Rosy cheeked and genial, Rabbi Milton Kroopnick brings smiles to all those able to respond to him. Even those whose heads hang as they sit in their wheelchairs, their faces immobilized by illness or fatigue, gather around as he prays and sings or talks of the everyday challenges of their lives.

As chaplain for the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, Kroopnick visits as many as four nursing homes and hospitals a day. He drives 60 or 70 miles to see not just the Jewish residents but also the non-Jews who join with them. He comes to celebrate Shabbat and other holy days, and also simply to talk and bring comfort.

At Norwood Terrace Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Plainfield last Friday, Sept. 6, he provided an early taste of Rosh Hashana for the three Jewish women present and around 15 others.

"We all call the same phone number," he told them, discussing not only the difference between the secular celebration of New Year and the Jewish one, but also the shared aspiration to lead a good life. "We all have an obligation to do our best to make this a better world to live in," said Kroopnick.

In a setting where pain can make people short-tempered, he stressed the need to treat one another kindly and to express appreciation. "God doesn't need our prayers; we need to say thank you to Him, but also to say thank you to each other," he said.

"We must love the Lord our God," a non-Jewish woman called out.

"You're stealing my sermon," Kroopnick responded with a beaming smile. When she came back to him with other biblical quotes and then some questions, he said approvingly, "I like your comments. You're an intelligent lady," and she thanked him.

When she asked whether people today "inherit the sins of Adam," he replied, "Not in Judaism. We believe in freedom of choice, that each of us can choose to be a better person —or not. If I punch you in the nose, I'm being a bad person, and that's my decision."

With such debate out of the way, he brought out a shofar and explained its significance and showed how it is blown. He said the nine staccato notes called t'rua can represent the nine months of pregnancy, suggesting that we aspire —through the prayers and rituals of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur —to become like a newborn baby, "free of sin and ready to become a better person."

Susette Tyson, Norwood's director of recreation, passed around cups of grape juice so everyone could join in a blessing, and then handed out platters with gefilte fish and apples and honey, traditional Rosh Hashana fare.

Some drizzled the honey on the fish, but no one complained about Jewish cuisine. And when they had finished eating, the rabbi suggested that everyone join in a song they all knew, "America the Beautiful."