In December of last year, after a vigorous discussion of the Beth Tzedec Ritual Committee, it was decided that our daily morning minyan would be available only via Zoom. This decision was made due to the lack of in-person attendance for the weekday morning service. Many mornings, I would be one of only two or three individuals praying in-person. On far too many mornings, I was the only person present in the chapel. 

Following our cessation of in-person weekday morning services, a number of congregants voiced a desire to have the decision reversed and to have the in-person weekday morning services reinstated. The lay leadership and the synagogue clergy want to honour that spirit. However, in-person services require that a minyan (quorum of ten Jewish adults) actually participate in-person. 

Zoom was always intended as a temporary measure due to the COVID pandemic, and Beth Tzedec Congregation has enjoyed great success by introducing this online option. We have opened up services to those who would normally not be able to attend due to ill health or distance. Notwithstanding this positive outcome, the future viability of our weekday minyanim depends on congregants actually returning in-person for the weekday morning service. With COVID having moved from a pandemic to an endemic phase, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative Movement has issued numerous statements encouraging a phasing out of Zoom. I and the Ritual Committee do not feel that removing or limiting Zoom would be a viable option for this synagogue, but we must balance this decision by also acknowledging that in-person attendance at services is essential in order to genuinely foster a sense of connection and community. 

In the past, Beth Tzedec enjoyed the fruits of a number of highly dedicated congregants who made it their business to attend the weekday morning minyan. Their consistent in-person attendance made it possible for a full morning service to occur daily at the synagogue. The majority of the generation that assured the consistency of our prayer experience has, regrettably, passed away or are no longer able to attend in person; while not enough of the current generation have come forward to fill their shoes. 

In an attempt to mitigate the lack of in-person minyanim, which was glimpsed on the horizon, the congregation implemented our highly successful National Minyan League. The purpose of this initiative was to help us “get over the hump” of making a minyan by providing an extra three or more congregants who would come on specific days to supplement our declining “platinum minyanaires” who still came daily. This worked very well until the COVID pandemic changed everything. 

Our congregation currently has a very dedicated group of daily Zoom attendees for the weekday morning minyan. Without them, we would be unable to say Kaddish or to do the “non-minyan” version of the service. I am forever grateful for the time and talent they have given this congregation. Yet the lack of in-person attendees for the weekday morning service continues to have a deleterious effect since it robs us of the ability to praise God as a community, and to stand before the Divine not just as individuals, but also as the People of Israel. 

To not be able to recite the prayers that require a minyan of ten adults is heartbreaking; the longer we go without reciting them the more we run the risk of losing them forever. One of the most grievous side effects of the pandemic was the loss of seeing ourselves as part of a community. If we continue being comfortable praying as individuals who just happen to be occupying the same physical and/or electronic space, the continuing scourge of declining synagogue attendance across the board will never be mitigated. We will only drift further and further apart, however much we cling to the illusion that we are still a viable prayer community. 

I am encouraged by the enthusiasm of those who wish for weekday morning services to be reinstated at Beth Tzedec. We will resume the weekday morning minyan on a trial basis. Beginning on February 1, the 9:00am weekday morning service will once again be available both in-person and online. We will be tracking in-person attendance beginning February 1 and through the end of May. Should we be able to attract an in-person minyan of 10 Jewish adults for 2/3 of the 9:00am weekday morning services during that period (that is a total of 66 in-person weekday morning services) we will deem the in-person weekday morning service viable. In the absence of sufficient support, the morning minyan will return to being provided by Zoom only. 

Our in-person 6:00pm weekday evening minyanim have remained viable—and often robust— and will continue to be conducted both in-person and via Zoom. 

It is my fervent hope that those who wish to see weekday morning services continue in-person will demonstrate their support by attending as frequently as possible and encouraging others to do so. In addition, if you are not already a National Minyan League member, please consider joining an NML team so that your support can be formally recognized. I know that our current Commissioner, Susan Inhaber, would love to hear from you. 

To all those who have steadfastly continued to support the weekday morning minyan both in-person and via Zoom, thank you, thank you, thank you! We now need to grow our rosters and get more congregants committed to attending in person. 

Please know that I am always available to address your questions and concerns. My sincerest hope is that we can strengthen our daily prayer experience, and by doing so, strengthen our ties to one another, thus elevating our kehillah to new heights.    

Rabbi Cantor Russell G. Jayne

Leo & Goldie Sheftel Rabbinical Chair | Norman & Beulah Martin Cantorial Chair