Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins Sept. 16, and students of the faith or interested in celebrating the new year can attend services at a local church.

Rosh Hashanah marks the anniversary of the creation of the world described in the Torah and begins the 10-day period known as the Days of Awe, when Jews focus on repentance and atonement.

Services celebrating Rosh Hashanah will take place 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16 and 10 a.m. Sept 17 at the Jewish Community Center, 2200 Western Ave., Mattoon.

Following services Sept. 17, service members will drive to Lake Mattoon and throw bread into the water, a practice called tashlikh, where ones sins of the previous year are cast off.

The Jewish Community Center shares the sanctuary with the Trinity Episcopal Church.

The Trinity Episcopal Church began providing the space for the Jewish Community Center in February 2010.

“We are very grateful to have this particular church host us,” said Marjorie Hanft, a lay leader of the Jewish Community Center and Eastern psychology instructor.

Hanft said Rosh Hashanah is not comparable to the secular new year.

“This does not connect in any way, shape or form to a secular New Year’s celebration,” she said, though members of the synagogue often celebrate both because Rosh Hashanah is religious and the secular new year is not.

At the end of the Days of Awe is Yom Kippur, which runs from Sept. 25 to 26.

Also known as the “Day of Atonement,” Yom Kippur is the holiest Jewish holiday and focuses on repentance and atonement before God seals the books of life and death, determining if a person has a good year or not.

Yom Kippur services will take place 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25, as well as 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sept. 26 at Trinity Episcopal.

Kenneth Truelove, a supply priest at Trinity Episcopal, said he enjoys sharing the space with the Jewish Community Center and he does not view Judaism as a separate religion.

“I personally don’t view it as another religion,” he said. “The Christian Church grew out of a Jewish framework.”

Truelove said he tries to attend all of the Jewish services, which he said fall mainly on Fridays and do not conflict with Episcopal services.

He said he also enjoys the opportunity to hear Hebrew spoken.

“I appreciate the fact that it helps me kind of review some of my Hebrew,” said Truelove, who has been exposed to Hebrew through reading scripture.

“It’s nice to get a little refreshment in that sense,” he said.

Attending Jewish services also allows Truelove to meet members of the community he might not see regularly at church.

“There are some really fine people that I’ve developed a friendship with,” he said. “(They are) some of the finest people I’ve met in Coles County.”

Tim Deters can be reached at 581-2812 or tadeters@eiu.edu.