Exactly one week after terrorist attacks struck in New York and Washington, students, faculty and community members gathered together to mark the start of the Jewish New Year yesterday morning among circumstances that could be characterized as anything but celebratory.
Rosh Hashanah, which celebrates the beginning of the Jewish year, began Monday night at sundown and continues through today. It is followed by 10 days of reflection before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
A large number of Penn's Jewish population -- which makes up a sizeable portion of the student body -- filed into services held at Irvine Auditorium, the Hillel building and the University Museum Monday evening and during the day yesterday.
But the tone of the services was not traditional; some in attendance said more people than usual turned out for worship and others noted that the content of services was altered to fit last Tuesday's tragedy.
Irvine "was filled up to the top balconies," Engineering freshman Hal Schwartzstein said.
According to a few students, the increased crowding came from some students' inability to travel home because of flight cancellations as well as the timing of the holiday on weekdays this year.
In those packed services, many said the mood was extremely somber.
"I usually see the New Year as a time for celebration," College sophomore Molly Collins said. "This year, it certainly feels quite different."
Parts of the services acknowledged the deep losses felt throughout the country and the world.
"Mourner's Kaddish [is] usually said just for those in mourning for someone in the year of the death or on the anniversary of their death," said Collins, who attended conservative services. "[Monday] night the rabbi invited whoever wished to stand up. The majority of the synagogue stood up."
Moments of reflection, prayers for peace and national leaders struck students as particularly appropriate subjects this year.
"When there were prayers for the country, it became louder than the others," Schwartzstein said. "It was more emotional."
Many students noticed that emotion.
"Everyone's got a really serious tone," said Ethan Gur-Esh, a senior in Wharton and Engineering. "In a way, the timing [of the holiday] works out well, since it is a time to reflect.... A lot of what you're saying in the prayers has more meaning now."
The New Year gives people a chance to "move towards a sense of closure," as Gur-Esh put it. "I don't know if you can completely put it behind, but at least you can start that process."
The Jewish High Holy Days are a time for self-examination and thought -- something many people have already been doing in light of last week's tragedies.
"It's a universal time of reflection on everything," Engineering senior Larry Samuels said. "This whole year in Israel, it's been terrible."
Samuels said the attacks gave a better feeling for what it must be like to experience the violence in Israel.
"It's frighteningly at our doorstep," he said.
For students away from family, friends and loved ones, services offered a renewed sense of community.
"I got the feeling people were coming together to try and use faith to heal themselves," Collins said.
Dealing with crisis and drawing on faith as a source of that healing were subjects also addressed by rabbis during services.
Like many Americans, several students were left searching for ways in which the United States can come together as a nation.
"It's a horrible time, but it's a time to show how strong we are as a nation and draw strength from each other, and work to rebuild," Schwartzstein said.
That rebuilding -- and other changes that may come as a result of last week's attacks weighed heavily on the minds of many.
"On the Jewish calendar, it says a new year, but for the world calendar, it's also the start of something," College sophomore Sarah Sobotka said. "I'm not sure what, but this is definitely a turning point for our foreign policy and security issues. It's a new year in a lot of ways."
