SELICHOT INSPIRES CHANGE EVENT OPENS JEWISH HIGH HOLY DAYS.

Byline: HOLLY J. ANDRES Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE -- Changes of the heart and soul will be on the minds of Jews who attend tonight's Selichot services at local temples and synagogues.

Selichot, a Hebrew word meaning forgiveness, are the prayers recited the month before Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown Friday.

``Selichot is the opening event of the High Holy Days. It's part of the process to open our minds up to forgiving others and asking them for forgiveness,'' said Rabbi Michael Graetz, recently hired as interim rabbi at Temple Ramat Zion in Northridge.

``The High Holy Days is a season of personal accounting to redress what you've done wrong. The goal of the High Holy Days is a sense of personal and moral renewal after having righted any wrongs you've made. It's a very powerful feeling to start over and be a clean person. Selichot is where these themes are put forward.''

The Conservative Jewish congregation has been going through a transition itself, after the death last year of its senior rabbi, Steven Tucker.

Graetz, who served for more than 30 years as rabbi at Kehillat Magen Avraham in Omer, Israel, brings his rabbinic and scholarly talents to the congregation for one year.

``We're in the process of change right now. Rabbi Graetz is not here to change us but to help us understand what kind of a rabbi we want in the future,'' said Bob Rosen, president of Temple Ramat Zion. ``He is well- written and well-known, and we're excited about what he brings to our adult-education program.''

Rosen lauded Cantor Paul Dorman for his spiritual leadership after Tucker's death. Dorman, in his third year at the temple, said Temple Ramat Zion is an evolving congregation.

``I don't like the word `change' because that implies getting rid of something. I like `transforming.' This is a transforming congregation,'' Dorman said. ``We try to respond to contemporary life. We're progressive.''

``Every day there is a time and a chance to become a new person, but most people don't do that. This is a time set aside to focus on who you are, what you are, what you want to be and how are you going to make yourself, your community, and the world better. The new year is a time of rebirth and renewal.''

The Selichot service, described as short and somber by Graetz, begins at 10tonight. A musical program and a discussion titled ``What is God?,'' led by Graetz, will be held at 8:30p.m.

``Modern people have a hard time thinking about the `G' word. There are so many theories out there about God. I want to point people to the liturgy to look at the ways that God is called: King, Father,'' Graetz said.

``My other point is to get them to ask themselves: `How can I relate to what God is called? And if I can't use those words, what name will I use for God?'''

Graetz was ordained and made an Aliyah, a return to Israel, in 1967. His insights about living and working in Israel are part of what intrigued the congregation at Temple Ramat Zion.

``I think my No.1 strength is teaching and helping people to understand Jewish traditions in both the abstract and concrete life,'' Graetz said.

``What has struck me is that there is a very strong sense of care and commitment to the congregation. It's not my agenda to innovate. My agenda is for community.''

Selichot program, 8:30p.m.; service, 10p.m. today, Temple Ramat Zion, 17655 Devonshire St., Northridge. Call [phone] or see www.trz.org.

holly.andres(at)dailynews.com

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Michael Graetz, recently hired as interim rabbi at Temple Ramat Zion in Northridge following the death of Rabbi Steven Tucker late last year, will lead the Selichot service today.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News