Free Rosh Hashana service at Laugh Factory Hollywood draws a welcomed crowd

The Laugh Factory Hollywood hosted a free Rosh Hashana service at 11 a.m. on Thursday Oct. 3, continuing a 42-year tradition.

Rabbi Bob Jacobs told the crowded room, “Rosh Hashana reminds us that work begins in our hearts and our minds — that despite our differences there’s much that joins us together whether here in America or in the Middle East. Life is so fleeting.”

He added, “Rosh Hashana reminds us to look for the good.”

Jamie Masada, who had no family in Los Angeles when he founded his famed comedy club, said he began free High Holiday services 42 years ago after realizing those at the club were his family.

“I don’t call comedians comedians anymore but doctors of the soul,” said Masada.

His son, Isaac Masada, 6, handed out kippahs as the worshippers arrived, and comedian Bill Dawes helped Isaac with his kippah.

In an earlier statement, Masada said, “We will pray together for peace in the Middle East, asking God’s blessings to help end the conflicts in the region.”

The service was streamed on The Laugh Factory’s YouTube page, www.youtube.com/@TheLaughFactory.

Most congregations required membership and tickets for High Holy Days services, but the JEM Center in Beverly Hills is also among the organizations holding free services, with a traditional service set for 10 a.m., an evening service at 6:30 p.m. and another free service at 10 a.m. Friday.

Registration can be made online at www.jemcommunitycenter.com/events/high-holiday-services-2024.

Hashana, the two-day holiday marking the Jewish New Year, began at sundown Wednesday — the day began at sundown on the Hebrew calendar — with services continuing through sundown on Friday. They feature the blowing of the shofar, a ram’s horn mentioned in the Torah and used by ancient Jews in religious ceremonies and as a call to arms — and now used at Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

Jews are biblically commanded to hear the shofar during the High Holy Days.

Rosh Hashana is a time when Jews gather with family members and their communities to reflect on the past year and the one beginning. Celebrants also eat festive meals featuring apples dipped in honey, symbolic of the wishes for a sweet year.

Rosh Hashana ushers in the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of repentance and contemplation culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Judaism’s most solemn and somber day.

During the High Holy Days, Jewish tradition holds that God records the fate of each person for the coming year in the Book of Life, which is sealed at the end of Yom Kippur.

Sarah Reingewirtz of Los Angeles Daily News and Steven Herbert of City News Service contributed to this story.