Preparing for the High Holidays “COVID-19 Style”
August 19, 2020 / 29 Av 5780
Dear Friends,
The Hebrew month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh HaShana, begins tomorrow. Elul is traditionally designated as a month of preparation for the High Holidays. Truth be told, however, I and we at TBH-BE have been discussing, planning, and preparing for the High Holidays for at least five months.
In this letter, I would like to address the quality of the unique experience we would like to create over the coming High Holidays. MaNishtana (to borrow from a different Holiday): What is there about these services which will make them different from all others?
The most obvious answer is the fact that our High Holiday services will be focused primarily on a congregation, families and individuals not seated in the Sanctuary or in any of the other spaces in our building normally used for these services. Most will be seated in front of a computer, in the comfort of their homes.
Our services will come to you via the internet and Zoom technology. Should you need help, have questions or fears regarding your ability to access services via Zoom, please let Ken Krivitzky know. He is more than capable to provide you with whatever help you may need.
I would like to suggest that what is strikingly different will be noticed in the quality, the selections of our liturgy, the pace we shall maintain and even the theological questions we shall address. As we adapt to the new normal in our lives, we can no longer take for granted the ways of the past. We need a new vision for this year’s unique High Holiday services.
At a convention of the Rabbinical Assembly, held at the Breakers Hotel, in 1953, the esteemed and revered modern Jewish philosopher, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, spoke to the rabbis, challenging them to change the nature and focus of their religious services. Heschel urged his colleagues to do a “Cheshbon haNefesh”, to re-evaluate and confront the reality of services which were often uninspiring. He depicted the synagogues of the 1950s as graveyards in which prayer is buried,
The problem is not how to fill the buildings but how to inspire the hearts [of those who attend]. The problem is not one of synagogue attendance but one of spiritual attendance. The problem is not how to attract bodies to enter the space of a temple but how to inspire the souls to enter an hour of concentration in the presence of God. The problem is time, not space."
When a colleague of mine shared these words with me, neither he nor I could help but feel that Heschel was speaking to us. Each year, when we orchestrate our High Holiday services in the sanctuary, I wonder how many are there present, not just physically, but spiritually? Certainly, on the High Holidays, our services were not, and cannot be, evaluated on the basis of numbers of attendees. The question to ask about the High Holidays is, have we motivated and engaged our congregants to feel as if they were sitting in God’s presence?
As we approach the Holidays, I would submit for your consideration, that our goal must be to motivate, engage and inspire. Guided by a liturgy intoned by our Sages of old, chanted so beautifully by the Cantor, our services become holy only when they draw us toward that which is holy, when they engage us in holy conversation, when they help us to reach a moment of inspiration.
Our challenge this year, is not a technological one. Neither is our challenge space or geography. Our challenge is to initiate that conversation and create those moments of inspiration which, ultimately, will determine the efficacy of our preparations and the nature of our prayers.
To that end, I have several thoughts about how we can make this year’s services, not just different, but more meaningful and engaging to us individually and communally.
To enhance services, it is indispensable for you to participate as fully as possible. Here are a few ways to begin, with more suggestions in future letters.
We want to hear your voice. Your ideas and your thoughts, when shared, inspire us all to engage in that holy conversation. Using your phone or other camera, at some point during the next few weeks, share a one-minute thought with your fellow congregants. Let me suggest a few ideas for you to consider: - Share with us, in a one-minute video, one lesson you have learned from your/our response to COVID-19. How have you dealt with the constraints placed upon you as a result of the pandemic? How has your life changed, for better or worse, because of our COVID-19 related experiences?
- Do you have a succinct message you can share, which reflects best your personal ethics and commitments? That message can begin as follows:
I have always believed that…
A major point I emphasize as a parent is….
Today, I view friendship differently.
This is what it means for me to be a friend…
The key to being a good spouse/parent/friend/Jew….
- Share with us your thoughts about High Holiday services:
What will you miss?
What do you anticipate the experience of services at home will be like?
What is your favorite prayer/part of the service?
What does it mean to you?
What will you pray for this year?
What would be the title of a sermon you would like to hear?
How would you address an issue?
We will share with you examples of these short videos on our website in advance of the Holidays.
After recording your message, forward the video to Ken’s email kkrivitzky@tbhbe.org. Your message will then be inserted into the services, to punctuate the services with the voices of our congregants.
A second way for you to participate would be to read in English responsively. We will try to accommodate those who request, albeit limited to a small number of readings.
We want to gather, in ways that are safe, to reinforce our sense of community. Community is the hallmark of congregational life. Gathering is not just a religious requirement but the most basic human requirement. A major concern is the lack of proximity that the notion of community invokes. This year we hope you will join us for the opportunities we have planned for safe, community gatherings:
- Two Community-Wide Shofar Blowings:
a. In the lead-up to Rosh Hashana we are trying to orchestrate neighborhood shofar blasts. We hope to visit neighborhoods where our congregants live. We will let you know when we are coming. There, we will sound this ageless instrument which calls us back for the High Holidays. Our highly trained and well-tested blowers will publicly sound the blasts. We encourage you to keep your own shofar handy so that you can join in.
b. On the Second day of Rosh HaShana, we will use the shofar as an instrument of connections. Together with Adath Israel in Merion Station, we will sound the shofar at different points along a prescribed route. We will let you know the two-mile route and the points at which the shofar sound will be heard from the previous station and relayed to the next station along the route. In this way, we bring the larger Jewish community together.
- Tashlich is the annual ceremony for casting into the water the remaining sins from which we hope to be cleansed. This year, Tashlich will be held on the second day of Rosh HaShana. We will orchestrate several outdoor gatherings, in different places, to accommodate for socially - distant Tashlich services.
- Havdalah, is the ceremony marking the end of Yom Kippur. Normally held within the sanctuary, this year, following the Neilah service, the last service of the day, we will gather in the parking lot for an outdoor, socially distant Havdalah and final shofar blast. The culmination of the Yom Kippur marked as we come together as best we can.
- Prayer Pods, small groups of family and/or friends may join together for services.
Later this week, you will receive a letter from the synagogue with a full list of service options. In my next letter I will address the issues of personal prayer and meaningful silence. In my final letter before the Holidays, I will share some suggestions regarding how to transform your home from the place of daily life, to a place of holiness, appropriate for prayer.
In the meantime, I wish you a Shana Tova. I look forward to corresponding with you soon and to seeing you, albeit virtually, in the not-too-distant future.
Rabbi Neil Cooper
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