Casting off their sins

Following afternoon prayers Tuesday, members of the congregation of Temple Isaiah in Newport Beach walked out to a grassy area next to the Back Bay and released multicolored balloons into the air in celebration of Tashlich, the first day of Rosh Hashana.

The ceremony is the creation of Rabbi Marc Rubenstein, who came up with it as a substitute for the typical Tashlich ritual of throwing bread crumbs into an ocean or lake.

For Jews, the ritual is a symbol for casting off one’s sins, much like confession in the Roman Catholic Church. Rosh Hashana celebrates the Jewish New Year.

“You have to have a physical release for spiritual value,” Rubenstein said.

It is not always easy to get a big group of people down to the ocean to cast away bread, according to Rubenstein. When he was up in the Santa Cruz Mountains years ago, he saw balloons released into the air at a camp and brought the idea back to Newport Beach.

A group of about 20 people of all ages finished singing in the temple, got into a circle on the lawn and each took a balloon.

As they released them into the air, the young children in the crowd tracked their own balloons as they floated away.

— Alan Blank