Across Jewish Family Service LA’s senior centers, that spirit of reflection and renewal came to life over several weeks of Rosh Hashanah gatherings filled with music, meals, conversation, and community.

The celebrations began at the BAR Center on the Beach in Venice, where 60 participants gathered for a special catered lunch. JFSLA’s smallest senior center has a setting unlike any other—right on the Venice Beach boardwalk—and offers daily meals through the Senior Nutrition Program along with activities and opportunities for connection. For Rosh Hashanah, the familiar space became a place to welcome the new year together.

At the Gunther-Hirsh Family Center on Fairfax, Café Europa brought together 60 Holocaust survivors, many accompanied by caregivers, for a Rosh Hashanah celebration featuring lunch, musical entertainment, the sounding of the shofar, and reflections from Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz of the San Fernando Valley’s Beth Shalom synagogue. A few days later, the Café Europa community in the Valley enjoyed a similar gathering at the Valley Storefront Community Resource Center, where music, food, the blowing of the shofar, and Rabbi Lebovitz’s remarks helped welcome the holiday.

That same week, the Jona Goldrich Multipurpose Center on Fairfax hosted its annual Rosh Hashanah community lunch, welcoming more than 100 diverse residents for an afternoon of music, speakers, conversation, and celebration, with prayers and support from Rabbi Yisroel Hecht, and the traditional sounding of shofar. The celebration was so lively that the music, dancing, and laughter kept going long after the event was supposed to end.

The shofar’s call is one of Rosh Hashanah’s most powerful traditions. It asks us to wake up—to pay attention to how we are living and to consider what we may want to change. The Jewish tradition of teshuvah, often translated as repentance but also meaning “return,” encourages us to reflect, repair, and return to the values that guide us. 

That invitation can take many forms: showing greater patience, reconnecting with someone we love, letting go of an old hurt, caring for our health, or simply making more room for joy and connection in the year ahead.

These celebrations are joyful, but their importance goes deeper than a festive meal. For many older adults, regular opportunities to gather help create connection, friendship, and a sense of belonging. Holidays offer an especially meaningful opportunity to honor traditions, share memories, and experience the comfort of community.

Making these events possibly takes its own kind of community. Senior Services and activities staff spend weeks preparing, with support from JFSLA’s Volunteer and Facilities teams. On the day of each celebration, staff and volunteers welcome participants, serve meals, organize activities, and help create the warmth that makes each gathering memorable.

As we enter 5787, Rosh Hashanah reminds us that a new year does not ask us to become entirely new people. It offers us the chance to return to what matters—to kindness, gratitude, connection, and our responsibility to one another.

And sometimes, the first step toward a sweeter year is simply sitting down together at the same table.

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