Dear Temple Shalom Family and Friends,
This email contains critical information about the upcoming High Holiday services and programming and may require action by you in order to participate fully in our High Holiday experiences. Please read the entirety of the email to take all necessary steps now to ensure a smooth participation in all High Holiday services and programming.
The past five months have not been easy for many of us but we have been awed and inspired by how our congregation has come together creatively in this virtual world to support one another for life cycle events, to pray, sing, laugh, celebrate, cry, and learn together. While we had all hoped that come 5781 we would be able to join together in person for the High Holidays, we find ourselves bringing in the New Year over Zoom.
Our clergy, worship team, and staff have spent the past months asking ourselves not only what we will miss about being together inside the walls of Temple Shalom, but also "What are we uniquely situated to do this year that we couldn’t do if we were together in person?" That is, how can we use technology and the fact we will be at home to enhance our experiences?
As always, this year we will pray some of our most nostalgic prayers, sing some of our favorite melodies, hear the shofar being sounded, be drawn in by the haunting music of Kol Nidrei, honor our non-Jewish members, celebrate the diversity of what it means to be Jewish, study together during Yom Kippur afternoon, and join together (virtually) in remembrance for Yizkor and utter joy during Family Services. We will miss calling so many of you up to the bimah for honors, walking around with the Torah, kibitzing out by the Japanese red maple tree after services, grabbing the honey candies off the welcome table, and walking down to the creek for Tashlich.
While there is much we will miss this year, we are also very much looking forward to several new opportunities and ways we will engage you this High Holiday season, including:
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A Selichot Program Saturday, September 12 at 9:00 PM focusing on setting an intention for our at home worship spaces
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an Erev Rosh HaShanah Seder in lieu of our traditional Erev Rosh HaShanah services.
- an opportunity for our youth to follow along with youth-oriented activities as part of the main service by "pinning" one of our youth educators in Zoom
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a creative and innovative Torah service on Rosh HaShanah morning
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a special Yom Kippur afternoon service featuring the story of Jonah which will be accessible to, and engaging for, all ages
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a visual remembrance during the Yom Kippur Yizkor (Memorial) service with photos of our loved ones
- music pieces by our choirs compiled especially for this time
- moving videos of our members to be used during some of the services and programs
(Please participate and submit your videos!)
Action is likely needed from each household to ensure a smooth High Holiday season for you by completing the online form below.
Schedule: Scroll to the bottom for the planned schedule of High Holy Day services and programs. This schedule of course may be tweaked as we fine-tune the planning over the coming weeks.
Member Tickets: In past years, you would have received a hard copy mailing for you to provide us with the information we needed to make the High Holidays happen. This year is different and the information we need is different. All members will automatically receive emailed Zoom links for member households to participate in services and other High Holidays activities. It is critical that you not forward or otherwise share these links with others as doing so prevents us from ensuring that we have enough “space” on the Zoom accounts to accommodate everyone, and undermines the security of our services. Non-members will be able to participate, but they must register to receive their own links and passwords. If you have friends and family members who are not members and would like to join us, please forward them this email so that they, too, may fill out the form and receive their own links and passwords.
