YOM KIPPUR: JEWS TO GATHER HERE TONIGHT FOR HOLIEST OF DAYS

With the New Year that began Sept. 28, and Yom Kippur the holiest day on the Jewish calendar starting at sundown today Jews everywhere are celebrating the High Holidays, also known as the "Days of Awe."

So called because "God is closer to the Jewish people than at other times of the year," says Rabbi Stanley Krantman.

On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, God decides who shall live and who shall die, who will thrive and will not.

Yom Kippur literally means "day of atonement." Jews believe this is the day their fates are sealed. This is their last chance to make a final appeal.

Thus "Days of Awe." "They are standing in front of the Creator asking for a good, final fate," Krantman says.

On Yom Kippur, all Jews are expected to fast, and the most religious may spend all of the next day at the synagogue praying and asking for forgiveness not only for themselves but for the world.

Some 30 years ago, former Dodger great Sandy Koufax made many non-Jews aware of the seriousness of the day when he refused to pitch the first game of the World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.

Marlene Rosengarten, a member of the synagogue, strongly recalls going with her Russian-born grandparents to Yom Kippur services as a child. "I remember them crying and praying," she said.

Jews in the Cape Girardeau area will gather at Synagogue B'Nai Israel, 126 S. Main, at sundown today to begin Yom Kippur. Leading the services as cantor for the ninth consecutive year will be Don Makovsky, executive director of Bloch Yeshiva High School in St. Louis. Rabbi Krantman of St. Louis will officiate.

B'Nai Israel, which has no rabbi of its own because of the small number of Jewish families in the area, is characterized as a traditional synagogue leaning toward orthodox. According to tradition, Jews do not drive or wear leather shoes on Yom Kippur a discomfort through the many standing prayers. The idea is that the gravity of the day requires casting off worldly comforts "that they are standing in pain," Rabbi Krantman says.

Today, the service will consist of the candle lighting and the Kol Nidrei service, a chant that asks forgiveness for vows not carried out.

On Wednesday, services begin at 9 a.m. Besides prayers, there may be discussions about world events or Israel.

The Yizkor, a prayer for the departed, will be said at 11:45 a.m. In previous years, Rosengarten always left before the prayer. "I will be saying it for the first time because I lost both my parents during the past year," she said.

The Mincha and Ne'ilah service is the concluding period of Yom Kippur, the time when God makes his decisions.

Just before sundown Wednesday, the Shofar, a ram's horn, will be blown, signifying the end of Yom Kippur.

Afterward, everyone will break the fast together with a meal at the synagogue. They will wish each other a good year.