Dear Friends,
TL/DR--See below for a slightly updated schedule of services/sermons for YK. Read the intervening paragraphs if you want some context! Oh, and shanah tovah!!
We hope you experienced joy, meaning and uplift throughout Rosh Hashanah. Our campus was far from our HHD “norm,” but it was still filled with hundreds of you, dear members of the TBA family, as you sought moments of prayer and togetherness during this time, when we need those very things in a profound way.
We also know, of course, that the logistics of HHDs during a pandemic, Part II, are far from perfect. We had a sense that RH would be an in-real-time experiment, during which we’d see where people felt comfortable, and did not feel comfortable, in terms of proximity to others. And we had a sense, then, that we might pivot once Yom Kippur came around, changing around a few things as a result of feedback we gathered from so many of you.
Some things we learned:
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Many more of you, perhaps to a power of 5 or 7, felt more comfortable with outdoor davening than indoor davvening.
- And yet some felt safer indoors, in smaller crowds, among a fully vaccinated and masked crowd than being with larger groups, outdoors, among a population of mostly vaccinated, but not completely so.
- Many of you enjoyed the moments, both scripted and prompted, that the full rabbinic/clergy team could be together to harmonize and work with one another.
Knowing that the shift we are about to announce will not satisfy everyone, we feel confident that what follows is the best of all the imperfect options as we respond to what we learned and plan for a safe, meaningful and uplifting Yom Kippur observance.
Kol Nidre
Rabbi Kligfeld and Cantor Chorny will lead the services on Ziering Family Field, and Rabbi Kligfeld will deliver his sermon. Rabbi Schatz and Rabbi Warshawsky will lead the service in the Ganzberg Sanctuary, and Rabbi Schatz will deliver her sermon.
Yom Kippur Day
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All the clergy will join together at 9:00 AM on Ziering Family Field to lead Psukey D’zimra, with lots of beautiful harmonies and moments of reflection. There will be no Psukey D’Zimra service in the sanctuary, and only the outdoor Zoom/Livestream will be operative.
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Rabbi Kligfeld and Cantor Chorny will then start Shaharit at approximately 9:45 AM in the Ganzberg Sanctuary, and will stay there through the end of Musaf. Rabbi Kligfeld will deliver the sermon from Kol Nidre just before Yizkor. Rabbi Schatz and Rabbi Warshawsky will start Shaharit at approximately 9:45 AM on Ziering Family Field and stay there through the end of Musaf, with Rabbi Schatz delivering her sermon to the outdoor crowd just before Yizkor.
- Immediately after Musaf, Rabbi Kligfeld will come to Ziering Family Field to do the traditional Q/A session, perhaps joined by the other clergy.
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As planned, there will be a creative Hama’alot service for Minha beginning at 5:00 PM on Ziering Family Field. Rabbi Chorny will lead a traditional Minha in the Ganzberg Sanctuary also at 5:00 PM.
- All the rabbis/clergy will lead together as we join on Ziering Family Field for Ne’ilah, at approximately 6:15 PM, completing Yom Kippur together as we blow the shofar at around 7:30 PM, followed by Havdalah.
All of this is in addition to Library Minyan services, which will be taking place on Corning 8 for Kol Nidre, on the Ganzberg Rooftop on Yom Kippur day, and then back to Corning 8 for Minha and Ne’ilah. More details are forthcoming. And all of this is in addition to the regular Family- and Youth-programming being offered through YLE. We will send another email next week with a more comprehensive reminder of all the offerings.
We hope that this new-ish outline gives you ample opportunities to hear the rabbis’ sermons, enjoy the davvening of both Rabbi Cantor Chorny and Rabbi Warshawsky, feel COVID-safe, and share this poignant and beautiful day of introspection and prayer with your TBA family.
Whether you will be joining indoors or outdoors, on Zoom or on Livestream, or in some combination thereof, know that it is an honor to be sharing this community, and launching this new Jewish year, with all of you.
With love and respect and wishes for a year of health and growth.
Stuart Tochner, TBA President
Rabbi Adam Kligfeld
