Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

An arson at a Needham synagogue and vandalism at a Fall River cemetery contributed to a record high number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S last year.

The Anti-Defamation League says there were 2,107 hate crimes against Jewish people nationwide in 2019, according to the organization's annual survey. That's the highest the number since the ADL began tallying hate crimes in 1979.

Massachusetts has seen a decrease in anti-Semitic crime over the last few years: 177 reported incidents in 2017, 144 in 2018 and 114 last year. That's not comforting,ADL New England Executive Director Robert Trestan said, because the numbers are still too high.

"It's not a reason to let up our vigilance or awareness that these incidents are occurring and are still impacting people," he said. "An ADL survey just last month indicated that two-thirds of American Jews feel less safe today than they did a decade [ago]. There's still a level of high anxiety amongst people about safety and security at places of worship."

And with fewer people gathering to worship, he says anti-Semitism is moving from in-person to online.

"Here in Massachusetts and across the country, we've tracked hundreds and hundreds of incidents where people are infiltrating online meetings," Trestan said. "We have to prioritize our virtual security in the same way that we ensure that a physical building is secure."

Even during the pandemic, this year has already seen offline anti-Semitism. In April, a man was arrested after attemptingto blow up a Jewish assisted living center in Longmeadow.

"The attack [was] planned at the height of the pandemic, just as Massachusetts was actually entering its surge," said State Sen. Eric Lesser, who represents the Longmeadow area and is Jewish.

Lesser worries the pandemic could possibly stoke incidents of anti-Jewish crime, as it has in the past.

"Whenever there are periods of fear or frustration or severe economic strain, there are also corresponding rises in hate crimes and bigotry," he said. "I am concerned that as coronavirus continues to put strains on society, that we could see even more incidents in the future."

The high number of anti-Jewish crime has led to synagogues in Massachusetts thinking about measures that can be taken to protect their congregations. One Brighton rabbi last year suggested that congregants bring guns to the Shaloh House synagogue.

"We can't think, 'I'm just praying, and God will save me,'" Rabbi Dan Rodkin told WBUR at the time. "No, we need to take care of situations ourselves."

Attorney General Maura Healey's office encouraged anyone experiencing discrimination to contact its civil rights hotlineat 617-963-2917 or file a complaint online.

There is no place for hateful conduct or rhetoric in Massachusetts," Healey said in a statement. "Its especially important right now, as we face this pandemic together, that people know their protections under the law. We stand with the Jewish community and are here to protect them from discrimination.

Trestan said everyone has a role to play when it comes to standing up to hate.

"We still need to maintain a level of vigilance without letting fear disrupt our lives," he said.

Read more:

Anti-Semitic Crime In The U.S. Reaches Record Levels - WBUR

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Anti-Semitic Crime In The U.S. Reaches Record Levels – WBUR
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

By Marcy Oster

(JTA) When Rabbi Moshe Hauer last week told Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top health advisor, that synagogues wouldnt let congregants sit within 8 feet of each other once services resume, he wasnt just making a joke about Jews tendency toward closeness.

He was also previewing a set of formal guidelines that the organization he helps lead, the Orthodox Union, would release just a day later.

With the Rabbinical Council of America, the Orthodox Union on Friday released a 13-point guide for gradual and controlled reopening of synagogues under their supervision. The guide comes as some states beginning allowing in-person religious services for the first time since restrictions meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus were imposed across the country in March.

The issuance of this guidance does NOT imply that any reopening should be done at this point, the guide says in bold on its first page. Later, it says about the possible resumption of informal, backyard services, Care must be taken to ensure that this not become a free-for-all.

The guide instructs synagogues to wait at least two weeks after services are legally possible to hold them, to make sure that coronavirus cases do not rise as restrictions are relaxed. The guide also spells out that people who are unwell or at high risk for coronavirus complications should not attend services even then. And it emphasizes that healthy, young people who are fearful of contracting the virus at synagogue should be considered exempt from obligations related to communal prayer.

When services do resume, according to the guide, congregants should wear masks, sit far apart and coordinate their attendance so spaces do not become crowded. This will be a fundamental and difficult shift for many individuals and communities, the guide says.

When some governors began allowing religious services last month, many rabbis in those states said they would continue to keep their synagogue doors closed. Still, the new guidelines are notable because Orthodox synagogues and their congregants are unable to use technology to hold services on Shabbat or to form prayer quorums virtually, making restrictions on in-person gatherings especially burdensome.

A third Orthodox group, the haredi advocacy group Agudath Israel of America, released its own roadmap for safely resuming communal prayer in its communities. The roadmap includes limiting attendance to about half the number allowed by local governments and waiting for a sustained downward trajectory of documented COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the Orthodox Jewish population for 14 days.

Even once communal prayer is reestablished, the guide says, Jews should resist the urge to synagogue-hop, or pray with different groups of people at different times, to minimize each persons total number of contacts.

Orthodox communities must make and follow their own guidance, Agudath Israels document says, because observant Jews communal lifestyles dont fit neatly into the frameworks that most states are using to guide reopening decisions.

Governmental regulations were not designed to address the realities of someone davening at a bustling shul with multiple minyanim daily; attending kiddushim; large families having a Shabbos meal together; children from multiple families playing together perhaps all on a single day! the guide reads.

It continues in bold: An abrupt return to all of this, while tempting, risks our communities suffering reversals of whatever gains were achieved during the difficult months of quarantine endured.

Read the original:

Wait to Resume Services, Then Proceed Carefully, Orthodox Jews Are Told Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Wait to Resume Services, Then Proceed Carefully, Orthodox Jews Are Told Detroit Jewish News – The Jewish News
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

Dr. Anthony Fauci: Synagogues could reopen for High Holy Days

Dir. of National Inst. of Infectious Diseases says US synagogues may be able to be open in the fall, but only if certain conditions are met.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told American rabbis last week that synagogues in the US may be able to be open for the Jewish High Holy Days in the fall, but only if certain conditions are met in terms of testing, contact tracing, and social distancing.

Speaking during a conference call organized by the Orthodox Union, Fauci expressed optimism that religious activities could be renewed before the end of the year.

He noted, however, that synagogues would not be able to operate in the same way as prior to the pandemic.

Fauci said that it would be a good idea to hold Minyan prayer services once every five days, as opposed to every day, pointing out that he did assume to understand what this would mean from a spiritual standpoint.

He also said he expects the virus to still be around in the fall, perhaps as part of a second wave of infection. For that reason, there will still need to be restrictions on mass gatherings and people will have to practice social distancing, he added.

The re-opening of synagogues over the next months could be gradual, continued Fauci, who suggested that synagogues in areas that were hit hard by the virus may need to return to operation later than those in other parts of the country.

He added that members of the population who are more vulnerable to the virus, such as elderly people and people with underlying health conditions, could be the last to join services.

The vast majority of synagogues in the US have been closed since mid-March when restrictions on large gatherings began to be implemented in states across the country. Many synagogues have been offering online services and holding virtual prayers instead of in-synagogue services.

Finally, Fauci asked those on the call to include me in their prayers, as he attempts to lead the countrys response to the virus.

Shavuot is about two weeks away. Traditionally there were all-night learning sessions in the synagogue. That is out this year, except for the reform and conservative who usually dont do the all-night learning anyway. So what for the Orthodox, one solution is all night learning the day before Shavuot. After all, it is virtual anyway. If you want to stay up all night, stay up the night before.

Rosh Hashanah by Zoom?

Some synagogues are already preparing for the possibility that they could be empty during the High Holidays

For rabbis, the end of Passover marks the beginning of a new season: planning for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the High Holidays in the fall when Jews pack synagogue sanctuaries.

This is also the time of year when the synagogues collect their dues for the year. Lets be real. People pay their dues, because they want a seat for the high holidays. If you are not going to get a seat, will you pay your dues? Maybe this year, but I dont think it will last. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus has become the first department store chain to declare bankruptcy during the coronavirus pandemic. Its fall is foreboding to other chains, whose financial distress predates the health crisis, such as J.C. Penney. It is also foreboding to synagogues. Many will lose their regular customer base.

This year, that planning includes grappling with the reality that in-person services might still be impossible, depending on the course the coronavirus pandemic takes between now and then. If there is no seat, what are you paying your dues for?

American and Israel synagogues have been conducting services virtually or not at all for more than a month. When they closed their doors, many expected that several weeks or, at most, a few months would elapse before the pandemic was under control enough for in-person religious services to resume.

But as the weeks wear on, it is becoming increasingly clear that the resumption of normal activity remains a far-off proposition. Even as a few United States begin allowing some businesses to reopen, social distancing guidelines remain in place, and some city officials and public health experts have warned that large gatherings are unlikely to be safe until some time in 2021.

That leaves Rosh Hashanah, which this year begins Sept. 18, as a major question mark.

Were making the assumption that by September its not going to be OK to have a thousand people together in one room, so were taking that as a starting point, said Rabbi Barry Leff of Herzl-Ner Tamid, a Conservative synagogue just outside Seattle on Mercer Island, Washington.

Leff says that in the coming months, the congregation, which has 750 member families, will be planning for a number of possibilities. That includes thinking about how many people would fit in the synagogues sanctuary which can regularly hold up to 1,000 if social distancing measures are enforced. It also means thinking about who would get to attend if the state lifts its stay-at-home order and allows smaller gatherings of people.

If they say Fine, you can have 50 people, how do you pick which 50 people get to be the ones that get to be there? Or do you set up a rotation, where people can sign up for an hour-long time slot? It can get very complicated pretty quickly, he said.

Its too early to say for sure what things will look like in September, said Stephen Buka, a professor of epidemiology at Brown University. Whether gathering in person will be advisable depends on a number of factors, including how the countrys testing infrastructure develops and if coronavirus infections rise again as temperatures cool.

Right now, the requirement is that everything is virtual, and I think that wouldnt necessarily be needed in July, and its too hard to say what will be needed in September, he said.

Buka says that even if High Holiday services could be held in person, they wouldnt be the same as in previous years. Social distancing measures would likely be needed and at-risk groups could be cautioned from going.

I think a very likely scenario to predict at this point is that if youre over 70, dont congregate, stay home and that if families with young children want to come and be socially distanced that could very well be a reasonable compromise, he said.

The rapidly changing recommendations and policies around preventing the spread of the coronavirus, which so far has killed at least 70,000 people in the United States, has some rabbis waiting to plan for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

But many other synagogues have started planning for multiple contingencies.

Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia, holds eight services on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, and 3,000 people typically spend some time in the synagogues three spaces. The busiest airport in America is what our building looks like, said Rabbi Amy Schwartzman.

With that experience seeming increasingly unlikely, Schwartzman and the four other clergy members at Rodef Shalom are holding a scenario planning meeting this week to explore other possibilities including the fact that the synagogue may have no in-person worship at all due to the coronavirus.

We know that in the worst-case scenario we could provide the congregation with an online worship experience for all the holidays, she said.

Again, just like on Passover, that wont work for the Orthodox, because electronic media is not allowed.

Motty goes to the rabbi and says, I committed a sin and I want to know what I can do to repent.

What was the sin? the rabbi asked.

It happened just once, Motty assures him. I didnt wash my hands and recite the blessing before eating bread.

Nu, if it really only happened once, the rabbi said, thats not so terrible. Nonetheless, why did you neglect to wash your hands and recite the blessing?

I felt awkward Rabbi, said Motty. You see, I was in an UN-kosher restaurant.

The rabbis eyebrows arch. And why were you eating in an un-kosher restaurant?

I had no choice, Motty said. All the kosher restaurants were closed.

And why were all the kosher restaurants closed? the rabbi asked.

Motty replied, It was Yom Kippur.

Yehuda Lave writes a daily (except on Shabbat and Hags) motivational Torah blog at YehudaLave.comLoving-kindness my specialty.Internationally Known Speaker and Lecturer and Author. Self Help through Bible and Psychology. Classes in controlling anger and finding Joy. Now living and working in Israel. Remember, it only takes a moment to change your life. Learn to have all the joy in your life that you deserve!!! There are great masters here to interpret Spirituality. Studied Kabbalah and being a good human being with Rabbi Plizken and Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher, my Rabbi. Torah is the name of the game in Israel, with 3,500 years of mystics and scholars interpreting G-D's word. Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement

Here is the original post:

Will the Synagogues be open for Shavuot and Rosh Hashanah? - The Times of Israel

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Will the Synagogues be open for Shavuot and Rosh Hashanah? – The Times of Israel
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

(JTA) The Conservative movement issued a ruling allowing congregations to livestream services on Shabbat and holidays during the coronavirus pandemic.

Noting the unprecedented time brought on by the virus, the movements Jewish law authorities voted Wednesday to allow livestreaming with a number of caveats, including that the equipment be set up in advance or that a timer be used to avoid the active use of electricity on Shabbat and holidays, when it is traditionally forbidden.

The Committee on Jewish Laws and Standards adopted the ruling by a vote of 19 in favor, three against, and three abstentions.

The ruling, written by Rabbi Joshua Heller of Congregation Bnai Torah in Sandy Springs, Georgia, notes that it is applicable to the current situation only and that its conclusions will need to be reassessed as we transition to a new normal.'

The question of livestreaming on Shabbat and holidays had already been under debate within the movement prior to the pandemic.

This question took on a dramatic new urgency as almost every synagogue in the world was forced to suspend in-person physical worship, and even as some begin to re-open, it is likely that it will be many months before large groups can assemble together safely, Heller wrote.

Heller also addressed concerns that allowing livestreaming could lead people to do other things prohibited on Shabbat or holidays.

The wider intrusion of technology into Shabbat and Yom Tov worship will require greater fences to preserve the sanctity of the day, he wrote. It is a short step from watching services to emailing, online shopping, and other activities which violate the letter and spirit of the law.

Traditionally, Conservative and Orthodox congregations have not allowed livestreaming on Shabbat or holidays as it violates the prohibition against using electricity. However, some Conservative synagogues livestream anyway and more have started doing so since they were forced cancel in-person services due to the pandemic.

In March, leaders of the law committee issued a crisis declaration allowing the recitation of the Mourners Kaddish with a prayer quorum, or minyan, convened online, saying that congregations that follow it would have to use a multi-way link that allowed participants to see and hear each other.

Visit link:

Conservative movement allows livestreaming on Shabbat and holidays during pandemic - JTA News

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Conservative movement allows livestreaming on Shabbat and holidays during pandemic – JTA News
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

About 2,000 years ago, Judaism swapped animal sacrifice for prayer. This fall, it will face another challenge that, while not quite on the order of the destruction of the Second Temple, is still historic: How to conduct the faiths holiest and best-attended services while maintaining enough physical distance between congregants to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

At a time when people are craving human and spiritual connection, rabbis are feeling even more pressure than normal to create a deeply meaningful High Holidays experience. Some clergy and congregants are looking toward 2020s Days of Awe with anxiety, but others are relishing the challenge of radically rethinking what is possible in the context of an ancient tradition.

Lets blow it out of the water, said Rabbi Amy Schwartzman, who leads the 1,800-household Temple Rodef Shalom, a Reform synagogue outside Washington, D.C. It will change us next year and the year after. Well realize we can push into new boundaries.

The High Holidays meaning chiefly Rosh Hashanah, the New Year; and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement happen in the fall, and they are when synagogues are at their busiest. The staff works through the summer to coordinate services for the largest crowds of the year. Rabbis spend weeks crafting special sermons, and cantors compose elaborate musical programs.

Though it is only May, the 14 rabbis from egalitarian denominations Reform, Conservative, Reconstructing Judaism and Humanistic who were interviewed for this story are making their plans based on the assumption that synagogue buildings will need to be closed when Rosh Hashanah starts, on September 18.

Indeed, even as the United States begins efforts to restart its economy, a broad range of Jewish leaders ha agreed that synagogues should be among the last institutions to reopen, wherever they are, in order to adhere to the Jewish doctrine of pikuach nefesh, which mandates setting aside religious obligations in order to save a life.

There are practical considerations, too none weighing on rabbis more deeply than the dangers of singing, which studies are showing can spread the coronavirus at alarming rates. Even singing with masks on is possibly unsafe.

Then there are shofars, the ceremonial rams horn blown at climactic moments in the High Holiday services. No scientist has actually measured the dispersal of coronavirus in aerosol droplets shooting forth from a hollow rams horn. But at least one study found that vuvuzelas the plastic horns from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa can propel extremely large numbers of aerosols that can lodge deep inside the lung.

The study was enough to scare Rabbi Joshua Heller, whose Conservative synagogue, Congregation Bnai Torah, outside Atlanta, usually sees 3,000 attendees over the High Holidays. He said caution is more important than speed right now, and he and his staff are working on creating multiple possible options for the fall.

Im okay if we are not the first to announce our plan, if those plans are what end up meeting the safety and spiritual needs of our community, he said.

Rabbis said they are working together to tackle the challenge of re-envisioning High Holiday services. Reconstructing Judaism, for example, has begun a weekly Zoom conference attended by over 60 rabbis called Dreaming of the High Holidays, said the movements president, Rabbi Deborah Waxman.

The rabbis all said it is impossible to translate the holidays elaborate schedules services across multiple sanctuaries, special programs for toddlers, children and teenagers, classes, guest speakers to streaming.

How can we create ritual at home for people? asked Rabbi Sarit Horowitz, of Beth Shalom Synagogue, a Conservative community in Memphis, Tenn. Part of that requires peoples openness, because it wont be the same as being in shul with 500 other people.

Horowitz is playing with the idea of a Seder for Rosh Hashanah, in a spin on Passovers ritual meal. Though the idea is still in its infancy, she is mulling using excerpts from the High Holiday prayerbook, the mahzor, to create a service for families to do at home, around their dinner table. Families would focus on different symbols apples, honey and pomegranates instead of matzah, shank bones and horseradish perhaps with guidance from YouTube videos made by their rabbis and cantors.

Just about everyone agrees that the services will be brief. Zoom and Facebook Live attention spans cant support hours-long High Holiday services. Synagogues in the Reform movement, Americas largest, as well as those in Reconstructing Judaism, a denomination with just under 100 communities, have more flexibility in using technology and changing the service structure, since their denominations prioritize adaptability over adherence to halacha, Jewish law.

Conservative synagogues will place a higher emphasis on making their adapted services comport with halacha. Jewish law only considers certain parts of the High Holiday liturgy to be obligatory. That could mean stripping down Yom Kippur to Kol Nidre, the evening service; the prayers Avinu Malkeinu and Shma Koleinu; the rabbis sermon and Yizkor, said Heller, of Congregation Bnai Torah near Atlanta.

There are three main formats rabbis can use for services this year: in-person; broadcast, which has rabbis conducting services via Facebook Live or YouTube, with no interaction from congregants at home; and services over software like Zoom, in which congregants can participate.

Most of the synagogues consulted by the Forward said they will try to mix up the formats of their services. That could mean, for instance, a socially-distanced tashlich ceremony, when one casts ones sins in the form of bits of stale bread into a body of water; a Yizkor mourning service over Zoom and a broadcast maybe even pre-recorded of Kol Nidre.

The services might be accompanied by opportunities during the 10 intervening days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur for small groups to spend a half-hour or so inside the synagogue. Schwartzman said that Rodef Shalom in D.C. might offer in-person yoga or text-study classes for maybe 50 people at a time in their main sanctuary, which can seat up to 950 people.

Rabbi Rachel Ain, of the Sutton Place Synagogue in Manhattan, said she and her colleagues plan to use that period to make sure that every family has an opportunity to approach the ark where they house their Torah scrolls, a tradition usually observed over the final hour of Yom Kippur services.

That, Ain said, will give congregants a chance to do what so many are missing: be in their synagogue, their sacred space.

While all the clergy who spoke with the Forward expect theyll be closed for the holidays, some havent yet made the final decision yet. Others have four months out.

Temple Sholom, in Cincinnati, Ohio, announced to their congregation that they would be all virtual last Friday, said Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp. Theyve invested thousands of dollars in their livestream and prayer-on-demand operation over the past few years, drawing in viewers from around the country. Terlinchamp said that her decision was based around not over-extending her staff by making them plan for multiple High Holidays scenarios.

Even if we have mud on our face in September and everyone is running around and hugging and sharing drinks, were still not gonna go back, she said.

Yet while other synagogues anticipate saving money on virtual services no overflow spaces to rent, no guards to hire, no catering bill! Terlinchamp said she expects to spend more. Shes hiring a full band and videographers and renting out a professional sound studio to create pre-recorded services.

High Holiday services are a performance, she reasoned: Lets just own the performance part.

During the pandemic, some synagogues have been able to bring in large numbers of viewers for their Zoom- and Facebook Live-based services. But High Holiday services derive a good chunk of their spiritual intensity from the sheer crush of a sanctuary filled to capacity. If people feel left adrift on their couch this year, there is concern that those people will be less likely to return the next year.

Some congregants are so eager to return to synagogue that they are pressuring their rabbis to host in-person services even though the clergy are in higher risk categories, such as being over the age of 65, said Rabbi Hara Person, head of the Reform movements rabbinical association.

Theres gonna be a mourning period, said Sutton Place Synagogues Rabbi Ain, for people who want things to just go back to normal. But she is hopeful that people will reconcile with reality, like they did for Passover: Judaism is an adaptive culture.

Rabbis in the South and middle of the country, which have seen their economies reopen or protests pushing for a reopening, are concerned about how to pitch a distanced High Holidays, especially to congregants who simply dont think the economy should remain closed.

Im in Georgia, where you can go bowling and get a tattoo of your score, said Bnai Torahs Heller. I have congregants who based on their sources of data dont see this as a threat in the same way that others do, and may not see the need for caution.

Perhaps the biggest question mark remaining is fundraising. Many synagogues use the large crowds of the High Holidays to make appeals, or ask congregants to buy space in special booklets. Synagogues that require tickets are wondering if they can reasonably charge for a Zoom service. Schwartzman said that if they do end up foregoing use of their building for services, there will be no tickets this year.

Rabbi Paul Kipnes, who leads Congregation Or Ami, in Calabasas, Calif., said that his synagogue will likely not have tickets, and instead he will just double the number of calls he usually makes in the weeks before Rosh Hashanah to check in on families and broach the subject of financial support, to around 300 households this year. If that doesnt yield results, he said, they will simply organize an annual campaign.

The silver lining of the uncertainty, said Heller, is that it has pushed rabbis, perhaps more than ever before, to lean on one another for support and ideas. That collective brainpower is whats keeping him calm for now.

I think some of the best ideas for how to run these High Holidays havent been had yet, he said.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman

Read the original here:

High holidays will be socially distanced, rabbis say - Forward

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on High holidays will be socially distanced, rabbis say – Forward
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

As countries and U.S. states slowly begin to lift restrictions and prepare for a new normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, synagogues are showing caution and restraint, focusing on ensuring that they do whatever is necessary to protect human life.

Even though according to the letter of the law in Idaho, it became permissible to hold in-person services as of May, on the advice of medical professionals in our community and rabbinic input, we have decided not to open up, Rabbi Mendel Lifshitz, who co-directs Chabad Lubavitch of Idaho with his wife Esther, told Chabad.org.

Instead, theyre filling the gap with online programming and classes, a drive-by Lag BaOmer celebration and a Taste of Shabbat, which offers community members Shabbat items packed in a bag via curbside pickup from the Chabad House. While technically permissible, a lot of houses of worship are not holding services, he noted. There are a lot of social-distancing requirements, and even with those, were not comfortable holding them at this time.

Across the world, synagogue services have all but entirely ceased as social distancing continues, with the exception of prayer services still being held in certain specific situations. Twelve student rabbis in Australia have been self-quarantining together in their yeshivah building since the beginning of the outbreak and make up one of very few minyanim being held in the world. In South Africa, an adult-care facilityon lockdown has had a quorum of residents. The same is true in a few other Jewish group residences around the world. But these isolated congregational services are the exception, rather than the rule, as the vast majority of synagogues plan to remain closed until the danger has passed.

As with this synagogue in Budapest, Chabad rabbis are operating with a mindset of caution and a view towards the preservation of life, even as businesses around them continue to reopen. (Photo: (Photo: Tams-Haim http://www.tfilin.hus))

As Hungary began to ease restrictions, Rabbi Boruch Oberlander, regional director of Chabad Lubavitch of Hungary and head of Budapests rabbinic court, issued a detailed responsum urging the countrys synagogues to remain shuttered for the time being.

Since we are dealing with matters of life and death, I must opine that under no circumstances should you open the synagogues at this time, he wrote. As the Rema wrote, One must be careful to avoid anything that can put one in danger, for a danger is more stringent than a prohibition, and we must be more concerned with a doubtful danger than a doubtful prohibition.

Legally, it may not be prohibited to reopen synagogues, but as the communitys rabbi and the regional director of Chabad Lubavitch in this country, I am instructing you not to open the synagogues or hold any other gatherings, he continued. The scientific consensus is that the danger hovers above us even now.

Oberlander went on to call for a wait-and-see period, and when its confirmed that the risk is gone or absolutely minimal, we will joyously reopen the synagogues and thank Gd for enabling us to return to praying congregationally.

The letter included four close-typed pages of source material from Jewish law on the importance of preserving life and the extent to which Jewish law obligates one to go in order to do so.

Chabad rabbis are operating with a mindset of caution and a view towards the preservation of life, even as businesses around them continue to reopen.

We do not plan to open for now, despite the state allowing it, said Rabbi Levi Greenberg, associate rabbi at Chabad of El Paso in Texas. Chabad in Missouri made the same decision. In Georgia, an Atlanta Chabad center that was initially planning to reopen following the governors permission has informed the community that it would instead be remaining closed in keeping with Chabad of Georgias statewide decision to keep in-person services suspended.

And in Israel, where stringent measures have largely curbed community transmission of the virus and with only very limited prayer services allowed by the government under specific circumstances, Chabad has no present plans to reopen synagogues.

In Utah, where Gov. Gary Herbert just issued an executive order providing guidance on how religious institutions can reopen, Rabbi Avremi Zippel, program director at Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, says currently the community connects via Zoom to ensure everyone has their tefillin and is in the mindframe of prayer and they are also hosting online courses, but the synagogue remains closed.

We have not opened, but we are reorganizing our entire shul so that we will have chairs placed more than six feet apart, were discontinuing the kiddush until further notice, and attendance will be by reservation only, as we will have a 20-person limit when we do open, said Zippel.

In Florida, where places of worship were largely exempt from stay-at-home orders, and where many counties have begun partial reopening, Chabad of Florida issued an open letter to the states Jewish community, explaining why they chose to voluntarily close their synagogues at the outset of the outbreak, and why they would not yet be reopening them even as the state begins to loosen restrictions.

The letter, which is signed by 15 prominent doctors and more than 65 rabbis representing the scores of Jewish communities across the state, recognizes that everyone is anxious to return to their synagogues, but cautions that it is important to remember that the Torah standard of protecting even one life, and the extent to which Jewish Law prioritizes even doubtful danger to life overrides almost all other Halachic requirements. Therefore, the benchmarks and timeframe for reopening our synagogues and minyanim according to Torah values do not necessarily correspond to the government standards for reopening other parts of society.

The letter describes a planned reopening in stages, with timing dependent on a variety of factors, including hospital capacity, local guidelines, availability of testing, and the ability of each individual synagogue to implement the necessary procedures and protocols.

At this point, were still in Stage 0, meaning synagogues are not yet ready to reopen, and we are still not at the point of safely restarting any minyan, classes, or other in-person programs, it continued.

Remember, the letter concluded, that even while our shuls are closed and we are praying alone, Gd is still very present in our homes.

Visit link:

As Officials Ease Coronavirus Restrictions, Synagogues Show Caution - Going beyond the letter of the law to protect life - Chabad.org

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on As Officials Ease Coronavirus Restrictions, Synagogues Show Caution – Going beyond the letter of the law to protect life – Chabad.org
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

A proud member of her community, Marica Waitzman passed away during Passover in an assisted-living facility home in New Jersey after complications due to COVID-19.

Born in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., she was very involved with her synagogue and community affairs.

A dedicated activist, Waitzman famously used her platform on the school board for good; for example, she campaigned for and succeeded in getting the Clarkstown School district to recognize and close schools for the second day of Rosh Hashanah.

She is survived by a son and daughter, in addition to grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Readers are invited to express their condolences or memories of the departed in the Reader Comments box that follows this article.

To provide additional information for this article, or to submit the names and information about other Jewish victims of the coronavirus, please use this form.

Read more:

Marcia Waitzman, 88, West Orange, N.J - Involved with her synagogue and community affairs - Chabad.org

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Marcia Waitzman, 88, West Orange, N.J – Involved with her synagogue and community affairs – Chabad.org
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

THE Sydney Beth Din (SBD) has issued guidelines for the recommencement of synagogue services in NSW, advising they reconvene under strict conditions on the first and second days of Shavuot (May 29 and 30).

The guidelines, issued on Wednesday afternoon, state that services will be made up of 10 people; anyone aged 70 and over may not attend; preference will be given to mourners and those commemorating yahrzeit; and each attendee will be required to wear a face mask and maintain social distancing at all times.

The statement also reiterates that minyanim are categorically not permitted in homes inside or outside.

#BREAKING The Sydney Beth Din has this afternoon issued guidelines for the recommencement of synagogue services in NSW,

The Australian Jewish News - , 13 2020

The SBD said there is absolutely no halachic allowance for engaging in communal prayer at the expense of a participant contracting or spreading a potentially life threatening illness such as COVID-19.

We are therefore obliged halachically to proceed with extreme caution in all areas, including the timing and frequency of shule services, the statement said.

It added, We believe that the success of these guidelines in protecting our community, will be only if we all abide by them uniformly.

Despite the SBDs guidelines, The Great Synagogue had planned to hold a Friday night Shabbat service for the first time in months this week after the government announced prayer gatherings of up to 10 people are permissible from tomorrow (Friday).

However, The Greats Rabbi Benjamin Elton said on Thursday morning, Unfortunately this Friday night did not prove possible, but we hope to be up and running very soon. Everything will be done safely and following government requirements.

Emanuel Synagogue, which has been live-streaming services from different homes, will now begin doing so from its sanctuary with the rabbi, cantor and musicians making up the 10 allowed.

The SBD has also strongly recommended people use the COVIDSafe app, but as carrying a phone on Shabbat is forbidden, it recommends people compile a list of contacts after Shabbat.

Meanwhile, Jewish day schools are in the process of a phased return to the classroom amid national progress in containing COVID-19, with a range of restrictions to be eased.

Some Moriah and Mount Sinai College (MSC) year groups have already returned to the classroom with more to commence in the coming weeks, while Emanuel School, Masada and Kesser Torah Colleges (KTC) are set to begin a phased return next week.

In a booklet sent to parents, Moriah principal Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler said it was important to remain vigilant as students return to face-to-face teaching.

Safety and hygiene protocols are in place to protect everyone in the school environment, he said.

MSC principal Phil Roberts has urged parents keep unwell children at home with all year groups to be back by next week.

We still have strict protocols in place for managing pick up and drop off and throughout the day an increase in cleaning and use of hand sanitising, he said.

Emanuel School will welcome students back from Monday, May 18 on a rotational basis.

A staged return will ensure that we are able to practise appropriate social distancing in classrooms and allow us to make decisions quickly and effectively, principal Andrew Watt said.

Masada College will also begin a phased return from Monday.

Social distancing measures, including temperature checks for every person on campus each day, will be in place to ensure the priority remains, as always, our staff and students health and safety, principal Martin Tait said.

KTC years 11 and 12 return today, with other year groups to follow in the coming weeks.

We are really excited to welcome back our students to the campus, principal Roy Steinman said.

Despite the inevitable protocols and procedures in place to create a safe environment for staff and students, nothing replaces the energy and vibrancy of face-to-face teaching and learning.

But as students return to schools and shules look to resume, Jewish Emergency Management Plan (JEMP) medical sub-committee chair Richard Glass has warned that the easing of restrictions does not mean Australia has beaten the pandemic.

The virus is still active in the community, highly contagious, more than capable of incapacitating those we love and, sadly, potentially lethal, he said.

We cant allow the flattening of the curve to give us a false sense of security it was only achieved by the national lockdown, which is now being progressively lifted.

Our community is particularly vulnerable given the high level of interaction and older average age so there is no room for complacency. We must remain hyper-vigilant and continue to practise hand hygiene, cough/sneeze etiquette, surface sanitisation, strict social distancing and as hard as it might be no handshakes, hugs or kisses.

The JEMP medical sub-committee has prepared a set of guidelines which NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president and JEMP decision-makers group chair Lesli Berger communicated to rabbis and shule presidents on Thursday.

The most important thing is making sure all shules are compliant with the law and secondly, that people are safe from a health perspective, Berger told The AJN.

The guidelines include limiting numbers to the legally allowed 10, ensuring physical distancing and good hygiene, keeping a register of who is in attendance and ensuring anyone with symptoms of illness does not attend shule.

Its not advisable I suppose for a person if theyre in a vulnerable age group, or suffer some kind of comorbidity, to attend, Berger added.

Were not out of the woods yet, thats for sure. Theres a long way to go, were going to have to live our lives differently for quite a long time.

Related coverage: Melbournes cautious return to synagogue

Get The AJN Newsletter by email and never miss our top storiesFree Sign Up

See the original post here:

Back to school ... and shule The Australian Jewish News - The Australian Jewish News

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Back to school … and shule The Australian Jewish News – The Australian Jewish News
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

Sam Kestenbaum

Temple Emanu-El, a mammoth synagogue overlooking Central Park, is widely seen as the liberal heart of the Reform movement.

The Reform movement the largest Jewish denomination in the country announced layoffs today in its main umbrella organization, the Union for Reform Judaism, citing an existential threat brought on by the coronavirus economic crash.

Unfortunately, we are now at the point that the long-term viability of the URJ is at risk if we do not reduce personnel costs further, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, leader of the movement, said in an email to staff sent today. The impact of COVID-19 on all of our revenue streams has been crushing, and we anticipate it will take several years to recover. Consequently, our organization must get smaller.

The layoffs amount to about a 20% reduction in the URJs workforce 60 positions total across all its departments, including the Religious Action Center, the movements political lobbying wing, said a URJ spokesperson who spoke on condition of anonymity. Organization-wide pay cuts of between 3% and 16% implemented in April remain in effect, the spokesperson said.

The URJ is only the latest Jewish organization to suffer from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The Jewish Federations of North America an organization that tasked itself with providing funds to Jewish groups struggling during the current economic crisis announced layoffs and salary cuts last week. Other Jewish nonprofits, Jewish Community Centers, day schools and synagogues around the country have also had to furlough or cut their staff. The effects are worldwide: In April, the two largest Jewish newspapers in Canada and the United Kingdom announced they would close because of acute financial problems heightened on by the pandemic.

The URJ once a $90 million organization, according to Jacobs email performs a number of roles in the Reform world. It plans the movements biennial conference, which draws thousands of congregants every two years and serves as the engine for enthusiasm and innovation in the movement and often serves as the arbiter for disputes between synagogues, or between synagogues and rabbis.

Though the URJ and its predecessor organization, the UAHC has been considered the gold standard of synagogue organizations in the U.S., said Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, the organization has been in somewhat of a decline.

The movement saw a 20% reduction in congregants during the 2008 financial crisis, many of whom did not come back, Sarna said, adding that it could be facing a similar exodus as the economic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus deepens.

The fallout will almost certainly affect the organizations and institutions created by the URJ, such as Hebrew Union College, the main seminary of the movement.

Unlike the synagogue organization for Orthodox synagogues, the Orthodox Union, which draws its revenue from certifying food products as kosher, the Reform movements income comes from dues paid from synagogues. In recent years, Sarna said, more and more synagogues have questioned why they should pay dues to the URJ, instead of just operating as independent entities.

Now, those and other synagogues will wonder about whether they can afford to pay dues as they weather their own local financial crises, said Steven Windmueller, a professor of Jewish communal service at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.

The Reform movement had already decided earlier this month to cancel this summers season at its network of camps, affecting more than 10,000 children. The decision may also have had a significant effect on the Reform movements bottom line, Sarna said.

But just as the Reform movement was the first to cancel camp, Sarna said they are probably only the first major Jewish institution to announce layoffs.

I dont think this is a Reform story, he said. This is gonna be an American Judaism story.

Helen Chernikoff contributed reporting.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman

Read more here:

Reform movement cuts staff by 20%, citing existential threat - Forward

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Reform movement cuts staff by 20%, citing existential threat – Forward
Tags:

Posted By admin on May 14, 2020

Efry Levy Azizoff passed away on March 30 after contracting COVID-19.

From a young age, Azizof forged his own path. He declined his fathers offer to join the family carpet business and instead decided to become involved in the precious stones industry.

He was recorded to be the first Jewish child of Persian descent born in Milan, and serving his community was his lifes passion.

At any event or when a member of his Noam synagogue was in need, Azizof was there to humbly offer his assistance. The Noam synagogue caters to the wider Sephardi population of Milan, and Azizof served in key functions for many years, including terms as president and treasurer.

He was known as the man with the warm smile, for which those who met him remembered him.

Azizoff is survived by his wife, Smira, and their five children.

Readers are invited to express their condolences or memories of the departed in the Reader Comments box that follows this article.

To provide additional information for this article, or to submit the names and information about other Jewish victims of the coronavirus, please use this form.

Read more:

Efry Levy Azizoff, 66, Milan, Italy - The man with the 'warm smile' at the Noam synagogue - Chabad.org

Category: Synagogue | Comments Off on Efry Levy Azizoff, 66, Milan, Italy – The man with the ‘warm smile’ at the Noam synagogue – Chabad.org
Tags: