{"id":37249,"date":"2021-08-20T01:59:53","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T08:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=37249"},"modified":"2021-08-19T19:47:53","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T02:47:53","slug":"lessons-from-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2021\/08\/20\/lessons-from-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zoom presentations became a regular affair at Beth Israel during the pandemic. Inset: JFS director of programs and community partnerships Cindy McMillan provides an overview of the new Jewish Food Bank. (screenshot from BI & JFS)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As Vancouver-area synagogues cautiously edge their way toward reinstituting in-person religious services, many rabbis are doing a rethink about the impact that the past 17 months of closure has had on their congregations.<\/p>\n

Finding a way to maintain a community connection for thousands of Jewish families became an imperative for all of the synagogues early on in the pandemic. Not surprisingly, for many, the answer became cutting-edge technology. But careful brainstorming and halachic deliberations remained at the heart of how each congregation addressed these urgent needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe immediately realized that services per se were not going to work over electronic medium,\u201d Congregation Schara Tzedeck\u2019s Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt told the Independent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He said Orthodox rabbis across the world were already discussing halachah<\/em> (Jewish law) in light of the pandemic when the province of British Columbia announced the shutdown in March of last year. \u201cWe realized that we weren\u2019t going to offer any services,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t have a minyan online.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t mean they couldn\u2019t offer support. Schara Tzedeck\u2019s answer to that need was only one of many innovative approaches that would come up. For example, to help congregants who had lost family members, the Orthodox shul devised a new ritual, as the reciting of the Mourner\u2019s Kaddish requires a minyan<\/em> (10 men or 10 men and women, depending on the level of orthodoxy, gathered together in one physical location).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we did is immediately [start a Zoom] study session in lieu of Kaddish. [The Mourner\u2019s] Kaddish is based on this idea of doing a mitzvah act, which is meritorious for the sake of your loved one, so we substituted the study of Torah for the saying of Kaddish,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

For many other communities, such as the Conservative synagogue Congregation Beth Israel, the deliberations over how to apply halachah in unique moments such as these were just as intense. For these instances, said BI\u2019s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, rabbis saw another imperative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what is called she\u2019at had\u2019chak<\/em>, or a time of pressure,\u201d Infeld said. \u201cIt\u2019s a special time, it\u2019s a unique time, and so we adapted to the time period.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concept allows a reliance on less authoritative opinions in urgent situations. So, for example, with respect to reciting the Mourner\u2019s Kaddish, Infeld said, \u201cWe felt that, especially in this time period, people would need that emotional connection, or would need that emotional comfort of saying Mourner\u2019s Kaddish when they were in mourning, and so we have not considered this [internet gathering to be] a minyan, except for Mourner\u2019s Kaddish,\u201d Infeld said. He noted that the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly, which reviews halachic decisions for the Conservative movement, has adopted the same position.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Shlomo Gabay, who leads the Orthodox Sephardi synagogue Congregation Beth Hamidrash, said that although his congregation would not hold Mourner\u2019s Kaddish online, venues like Zoom played a vital role in allowing the congregation to meet during shivah<\/em>, the first seven days of mourning. Like a traditional shivah, which takes place in the mourner\u2019s home, often with a small number of visitors, an online shivah gave community members a chance to attend and extend support as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was actually an especially meaningful [opportunity],\u201d Gabay said. \u201cThe mourners, one after another, told me that, first of all, you don\u2019t often get the opportunity to have so many people in the room, all together, listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

For members of the Bayit Orthodox congregation in Richmond, an online shivah meant family on the other side of the country could attend as well. \u201cWhat was most interesting, of course, was the people from all across the world,\u201d remarked Rabbi Levi Varnai. \u201cYou can have people who are family, friends, cousins, from many places in the world, potentially.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"screenshot<\/a>
Temple Sholom uses a variety of online media to provide inclusive content for those members who can\u2019t attend in person. Pictured here are Rabbi Dan Moskovitz and Rabbi Carey Brown. (screenshot from Temple Sholom)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vancouver\u2019s Reform Congregation Temple Sholom also came to value the potential of blending online media with traditional venues. Rabbi Dan Moskovitz said the congregation had been streaming its services and classes as much as a decade before the pandemic arrived. But lifecycle events, he said, demanded a more personal approach, one that would still allow families to actually participate in reading from the Torah scroll, while not violating the restrictions on large public attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big change is that we brought Torah to everybody\u2019s home,\u201d he said. Literally. Moskovitz or his associate, Rabbi Carey Brown, would deliver the scroll in a large, specially fitted container, along with a prayer book, instructions and other necessary accoutrements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a document camera so, when we streamed, you could look down on the Torah as it was being read on screen. Those were very special moments on a front porch when I would deliver Torah, socially distanced with a mask on, early on in the pandemic,\u201d he said. \u201cI had a mask and I had rubber gloves and they had a mask, and you put something down and you walked away. We got a little more comfortable with service transmission later on.\u201d<\/p>\n

International classes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Switching to online media also has broadened the opportunities for classes and social connections. Infeld said Beth Israel moved quickly to develop a roster of classes as soon as it knew that there would be a shutdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realized right away that we can\u2019t shut down. We may need to close the physical building, but the congregation isn\u2019t the building. The congregation is the soul [of Beth Israel]. We exist with or without the building,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we realized that for us to make it through this time period in a strong way, and to emerge even stronger from it, we would have to increase our programming.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the synagogue\u2019s weekly Zoom and Learn program has been among its most popular, hosting experts from around the world and garnering up to 100 or more viewers each event. The synagogue also hosts a mussar <\/em>(Jewish ethics) class that is regularly attended. \u201cWe never had a daily study session,\u201d Infeld said. \u201cNow we [do].\u201d<\/p>\n

For Chabad centres in the Vancouver area, virtual programming has been a cornerstone of success for years and they have expanded their reach, even during the pandemic. \u201cWe have had more classes and more lectures than ever before, with greater attendance,\u201d said Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman, who runs Chabad Richmond.<\/p>\n

Zoom and other online mediums mean that the centres don\u2019t have to fly in presenters if they want to offer an event. Like other synagogues, Chabad Richmond can now connect their audiences directly with experts from anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t go back\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of the synagogues that were contacted for this story acknowledged that online media services had played an important role in keeping their communities connected. And most felt that they will continue to use virtual meeting spaces and online streaming after the pandemic has ended.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs our biggest barrier to Friday night participation was the fact that many families were trying to also fit in a Shabbat dinner with small children, the convenience of the Friday livestream is worth including in the future,\u201d said Rabbi Philip Gibbs, who runs the North Shore Conservative synagogue Congregation Har El.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re scoping bids to instal a Zoom room in our classroom space so that we can essentially run a blended environment,\u201d Rosenblatt said. \u201cWe anticipate, when restrictions are lifted, some people will still want to participate by Zoom and some people will want to be in person.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, some congregations remain undecided as to whether Zoom will remain a constant in their services and programming.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Susan Tendler said that the virtual meeting place didn\u2019t necessarily mesh with all aspects of Congregation Beth Tikvah\u2019s Conservative service, such as its tradition of forming small groups (chavurot<\/em>) during services. \u201cWe are talking about what that will look like in the future,\u201d she said, \u201cyet realize that we must keep this door open.\u201d<\/p>\n

So is Burquest Jewish Community Association in Coquitlam, which is looking at hybrid services to support those who can\u2019t attend in person. \u201cBut these activities will probably not be a major focus for us going forward,\u201d said board member Dov Lank.<\/p>\n

For Or Shalom, a Jewish Renewal congregation, developing ways to bolster classes, meditation retreats and other programs online was encouraging. Rabbi Hannah Dresner acknowledged that, if there were another shutdown, the congregation would be able to \u201cmake use of the many innovations we\u2019ve conceived and lean into our mastery of virtual delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a number of congregations, virtual services like Zoom appear to offer an answer to an age-old question: how to build a broader Jewish community in a world that remains uncertain at times and often aloof.<\/p>\n

The Bayit\u2019s leader, Rabbi Varnai, suggests it\u2019s a matter of perspective. He said finding that answer starts with understanding what a bayit<\/em> (home) \u2013 in this case, a Jewish house of worship \u2013 is meant to be.<\/p>\n

The Bayit, he said, is \u201ca place for gathering community members and for coming together. The question, how can we still be there for each other, causes us to realize that we can\u2019t go back to as before.\u201d After all, he said, \u201ccommunity service is about caring for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jan Lee<\/strong>\u2019s articles, op-eds and blog posts have been published in <\/em>B\u2019nai B\u2019rith Magazine, <\/em>Voices of Conservative and Masorti Judaism, <\/em>Times of Israel and <\/em>Baltimore Jewish Times, as well as a number of business, environmental and travel publications. Her blog can be found at multiculturaljew.polestarpassages.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zoom presentations became a regular affair at Beth Israel during the pandemic. Inset: JFS director of programs and community partnerships Cindy McMillan provides an overview of the new Jewish Food Bank. (screenshot from BI & JFS) As Vancouver-area synagogues cautiously edge their way toward reinstituting in-person religious services, many rabbis are doing a rethink about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1485,6432,3525,547,1976,6983,5667,7368,1730,1729,6404,9717,9784,3439,4954,3076,4791,2880,1025,20755,20756,22,20757,7345,6405,26,8166,19750,4764,3626,19786],"class_list":["post-37249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-andrew-rosenblatt","tag-bayit","tag-beth-hamidrash","tag-beth-israel","tag-beth-tikvah","tag-burquest","tag-carey-brown","tag-chabad-richmond","tag-congregation-schara-tzedeck","tag-congregation-temple-sholom","tag-conservative","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-dan-moskovitz","tag-dov-lank","tag-education","tag-hannah-dresner","tag-har-el","tag-jonathan-infeld","tag-levi-varnai","tag-mourners-kaddish","tag-or-shalom","tag-orthdox","tag-philip-gibbs","tag-reform","tag-renewal","tag-shlomo-gabay","tag-susan-tendler","tag-synagogues","tag-yechiel-baitelman","tag-zoom"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}