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The longest service will run less than two hours and "have no repetitive standing and sitting. We only stand in memory of the dead:' he said. According to the rabbi, today's American Jews continue to go to syna- gogues in large numbers at the High Holidays because they "view it as an opportunity to very publicly connect with their Jewish identity and heritage. It's a wonderful time to join together in community and to affirm their sense of belonging:' Workmen's Circle/ Arbeter Ring The WC/AR's services for Rosh Hashanah began in 1990, and Yom Kippur came a year later. Services have been held at the Oak Park JCC for about 10 years, and previously were at the Southfield Civic Center, Oak Park Community Center and other venues. "Secular Jews are a part of the fabric of Jewish life — its history and its conti- nuity:' said Arlene Frank, WC/AR board member and former president. She and retired WC/AR Michigan Region direc- tor Ellen Bates-Brackett created the ser- vice guide, later revised by Frank and board member Susan Warrow. "Jewish heritage is made up of both reli- gious and non-reli- gious components and, as secular Jews, we continue to draw inspiration from the past, including oral Arlene Frank and written tradi- tions, Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino languages, litera- ture, culture, politics, history, philoso- phy, morals and ethics:' Frank said. "And we modify traditions today, as Jews have always done, to reflect our current needs and understanding:' For WC/AR, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are "a period of introspec- tion, an opportunity to gather in com- munity to reflect on the year past, and to give meaning and sustenance to the concept of the beginning of a new year:' Frank said. The services, especially appealing to baby boomers, include a strong call for social and economic justice. Passages are assigned to readers and singing is in Yiddish and English. Vocalist Daniella HarPaz Mechnikov performs several solos, including her signature Kol Nidre. While she is not herself secular, Mechnikov said, "It's a very welcoming and non-exclusionary service. It doesn't say `you must believe or deny' anything. Some Danielle secular services are Mechnikov more like that — stating a theological position. I find the WC/AR service so easy because it celebrates Jewish history and tradition, even traditions that were rooted in faith at the time. It is a respectful service:' Sholem Aleichem Institute Alva Dworkin, SAI president, said her organization "differs from Birmingham Temple and Workmen's Circle in that we are not afraid to include a reference to God and spiritual psalms in our machzor." "We don't pray," Dworkin said, "but we do include literary works that inspire faith in humanity and hopes for a more peaceful existence for all peoples:' Alva Dworkin Under the direc- tion of the late SAI founder Moishe Haar, "we assembled songs and poems that characterize our people in its many struggles and suc- cesses. These are in Yiddish, Hebrew and English," she said. The SAI service presents a stage full of readers, such as Wayne State University Provost Dr. Margaret Winters and her husband, Professor Geoffrey Nathan, and soprano Shirley Benyas as featured soloist among the chorus. Distinguished attorney Eugene Driker often delivers a sermon. "We have no political agenda and welcome people of all persuasions — political and religious," Dworkin said. Jewish Parents Institute "Though Yom Kippur has tradition- ally been thought of as a time when Jews are focused on God, secular Jews take the opportunity to look at human action:' said Marilyn Wolfe, director of the Jewish Parents Institute, which offers a Sunday school and programing for families. "Yom Kippur means not 'Day of Atonement: but 'Day of Cleansing:" she said. "We retrace our steps and allow our essentially good human nature to surface again ... The great beauty of humanity is that we have the ability and freedom to renew ourselves and make a fresh start. It is in this dis- covery that the meaning and signifi- cance of Yom Kippur lie:'