Heather Box says that "life got in the way" in recent years, keeping her from observing the Jewish High Holidays. This year will be different.

But since she's not affiliated with a synagogue, tonight she'll be observing Rosh Hashana – the Jewish new year, which begins at sunset – at Churchill Recreation Center in North Dallas.

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Marc Cohn (right) helps his 4-year-old son, Harrison Goodman Cohn, eat a honey-covered apple at Congregation Anshai Torah in Plano. Parents of pre-school-aged children at the congregation took part in festivities ahead of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays.

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There Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger is putting on an educational event, not a prayer service. He's calling the free program "A Taste of Rosh Hashana."

Except for a song or two, it'll be in English, not Hebrew. And he'll be explaining and demonstrating such traditions as the blowing of the shofar, or ram's horn. He even plans a little comedy.

For Ms. Box, who converted to Judaism as a young adult, it seems like a good re-entry point.

"It's a foot in the door to reaffirm my faith," she said.

Across North Texas and North America, outreach and innovation are the bywords in organized Judaism, with synagogues, educational groups and individual rabbis trying new ways to boost participation.

"There's a need, not to proselytize, but to get out and tell people why this particular faith can make a difference," said Rabbi Robert Levine, former president of the New York Board of Rabbis and author of the book What God Can Do For You Now.

The need is partly practical. The National Jewish Population Survey of 2000-01 found that only 46 percent of American Jews belong to a synagogue and only 27 percent attend a Jewish religious service at least once a month.

Such statistics alarm Rabbi Schlesinger, director of community education for Community Kollel of Dallas, which gives classes on a range of topics related to Judaism.

And they are why he conceived of "A Taste of Rosh Hashana" and a similar event for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which closes the 10-day High Holidays period.

"I have to do everything I can to touch the hearts and souls of thousands of Jews who are going to be lost to the Jewish people as they assimilate into the American melting pot," Rabbi Schlesinger said.

He's not the only one who sees the High Holidays, when synagogue attendance peaks, as a good time to reach out creatively to unobservant Jews.

The Dallas Area Torah Association has for the last few years put on "learners' services" for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. These have expanded to multiple locations, and about 400 people are expected to attend this year, said Rabbi Bentzi Epstein, the association's director.

Rabbi Epstein described the services as interactive, with a minimum of Hebrew and lots of explanation of the traditions and meaning of the occasions.

"People want to get something out of the High Holidays, but they're often just unable to do so," Rabbi Epstein said. "This is a way to make them more user-friendly."

Temple Shalom of Dallas is among the local congregations that have added family-friendly High Holidays services where parents are encouraged to bring young children.

"When I was growing up, we didn't have that for the little ones," said Rabbi Andrew Paley, senior rabbi for Temple Shalom.

Attendance of about 5,000 is expected at Temple Shalom for the various High Holidays services. But rather than rest on laurels, the congregation will debut a new kind of second day Rosh Hashana service away from the synagogue, at The Legacy at Willow Bend community in Plano.

"It'll be a worship service, complete, but considerably less formal," said Rabbi Paley. "We're treading new water there."

Jewish clergy, locally and nationally, said High Holidays attendance may get a boost this year.

The reason? A highly uncertain economy.

"There's definitely a sense that people have been whipsawed," said Rabbi Levine. "There's a lack of security out there, and that means people are in special need of the security of the spiritual life."

•Rosh Hashana, which starts tonight at sunset, means "head of the year" and begins the Jewish New Year.

•Rosh Hashana customs include the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn), eating apples and honey, and "tashlikh," a ceremony in which bread crumbs, symbolizing sins, are cast into moving water.

•Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, closes the High Holidays 10 days after Rosh Hashana.

•Yom Kippur customs include fasting, reading the book of Jonah, and reciting the ancient prayer known as Kol Nidre, meaning "all vows."

•At 7:15 tonight, a free program called "A Taste of Rosh Hashana" will be held at Churchill Recreation Center, 6906 Churchill Way, Dallas. A companion program on Yom Kippur will be held at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 8 at Dallas International School, 6039 Churchill Way. The sponsor is Community Kollel of Dallas, a Jewish educational group.