jewish a meaningful, spiritual, and communal experience. Rabbi Judy offers an Introduction to Judaism class once a year at the Temple and a 10 month series of classes to learn more about Judaism which can lead to conversion. Please contact Rabbi Judy – rabbi@jewishtemple.org – for more information.
Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim’s entire community family is dedicated to caring compassionately for every one of our members as we struggle through health issues and we are here to support family members who struggle, as well. Our Caring Committee reaches people in need of hospital and home visits, we offer prayers for healing at services and services devoted to healing and comfort, all which reflect our devotion to the care and support of every Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim family member. We appreciate your letting the Rabbi know if you are ill so that we can be supportive.
DEATH
Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim provides support and care for end-of-life issues. We help our families with the Jewish priorities of caring and comforting for those near the end of life, Our Rabbi is here to offer you comfort and to guide you through the funeral, burial and shiva process. We are here to support you through your grief.
BURIALS & BEREAVEMENT
BEREAVEMENT
May God console you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem (Ha'makom yenahem etchem b'toch sha'ar avelei Tzion v'Yerushalayim).
YIZKOR – WE REMEMBER
You are invited and encouraged to let us know the name and yahrzeit of your beloved ones who have departed from us. We will honor their memory by announcing their name at our synagogue during services. May you be comforted among all the mourners of Israel. Call us at 318.445.3655 or email rabbi@jewishtemple.org
If you would like information about being buried in our cemetery, please contact secretary@jewishtemple.org
Kaddish Prayer
Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba.
B’alma di v’ra chirutei, v’yamlich malchutei,
b’chayeichon uv’yomeichon uv’chayei d’chol beit Yisrael,
baagala uviz’man kariv. V’im’ru: Amen.
Y’hei sh’mei raba m’varach l’alam ul’almei almaya.
Yitbarach v’yishtabach v’yitpaar v’yitromam v’yitnasei,
v’yit’hadar v’yitaleh v’yit’halal sh’mei d’Kud’sha B’rich Hu,
l’eila min kol birchata v’shirata,
tushb’chata v’nechemata, daamiran b’alma. V’imru: Amen.
Y’hei sh’lama raba min sh’maya, v’chayim aleinu v’al kol Yisrael.
V’imru: Amen.
Oseh shalom bimromav, Hu yaaseh shalom aleinu,
v’al kol Yisrael. V’imru: Amen.