WEST HARTFORD – A first-ever joint Tashlich program in greater Hartford will bring together the Jewish community in the High Holiday tradition of casting off sins.
The brain-child of Rabbi Yitzchok Adler, spiritual leader of Beth David Synagogue in West Hartford, the program will take place on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Thursday, Sept. 29, and is co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Israel and the Mandell JCC, both of greater Hartford, and is open to the entire Jewish community.
“Rosh Hashanah is a time for reflection and renewal, when we take stock of who we are and who we hope to be,” says Rabbi Michael Pincus of Congregation Beth Israel. “Just as the call of the shofar is intended to symbolically ‘wake us up’ from our habits and old patterns, the simple ritual of Tashlich is intended to symbolically ‘cast off’ our mistakes and bad habits. Real change is hard, and this ceremony is a powerful experiential way of consciously trying to change. Even as the search for change is personal, as we gather with our friends from Beth David Synagogue, the Mandell JCC, and others from our larger community, we remind ourselves and are strengthened by our unity and collective strength.”

Rabbi Yitzchok Adler

Indeed, Tashlich is universal, Adler says, with no doctrinal differences. “Tashlich involves walking to a body of water that is preferably flowing, and hopefully has fish. Various texts are recited, maybe a melody is sung; and some communities have a custom of throwing bread crumbs to the fish. The throwing of the bread symbolizes our hopes to be rid of our sins.”
Greater Hartford has a recent history of inter-congregational programming, but this is the first time that the JCC will be involved, Adler says. “For many unaffiliated Jewish individuals and families, the JCC is the Jewish address in town,” he says. “Cooperation with the JCC has the potential, we hope, to introduce some of those members to what the synagogues have to offer in a non- threatening, hopefully meaningful and worthwhile way.”
Organizers hope to draw members of the Jewish community who, for whatever reasons, did not attend a Rosh Hashanah synagogue service that morning, Pincus says. “This is a way of reaching out to members of the Jewish community who are genuinely and by most definitions unaffiliated, by bringing them the sights, sounds, and tastes of Rosh Hashanah,” says Adler.
The Mandell JCC and Adler participate in the annual Read Hebrew America adult literacy campaign, through the National Jewish Outreach Partnership (NJOP), an organization that has also developed Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot outreach programs for unaffiliated Jews interested in a holiday experience.
“Rabbi Adler had the idea to include the JCC because we reach out to many Jews who are unaffiliated,” says David Jacobs, executive director of the Mandell JCC. “We believe in the ‘Big Tent’ idea that all Jews and all those who are interested in the Jewish community are welcome, and that we should provide programming in a welcoming and engaging manner. Partnering with two synagogues that have such positive impacts on the community, and in the neighborhoods they serve, helps to meet the Big Tent principles. The JCC is also a portal or entry for people to connect to the Jewish community.”
The idea to collaborate with Beth Israel was a natural, says Adler, because the two synagogues are located less than a mile apart. There is no Conservative co-sponsor only because none of the congregations is within the same close radius, but the program is open to the entire community.
“We believe that there needs to be a variety of easy access points into the Jewish community, reflecting the diverse interests, backgrounds and experiences of the people we serve and should serve,” says Jacobs. “This requires enthusiastic collaboration, creative thinking and constant commitment of all institutions and all leaders in the Jewish community.”
The Sept. 29 program begins at Beth David Synagogue at 5 p.m. for holiday-themed snacks, followed by a brief program of songs and stories conducted by clergy from both congregations and facilitated by JCC staff, and concluding with the sounding of the Shofar. At 5:30 p.m., the group will walk together to Trout Brook, at the corner of Farmington Avenue and Trout Brook Drive, for a brief Tashlich ceremony.
“We hope participants will see the beauty of the holiday, possibly do something they have never done before, connect with two respected synagogues and clergy in our community, and think about ways they might adapt more Jewish rituals into their own lives,” says Elana MacGilpin, JCC adult program director. “Additionally we hope that participants see Jews from different backgrounds observing the holiday together and that it demonstrates that JCC and the rest of the community are interested in shared traditions and inclusion. Finally, we hope it is but one step on a jitney of continued involvement and connection.”
Adler says that, in his experience, the unaffiliated Jewish population of greater Hartford is “staggering.”
“In a given year, I perform at least as many circumcisions and funerals for families who don’t belong to a synagogue community as I do for families who do belong,” he says. “Granted, these are two very specific and well-defined population groups at the extremes of life, yet if they are an indicator to be taken into consideration, they tell me that there’s a very sizable critical mass of Jewish people who are not part of synagogue life, but still part of Jewish tradition and seeking connection to Jewish community.”
The potential for attracting and including that population is substantial, Adler says. “If we were to add up the number of seats in every synagogue that are available for worshipers over the course of this High Holiday season, would that number exceed or equal the total pool of potential worshipers in the community, regardless of affiliation?” he wonders every year. “My supposition is that there are more Jews than seats. If I am right, that tells me that there’s a population yet to be tapped, there’s work yet to be done, goals yet to be realized, and horizons yet to be imagined.”
Participants at the joint Tashlich program will meet on Thursday, Sept. 29, 5 p.m. at Beth David Synagogue, 20 Dover Road in West Hartford for a brief program followed by a walk to Trout Brook. For more information call (860) 236-4571, (860) 236-1241, or (860) 233-8215