I am sitting at my computer, ready to write my Shofar column. It is very early April; the baseball season has just started, and it is also before Passover. By the time you get to read this, the baseball season will be well underway and Passover will be a distant memory.
There was a time when we relied on the print media for up to the date news. There are those of us who remember checking stock prices in the tables printed in the next day’s newspapers. Now, we get them instantaneously on the internet. We used to rely on newspapers for breaking news. Now we get it from the radio, TV, and the internet.
Much has changed at TE since the last Shofar. Various events have taken place, education has improved, and physical as well as security improvements have occurred. TE is a better place due to these developments. However, by the time this article gets to you, it will be old news. Jen and Ann do much to keep the Shofar topical. The Shofar has evolved to meet our needs. “Breaking News” now shows up in the emailed Shofar Blast and in the Announcements at services. The Shofar continues to be a vital part of our communication system, but now rather than being devoted to “breaking news”, it communicates future events as well as contemplative pieces. We are not forsaking our traditions, but as I stated above, we are having them evolve to meet the current and future.
I make no secret of my love of baseball and its traditions. But like at TE, those traditions have evolved to meet current demands. As I write this in very early April, I look at the baseball rule changes positively, as they have sped up the game, without detracting from it. Who knows, maybe by the time you read this, I will have changed my mind. But baseball and TE have much in common, and while both have traditions that are loved, we also need to lightly tinker with them to meet the needs of the fans, in the case of baseball, and the congregation, in the case of TE.
Thank you to all who have helped TE evolve.