Community Corner
VIDEO: Encino Temple Celebrates Yom Kippur With Healing Ceremony
Makom Ohr Shalom, affiliated with the Jewish Renewal movement, adds a twist to the observance, which it refers to as the day of 'At-One-Ment.'
Harold Gidish sat on the middle folding chair, wrapped in a prayer shawl, surrounded by four fellow Encino temple members on Saturday. It was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, a day of atonement, a day meant to leave observers with a clean slate for the year to come.
Gidish was part of a special hands-on type of healing ceremony rarely observed in temples throughout the city.
Instead of praying for healing, as at a traditional Yom Kippur service, members of Makom Ohr Shalom chant while soft classical guitar music and healing bowls play in the background.
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“I’m praying for a better understanding and dealing with my own personal shortcomings related to impatience, dealing with stress and how I can be more engaged with my family and be at peace,” said Gidish. “We meditate and believe in healing. We are hands-on, a live-touch healing ceremony versus only a healing prayer. We experience healing versus asking for it.”
Seth Dudley, 55, of Woodland Hills said he was praying for God’s guidance.
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"To help me be a better friend, a better husband, father, grandfather,” Dudley said. "To think about what I could do better and focus on practical ways of changing and not making mistakes.”
Granada Hills resident Harriet Lipman, one of the many dressed in white, the color of purity, had one word about what she would be praying for: patience.
Healing leader Sherry Meyers led the congregation during the traditional service and then some broke away for the hands-on, two-hour healing service that followed.
Meyers emphasized the word "shalom” in a soft, soothing voice that projected peace and inner tranquillity among the congregation.
She said the "sh" represents quietness, the "a," sounds of the heart and compassion, and "om," the sound of creation, a universal chant.
"The healing service is about letting God in, letting God love us and sharing that love with others," Meyers said.
Meyers told the crowd to practice silence in a world that is noisy.
"Today it’s about coming home, home to a place of connection, home to the sounds of silence, home to yourself," she said.
Meyers encouraged everyone to rub their hands together to create energy and then lay their hands on themselves to feel the difference from before.
"Breathe in and out, make a connection with God," she said.
The temple leaders plan to hold a healing ceremony once a month, beginning at the end of this year. Anyone is invited to attend, regardless of their religious affiliation.
Makom Ohr Shalom, 17500 Burbank Blvd., Encino; 818-725-7600.
