Bringing People Together

Salvation is finally coming to Neonopolis -- at least for the Jewish holidays that begin at sundown Wednesday.

Valley Outreach Synagogue will conduct Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services at the largely vacant shopping mall at Fourth and Fremont streets, in one of the Galaxy Theatre's 11 screening rooms.

"We welcomed the inquiry," said Neonopolis owner Rohit Joshi. "We should do everything we can to help the various outreach programs reach out to the community."

Valley Outreach Rabbi Yocheved Mintz said that the gentrification of downtown gave her the idea.

"It's time again," the rabbi said. "With all the condominiums going up and the development going on, we're convinced that the downtown area is ready for a renaissance. There will be people that need this kind of service, and we want to be there for them."

Since arriving from Los Angeles via the late Rabbi Richard Schachet in 1993, Valley Outreach has had services at rental facilities and private homes across the valley.

"We're the wandering Jews," Mintz said of the 50 families who comprise her congregation. "We are what they call a synagogue without walls -- which is a euphemism for no building funds."

Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are the two holiest days on the Jewish calendar.

"From the new year to the day of atonement, we do a great deal of introspection and turn our thoughts to making amends," Mintz said. "We try to make sure that we more than just apologize, but really change our mind-set to make our own lives better, so that we can work towards a better world in the year to come."

The city's first synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom, opened downtown in a Carson Street storefront in 1946, then operated at 1600 E. Oakey Blvd. from 1958 to 1998 before beginning its transition to its current Summerlin location, which opened in 2000.

"And there's been nothing to fill its space," Mintz said.

For the same reason, Valley Outreach will have Shabbat services on the third Friday of each month, beginning in October, in a yet-to-be-announced location in downtown's Arts District.

"This is very cool," said Las Vegas Mayor and Temple Beth Sholom member Oscar Goodman upon hearing the news. "This could start a trend. I'll call Bishop (Joseph) Pepe and see if he's interested." (Pepe is the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas.)

According to the most recent figures from the Cannon Center for Survey Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, approximately 54,000 Las Vegans consider themselves Jewish. And Mintz estimated that the valley's 20 temples have failed to enlist 90 percent of them.

"Some of it is because people feel it's too expensive," she said. "Some of it is because they haven't found what they feel comfortable with."

Valley Outreach is the only Nevada representative of Reconstructionist Judaism. Founded in the late 1920s as a left-leaning offshoot from the Conservative Jewish movement, Reconstructionism elevates Jewish culture over law, and renounces anthropomorphic definitions of God.

"It emphasizes the importance of religious community in shaping individual patterns of observance," Mintz explained. "And the concept of belonging to a community here in Las Vegas is so important."

At Neonopolis, Rosh Hashana will be celebrated in Galaxy's Theater 11 at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 10 a.m. on Thursday; Yom Kippur at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 21 and 10 a.m. Sept. 22. Admission is free, although prayer books are $10. Reservations are required.

Call 436-4900 for more information.