&uot;It shall come to pass on that day, that a great Shofar will be sounded; and the lost shall return.&uot; (Isaiah 27:13)

NATCHEZ &045;

Where Jewish families once crowded the pews, anticipating the celebration of high holy days, now only a few are there. The once thriving congregation has dwindled to perhaps two dozen. Yet the people of Temple B’nai Israel, an architectural and historical treasure in Natchez, have a heartbeat that is strong and sure.

For Jay Lehmann, who traces family roots to earliest Jewish settlers in Natchez, the shrinking number of worshipers at the temple does not deter his determination that the services will continue. &uot;This is what you do. My grandmother instilled that in me,&uot; he said.

Thus, as he has done for the past 45 years, Lehmann will lift the rustic ram’s horn to his lips this weekend and with its plaintive tones signal the beginning of the most important 10 days of the Jewish calendar &045; beginning with Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 26 and ending with the celebration of Yom Kippur on Oct. 6.

Lehmann’s grandmother, Janet Mayer Lehmann, who died in 1956, was a force in the temple for many years. Jay Lehmann remembers well her leadership, as do others. &uot;That was a strong generation of women,&uot; said temple member Rae Rozolsky, who came to Natchez and to the temple with her family when she was 17.

Rozolsky, Lehmann and a handful of other faithful members keep the temple in pristine condition, their love and respect evident to a visitor who enters the exquisite sanctuary, complete with memorial stained-glass windows, gleaming menorah and ancient Torahs centered with the eternal light always aglow to symbolize continuity of generations. The ram’s horn, or Shofar, Lehmann will blow is the same one he always has used. Its continuity, too, is another link to other times and other people who founded and kept alive the Jewish faith and family in Natchez.

Since the death of Rabbi Arthur Lebowitz more than two decades ago, the Natchez congregation has depended on student rabbis to come for special services and often on regular monthly schedules. For the holy days now in progress, student Rabbi Shanna Goldstein will lead, assisted by Natchez musicians Kathleen Mackey King and Brother Vincent Ignatius Bache.

The Shofar also is a part of the musical worship, a different kind of instrument, however, dating to thousands of years ago in Jewish rites. The meaning and history are not lost on the Natchez man who will play it.

&uot;I still get nervous,&uot; Lehmann said. &uot;I still get butterflies. I just hope it is as meaningful to the congregation as it is to me.&uot;

The blowing of the ram’s horn has multiple meanings in the holy day services. Some students of the Jewish faith have identified four symbols of the sounding of the horn: the beginning of creation and acceptance of God as Creator; the beginning of the days of repentance; the onset of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; and the hope of redemption.

The second service of high holy days will be today at 10 a.m. The congregation will conclude the holy days services with a celebration of Yom Kippur at 8 p.m. on Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. on Oct. 6; and at 4 p.m. on Oct. 6, the memorial service, Yizkor, honoring deceased relatives.

Temple members welcome visitors to all the events, Lehmann said. The services range from joyful to solemn, as worshipers contemplate the most important questions about their own lives and relationships with God, pray to draw closer to God and ask for forgiveness of sins.

Rosh Hashanah is a day when Jews greet each other with, &uot;May you have a good year.&uot; A festive meal includes apples dipped in honey, as &uot;a token of the sweet year that is hoped will come,&uot; Rozolsky said.

Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and prayer and of asking for God’s forgiveness and for forgiving each other. It is a day when Jews look to Chapter 30 of Deuteronomy in which the command is &uot;to love the Lord, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, laws and teachings that you may live.&uot;

As it hails the beginning of the holy days, the Shofar also will call for a closing of the 10-day Days of Awe. Lehmann will raise the horn once again on Oct. 6. Sometimes he thinks of others who have blown the horn over hundreds of generations, even of Joshua at Jericho. Like other symbols of faith, even the temple itself, the horn connects generations and serves as hope for the future.

The temple itself is secure in the care of its small group of worshipers.

The temple was completed in 1905 to replace an earlier temple that burned in 1903 on the same spot at the corner of South Commerce and Washington streets.

Temple B’nai Israel has a following that reaches into all corners of the country, where descendants of Jewish families who once worshiped there continue to care about its future.

&uot;We are very fortunate to have an endowment that helps us to care for the building,&uot; Lehmann said. &uot;It is not as big as it once was, but it is enough for now.&uot;

When the congregation dips below five members, an agreement with the Institute of Southern Jewish Life will place the temple in the institute’s care. Members still will retain use of the temple, however.

Fewer practicing Jews remain in Natchez than ever before. But the Jewish presence and its impact on the city will live on, Lehmann said. The families that came in the years before the Civil War and just after it helped to restore and secure the city’s economic future.

The Jewish presence also diversified the town, bringing not only a people of different religious background but also people of many skills and talents. &uot;My grandmother used to say when she died they were going to have to close the door of the temple,&uot; Lehmann said. That was almost 50 years ago. And her grandson is a leader among the small but strong-willed community dedicated to continuity.