Source: Los Angeles Times
On September 30, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Aryeh Fein put a gnarled ram's horn to his lips and blew until veins stood out on his forehead. The 10-year-old from Rancho Santa Margarita sounded the shofar Friday morning to herald the start of Rosh Hashana in a program sponsored by Morasha Jewish Day School in Mission Viejo. 'I blew it a little too long,' Aryeh said, sitting in the grass until his dizziness passed. 'It's cool because it makes so much noise.' The shofar is used to signal the start of the Jewish New Year, an occasion for repentance, resolutions and renewal. The holidays began at sundown Friday and end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which starts at sunset Oct. 8. After poetry readings and Hebrew songs Friday, the students walked to a nearby stream for the Tashlich ceremony, tossing bread crumbs into the water, symbolic of casting away the sins of the past year. The youngsters also dipped apple slices in honey to herald a 'sweet' new year. The ceremony is usually performed the first day of Rosh Hashana, which is today, but the school observed it early so the children could share the tradition.
"'This one is for hitting my sister,' said Josh Chazen, 8, of Aliso Viejo, tossing a chunk of bread into the creek. Does he plan to reform himself in the new year? 'Maybe,' he said. 'Well, maybe not.'... 'It gets them thinking about their lives and what's right and wrong,' said Joe Kaufman of Mission Viejo, who has two children in the school. 'It's a renewal.'"