S. PAULO, Brazil — Home of soccer and Carnival, religion does not usually take center stage in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In Small Brazilian Neighborhood, One Thousand March With Chabad Rabbi To Tashlich
S. PAULO, Brazil — Home of soccer and Carnival, religion does not usually take center stage in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
But this Rosh Hashana saw of hundreds of Jews participating in a procession with Jewish significance.
Tashlich, a custom peformed by a symbolic gesture, speaks to the idea of Rosh Hashana as a time for seeking forgiveness.
Less popular than apple-dipped-in-honey and other Rosh Hashana traditions, Tashlich is a tradition where Jews walk to a body of water, symbolic of kindness, and following a short prayer, shake the corners of their garments as if casting their sins into the water, while beseeching G-d’s forgiveness.
Rabbi Yossi Schildkraut, Chabad emissary in Itaim, an upscale neighborhood in Sao Paulo, has made this ancient ritual resonate with a modern community: a Tashlich procession.
On Thursday, the procession that departed from the Beit Chabad Itaim synagogue numbered 500. By the time it reached the well of water, its numbers swelled to over one thousand participants.
“People stopped their cars and wished us a happy new year,” says Marcelo Stern, a longtime congregant. “Every year we increase our numbers, as publicity about the march spreads .”
In an inspiring ceremony, Rabbi Schildkraut sounds the shofar and addresses the tashlich-goers.
“I feel cleansed after the ceremony,” says Renata Levy. “It’s a tangible expression of the Rosh Hashana mindset of repentance and forgiveness.”
Feldmans
We are very proud of you Uncle Yossi!
The Feldmans
Halifax
proud fam member
way to go Schildkrauts!!
mark
what exactly is the photo? are they playing music by tashlich?
fay
keep it up uncle!
someone down under
go rabino yossi!!!!!!!!
to mark
to mark , read what it said under the picture, At a pre-Rosh Hashana concert, Rabbi Schildkraut prepares his community to make the most of the Jewish New Year