Around the world, including in Southern California, synagogues celebrated the start of Rosh Hashanah with hopes for a more peaceful era to begin the Jewish New Year.

The Sinai Temple in Beverly Hills celebrated the holiday with the theme of "rhythm of joy," to start "the new year with the new beat Rabbi Erze Sherman said.

"We look outside our walls right now, we find increased polarization and division and brokenness, and someone would say darkness in the world," Rabbi Nicole Guzik said. "We want to remind everyone ... that joy and despair can exist side-by-side."

Antisemitic attacks in the U.S. have spiked since the start of the Israel-Gaza War. The Anti-Defamation League's recent annual report on antisemitism found more than 9,000 incidents in the U.S. in 2024, the highest mark since

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