By the time you read this column, the High Holy Days 5781 may seem like a distant memory, but I wanted to start by acknowledging what an incredibly different, challenging, difficult, inspiring, comforting and creative experience it has been this year. I want to thank Laurel and Anna for their incredible talents and commitment, treasured every High Holy Day season, but never quite as much as this year. I want to thank Jake Zonderman and Samuel Farbman for their wonderful tech skills, which have been put to a lot of great use; David Sasso and all our singers for helping create beautiful choral videos, allowing us to ‘sing together’ despite the realities of the pandemic; Olga and Robert for actively supporting us behind the scenes in the otherwise empty sanctuary; Lew Shaffer for organizing the readers for our services, Barbara Berkowitz and the amazing group of TE chanters; Susan Pinsky Bleeks who can serve as a Gabbai even from a distance; Melissa and Barbara Goldhamer and all our Honey Bees who have managed to reach every TE member just in time, Robin Levine-Ritterman and our entire leadership team, who have managed to keep calm and offer all the right support and encouragement throughout the process of preparation and celebration. I also want to acknowledge the generosity of Jimmy Shure who has enabled us to install high quality streaming equipment in the sanctuary, in memory of Rabbi Jerry Brieger.
Most of all, I want to thank YOU. All those who logged into the High Holy Day services, even if you were not convinced this was ‘going to work for you’. All those who really missed seeing their friends in person, but found a way to connect through the screens and the breakout rooms. All those who allowed themselves to be surprised, comforted and even inspired by this experience. I am so grateful to all of you for making this strange and different set of Holy Days feel special and ‘real’.
We are in the month of Cheshvan, a quiet time with no Jewish festivals, and opportunity to reflect a little and to prepare for Chanukah, a beloved moment of gathering and celebration with our families and friends, as well as with our community. Chanukah received its name from ‘dedication’ of the Temple in Jerusalem, and we are used to filling our building to the brim with people and with light from our chanukkiyot every year. Alas, this year will once again require a change: the covid realities will make such a gathering not possible. But just because we cannot be together in our beloved building does not mean that our celebration will be dampened, or the amount of light diminished!
On Shabbat Chanukah, December 11 at 6pm, bring your chanukkiah to your screen, and let us celebrate our commitment to our traditions, to our community, to our values, to Jewish learning and to each other. Let us dispel the darkness with light!