One year ago I wrote my first Shofar column about the Coronavirus pandemic. Fear, anxiety and loss of control were prominent in my words, but so too was appreciation for a community that was coming together to support one another, whether by working in the TE gardens, supporting the final phase of the school expansion project, reaching out to members or donating to the COVID-19 Maimonides Response Fund at the Jewish Federation.
Two months ago I wrote about moving through Mitzrayim, the narrow space we think about during Pesach, looking to a time of less restriction and more openness. With this column I can see the change starting to arrive. Spring weather has enabled us to have outdoor services and gatherings. Vaccination rates are increasing, and social isolation is starting to reduce. Statewide restrictions on gatherings have lessened as rates of COVID-19 infections appear to be leveling off.
The TE board has been discussing next steps toward opening up our community while working to make sure all our members, including the most vulnerable, are safe. It is a complex time. There are still many cases of COVID-19 in our community and COVID variants are increasing in frequency. Yet rising rates of vaccination bring reduced risks to many of us. I was not surprised to hear varying viewpoints from board members as we discussed this issue, and the same is true as I talk with individual members informally.
The TE board is lucky to have among our members medical experts who work with COVID data on a daily basis, who can share with us current medical data to help inform our decision-making. But as we watch the numbers and wrestle with this issue, we need to hear from all of you as well. We need to hear all voices – those who want to meet in person and those that do not, those who want indoor services, those who want outdoor services and those who want virtual services. And while September is a long way off, we need to think about how we will observe the High Holy Days this year.
I invite all of you to share your views with me, with the TE board and with the TE community. How would you like to see us open up in the next few months? What would you feel comfortable with during the High Holy Days? As divisions grow in our country, it is all the more important that we listen to each other, that we work to understand each other and find common ground, as we make our way through this next phase. I look forward to the time when we will be meeting together, singing together and eating together, and looking back on the pandemic as a difficult time in our past.
We have scheduled two meetings, Thursday, May 13 at 7:30 pm on Zoom and Sunday, May 23 at 11 am outdoors (weather permitting) at TE. I look forward to hearing from all of you. If you can’t make either time, please send me an email or call me with your thoughts.