As the Jewish New Year begins, our traditions call on us to pay homage to those we have lost, and to gain strength through communal consolation. As a sign of continuity between generations, we visit the graves of loved ones and participate in Kever Avot community memorial services. For almost half a century Mount Sinai has helped the Jewish community enrich this observance with a brief inspirational service culminating in the recitation of the Kaddish and the blowing of the Shofar.

I extend this personal invitation to you to join with Mount Sinai and hundreds of community members at Mount Sinai’s 55th Annual Kever Avot Community Memorial Services on Sunday, September 12th at 10:00 A.M. at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills, or at 1:00 P.M. at Mount Sinai Simi Valley.

Enhancing Kever Avot prayer and remembrance will be music, with the Hollywood Hills Service to feature Sinai Temple Cantor Joseph Gole as well as its Organist and Choir Director Aryell Cohen, providing musical accompaniment while leading the Sinai Temple Choir. Performing at Kever Avot Services at Simi Valley will be Sinai Temple’s Cantor Arianne Brown and the Sinai Temple Choir.  We will be collecting non-perishable food and accepting other donations for SOVA, a Jewish food pantry for the hungry and homeless.

When we visit, when we remember, we tell stories, stories of the major events and of the small moments that bring texture to memory, that plant the seeds of remembrance that grow and flourish to comfort us and our families. I invite you to read special stories in the Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries August 27 Supplement to the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, and to learn about Mount Sinai’s new Seeds of Israel program created especially for this time of year. Call me at (866) 71-SINAI (717-4624) or e-mail gmoffice@mountsinaiparks.org or click on http://mt-sinai.com/seedsofisrael/ to request your Seeds of Israel. Or, to receive your gift of Seeds of Israel, stop by our Hollywood Hills or Simi Valley locations.

Mount Sinai is dedicated to providing, in one place, all that you might need, whether you come to us at the time of need or well in advance.  Whenever you call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, our Mount Sinai staff is here to serve you with the warmth, compassion and knowledge borne of over 50 years of experience.

At this time of remembrance draws near, we begin to think of establishing memorials to those important in our lives. The Wall of Living Memories, newly established in the serene Psalms area of our Hollywood Hills Park, provides a place to enshrine the names of those buried far away, or for whom there is no permanent memorial. Click here for more information on the Wall of Living Memories

For more information about Kever Avot Services on Sunday, September 12th, or if we might assist in any way, please call me at 1-866-71-SINAI (717-4624) or e-mail to gmoffice@mountsinaiparks.org.

On behalf of the entire Mount Sinai family, I wish you and yours a Shana Tova, a sweet and a good year to come.

Len Lawrence
General Manager
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries