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Show SECTION SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 1, ' LIFE & II fi STYLE EDITOR J Elyssa Andrus 2004 eandrusOheraldextra.com 344-255- 3 u ID. 0. Judaism's High Holy Days nourish both spirit and body V A Morr ocean ceremonial 'j Y shofar made from a ram's horn, used for Rosh Hashanah. A blast on the shofar signals the start and end of the High Holy Days. KELLY PRESNEU. Arizona Daily Star Cody Clark DAILY HERALD or most local residents. r September means fall colors JL and football games. For adherents of Judaism, it means that a special season of religious worship is just around the corner. Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Wednesday. Nine days later, Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Sept. 24. Collectively, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the period that separates them are known as the High Holy Days. r r iSjr il See HOLY, COMMENTARY The challenge ofliving the Muslim faith in America Tom Schaefer ' ' Joshua Harding is the new pastor of the Provo Bible Church. The Virginia native has a bachelor's degree in bible and theology from Appalachian Bible College. He moved to Provo from Beckky, W.Va., and is married to the former Christina Jeffcott, a native of Cedar City. We asked the pastor a few ques-tioabout his new assignment: ' , Karen Hoag DAILY HERALD " Yom Kippur, also .. called the "Day of Atonement," is V about forgiveness and recon ciliation. Ludlow said Yom Kippur completes the process of setting things right in the "horizontal and vertical dimensions of life." The horizontal dimension includes other people, the vertical is reserved for God. Bruce, who attends Kol Ami, a reform and conservative congregation in Salt Lake City, said it's important to make amends with other people directly because "God cannot forgive me for transgressions between myself and another person." The reconciliation has to take place between individuals. Ludlow said that, historically, Yom Kippur has inerngn Holy Days are ' solemn but also fes- ' tive, said Teresa Bruce, ex- ecutive director of the United Jewish Federation of Utah. "All our holidays are centered around wonderful meals and the opportunity to be with friends and families,'' Bruce said. The English translation of Rosh Hashanah is "head of the year," but Micha Barach, president of Salt Lake City's Sha'ari Tefila, an Orthodox Jewish congregation, said the meaning is primarily spiritual. "It's a time of year to review what has transpired and to commit yourself to improvement for the following year." Victor Ludlow, a professor of ancient scripture and Hebrew at Brigham Young University, said Rosh Hashanah has similarities to the traditional American observance of New Year's Day, when many people review their lives and resolve to improve. New Bible 1 Church pastor hopes to instill love of people and scriphire ; f' if Twenty-three-year-ol- WICHITA EAGLE Nabil Seyam unWICHITA, Kaa locked the double doors to the partially finished mosque. "You're one of the first to come inside," he said as he and I entered. The mosque,- even in its unfinished state, " is impressive. The structure, atIslamic school and tached to the gymnasium, wffl have a prayer area, a "pulpit," a spacious balcony for women that will have projection screens, purification areas, a library and office for the imam, and classrooms for a middle - 10,050-square-fo- ns I What do you hop to offer your new congregation? The first thing I hope to offer them is sound preaching and teaching from the Bible. I also want to offer myself as some- - ( one who loves and cares about in--" dividuals. Being available to listen or to help out in any way that I can is very important to me. , schooL I What living person do you most ; admin? The person I admire most , is my dad. He has always demon- -' t, ' strated Christ's love in a very real ' me. has and He ; ' 1, way to my family FRANK tonDaily HereW been supportive of me in every Pastor Joshua Harding of the Provo Bible Church stands behind the ; . way imaginable. pulpit inside the church. He is from West Virginia and enjoys the i V. slower more relaxed pace of Utah, as well as the dry weather. ; See PASTOR, B6 ; , : But this is more than a building project. ; ' The prophet savs that when you build a house or mosque for God on earth, God will build himself a castle for you in paradise," Seyam said. Such a belief spurs Seyam and others on. Their goal is to complete most of the mosque by Ramadan, which begins Oct. 16. But to meet the deadline, the community ; wfflrieed to raiseabout $700,000. . ;, "Ifs very, very challenging for our comup' with the entire cost," he munity to come ' ' ' ' said, is:' But Seyam isnt discouraged He is a self-- . described optimist who is trained to head off serious problems and find solutions as ' director of health ancTsafety for Coleman . -Co. .' . t;iK-:.- s i:: More important, he's a Muslim who's striving to get the word out about a faith that struggles to overcome darker images t: of it ;, "We have goals," he said of the Islamic a good citizen; be a good community : "Be " ' 'Muslim," - : For a member of this minority religion in Wichita (about 5,000 Muslims) and in the United States (3 million to 6 million), living one's faith can be a struggle. But then, that's part of the basic meaning of jihad; striving. Islam teaches that Muslims must work hard to make their faith real in their lives. Seyam constantly looks for opportunities churches, civic groups and the like to talk about Islam and answer questions. He invites anyone to visit the center and see the school which has 100 students, preschool through eighth grade. is active Seyam, a Palestinian-Americain community groups and talks about his commitment to this city and the importance of good citizenship. Despite his optimistic outlook, Seyam knows he's making only minor inroads. With so much media attention on sukdde bombers, insurgents attacking US. troops in in Iraq and a growing Islamic countries, his voice becomes only ; one among countless competing voices. . I'm swimming against the current," he said "I'm speaking to a crowd for 30 or 45 n, ' See SCHAEFER, B2 i |