At ARIEL Chabad in Pikesville, Rabbi Vevel Belinsky said today the unification provided by a synagogue is as important as ever — maybe even more important than ever.

“Our society today is very segregated. It is segregated by political affiliation, by interest, by income, by social status, by age … by many different things,” he said. “A synagogue like ours is one of a very few places where you do see people of all ages … it’s very reassuring because that [appeal] is what is bringing a community together.”

Belinsky said ARIEL chooses to focus on what they have in common instead of their differences.

“What unites us is our Jewish tradition, our Jewish heritage and our faith,” he said.

That pitch is clearly resonating with the community, as this year’s Rosh Hashanah service was larger than those in previous years. There was also a children’s program for this year’s New Year celebration, as well as a luncheon.

ARIEL Chabad also considers those who are too busy to make it to shul for traditional worship. Belinsky said that listening to the shofar being blown is the “main mitzvah” on Rosh Hashanah, so they work to provide people a chance to do that mitzvah even if they don’t make it to services.

Called Shofar in the Park, the event takes place in the grass adjacent to Fort Garrison Elementary School.

“People come for various reasons,” Belinsky said. “Some people come because they didn’t get a chance to go to synagogue earlier in the day. We had people who went to synagogue, but they weren’t in the room at the time the shofar was being blown because they had to tend to their children. One family said that they just happened to come to services late, so they were very happy that we gave them an opportunity to hear shofar later on.”

There was even a woman and her older mother who attended the event in the park because the mother had trouble accessing the synagogue but could make it to Shofar in the Park. No matter the reason for attending, Shofar in the Park is a way to meet the Jewish community halfway, considering their needs and busy schedules as well as the traditions of the holiday.

“It was great,” Belinsky said.

Belinsky added that, at ARIEL Chabad and many other Chabad houses, Simchat Torah is as important as any other holiday. With Simchat Torah coming in early October, Belinsky said that he hopes people make a concerted effort to attend the services for it. He recalled his own childhood in Soviet Russia, where Simchat Torah was of paramount importance to his family and the community.

“I grew up in the U.S.S.R., where religion was prohibited. But there was one day a year when people young and old were trying to go to synagogue. There were many so-called ‘once-a-year’ Jews there too, but their once a year was not on Yom Kippur — it was on Simchat Torah,” Belinsky said.

Belinsky said that is because the holiday is centered on a core feeling of joy for Jewish people, which is being happy that they are, in fact, Jewish.

“The focus is on joy, and the focus is on being happy about being Jewish,” Belinsky said. “People come because they want to be a part of the joy of Jewish, and that is their connection [to the culture]. Their connection to Judaism is through joy and through happiness … you could think of Simchat Torah as a holiday of starting the new cycle of reading the Torah, but it’s celebrated by everybody.”

Whether it’s celebrating Rosh Hashanah, Simchat Torah, a simple Shabbat or even the start of religious school, there is always joy emanating through ARIEL Chabad. Now, another new year has started, and it started on a positive note.

“Everything went great,” Belinsky said.

aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com