Rabbis' Voice Articles

I often use this column to talk about an upcoming event in the life of our congregation. As I write this, soon after Passover, it’s unclear when exactly we’ll have another event together again. We know this distancing will not last forever, but we don’t know how long it will last. So, making plans for future programs is not so easy, especially not for the near future. 

One of the things I’m thinking about is, after all of this is past us, how much should we go back to doing things exactly as we used to, and how much can or should change about the ways we operate as a congregation. We’ve had minyan more consistently on Zoom than we have had in person before this crisis. We are getting more people on Zoom for Kabbalat Shabbat than we did before. 

I’m not suggesting that we should move our minyanim and services to Zoom, but as we prepare to move into our new building, we have an opportunity to think about how we gather, and how we get together, about what matters, and what matters less. 

What are we learning about our community, about the need for community, about prayer, learning, ritual, and organization? I have more answers than I have questions, and I would love to hear your thoughts. Let me know, and let’s begin this conversation, and hope to see each other again in person soon.