For Chicago area Jews, a somber Rosh Hashanah amid escalating conflict in Middle East
GLENCOE, Ill. (CBS) -- Images of missiles headed to Israel are fresh on the minds of Jews in Chicago and around the world as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins Wednesday night.
At a north suburban synagogue, the turmoil of the past year has the rabbi struggling with what to tell his congregation.
"[It's] by far the most difficult year I've ever experienced as a 30-year rabbi to kind of come up with the message that I wanted to leave my congregation with today," said Steven Stark Lowenstein, the senior rabbi at Am Shalom Congregation in Glencoe.
Lowenstein said on the evening of Rosh Hashanah, he will talk about the indelible mark left in the hearts and minds of those in his congregation when it comes to the deadly attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 at the Nova Music Festival in Israel.
"It's an incredible time in the Jewish world," he said. "It's an incredible time for American Jews. It's an incredible time for Israel."
The High Holy Days start with Rosh Hashanah, normally a celebratory time marking the Jewish New Year.
But Lowenstein said this year, it's "an emotionally charged time for all of us to have Rosh Hashanah on the heels of the October 7th anniversary."
With that in mind, there are reminders of that day inside the Glencoe synagogue, including large yellow knitted ribbons that adorn the walls as a symbol to welcome the hostages home. The prayer shawls the rabbis and cantors will wear on Wednesday night are made from t-shirts and wristbands from the Nova Music Festival, flags from Israeli army units, along with the words "Bring them home now."
"We took four different trips to Israel over the last year from members of our congregation so we could give our support as directly as possible," Lowenstein said.
Shortly after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, the senior staff at Am Shalom decided to create a public display of chairs, each representing a hostage who was still being held in Gaza.
There is a single chair inside the synagogue in memory of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a hostage who was murdered and whose family has ties to Chicago.
Lowenstein sounded the shofar as part of the celebration which for him signals a wake up call to stand up and make the world better. He said a candle lit on Goldberg-Polin's chair is for the families who thought their loved ones would already be home.
"The hostages who are alive, we hope and pray that we will be able to get them back and they will be able to be reunited with their family," Lowenstein said.