Reprinted with permission from the Hartford Courant September 27, 2003

Synagogue Offers Free Holiday Seats

By ANICA BUTLER
Courant Staff Writer

September 27 2003

Sundown Friday was the start of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and for thousands of Jewish families around the state, the beginning of a 10-day period of introspection and cleansing.

For one congregation, the next 10 days - the Days of Awe - are also a special time of sharing.

This is the holiest period of the Jewish calendar, ending Oct. 5 at Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement; and many synagogues experience an influx of what Rabbi Alan Lefkowitz calls the "three-day-a-year Jew" - those who come to services only on the High Holy Days.

"Could you take care of your car like that?" Lefkowitz asked after leading a Rosh Hashana service Friday. "If you treated your car like that you'd be walking. You've got to fill the tank."

Many synagogues ask nonmembers to purchase tickets, for as much as $150, to attend High Holy Day services. The celebration is considered a fund-raiser, and synagogues sometimes bring in additional chairs or prepare other rooms such as classrooms and libraries for the overflow.

But at Congregation Beth Ahm in Windsor, nonmembers, and even non-Jews are welcome to the services for free.

"When they come when they are not charged, people are moved by it even more," Lefkowitz said.

The relatively small congregation of about 105 families gave away 200 tickets for the weekend services, and Marla Adelsberger, past president of the congregation, said that even those who don't have tickets are welcome.

"Nobody will be turned away," she said.

It's a gamble, Adelsberger said, for a small congregation that she describes as not very wealthy.

But it's a gamble that, in some ways, has paid off.

In the late '90s, the 52-year-old congregation's membership had dwindled to about 70 families, mostly due to a shifting population, with many Jewish families moving westward, Adelsberger said. Giving away free tickets to High Holy Day services has been a way to introduce new people to the congregation.

"It brings people in, but it's also a way to carry out our mission to connect with and draw in the community - both the Jewish and the non-Jewish community," Adelsberger said.

Although Friday evening's service drew only about 45 people - most of them congregation members - the sanctuary was filled with 300 folding chairs in anticipation of the crowds for services today and Sunday.

"Tomorrow you won't even be able to find a seat," Adelsberger said.

Today's services begin at 9 a.m. and Sunday services begin at 9:30 a.m. The Sunday service will be followed by a trip to the Farmington River, where worshippers will drop bread crumbs into the water, symbolizing the casting off of sins.

Adelsberger and Lefkowitz also cite their congregation's mission - to be open to self-exploration - and the conservative congregation's unusual acceptance of interfaith couples as reasons for the growth in membership over the last four years. But the free tickets play their role, and the congregation plans to continue to give them away.

"Even when our membership is at 200 families, we'll still be doing it," Adelsberger said.

Congregation Beth Ahm is at 362 Palisado Ave. in Windsor.