Worship Without Walls
sense
Digital Davening Challenges Concepts of Community By Lynn Wexler
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ews have gathered for religious ritual and service since 957 BCE when King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem to house the Ark of the Covenant. The Babylonians destroyed the Temple in 586 BCE, but Herod rebuilt it in the 1st century BCE. The Romans destroyed it in 70 CE. The Western Wall, the holiest site in Jerusalem and where Jews gather to this day to pray and celebrate life cycle events, is all that remains of Herod’s Temple. In modern times, the Jewish house of worship, which is central to traditional Jewish life, is a synagogue – a building where the ritual sacrifices of the ancient Temple are replaced by Torah readings, prayer and study. While modern day Reform Jews more often refer to it as a temple than a synagogue, and the Orthodox tend to call it a shul, the word synagogue (from the Greek sunagoge or assembly) is the most widely accepted. The synagogue’s primary purpose is as a house of prayer. Certain prayers must be said in the presence of a minyan – a group of at least 10 adults, or 10 men when in an Orthodox shul. Another of its functions is as a house of study (shul is from the German word for school). Finally, it functions as a social gathering place for community events, celebrations and charity work. But with the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, the rise of modernism and now the Information Age, society’s needs and opportunities have evolved at an unprecedented rate. Not surprisingly, the purpose of the synagogue building is changing, too. “As far back as the 1940s, reformed Jews who could not attend synagogue for a number of reasons gathered in their living rooms to hear services broadcast live over Jewish radio stations,” says Rabbi Sanford Akselrad of Congregation Ner Tamid, a Reform temple in Henderson. Ner Tamid has video cameras in its sanctuary and chapel, allowing for live streaming of Friday night Shabbat and High Dina_Titus_09_2013.indd Holiday services, as well as all life cycle events. “Fast forward to the past decade and you now have Jews gathered ‘round the computer to hear services live on the Internet,” he adds. “A number of factors keep individuals from attending on-site Shabbat or High Holiday services – temporary or long-term illness, disability, traveling out of town, college students living away from home, Jews living in remote areas or in the military. Live stream video allows home- or otherwise-bound Jews to connect even when they cannot make it to a synagogue,” continues Rabbi Akselrad. “Typically, we have 30 online ‘hits’ for our Friday night services, keeping in mind that there could be several people sitting in front of each of those computers. Last year we had over 600 hits for our High Holiday services. For life cycle events, such as weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs and funerals, we have extensive audiences comprised of friends and relatives from out of town who cannot be there,” he says. “Taking it a step further, I would like to someday make it a permanent installation in retirement homes and senior residences.” “To be clear, it’s preferable to be present for Shabbat and Holiday services. Online synagogue is not supposed to be a substitute, where attending is possible. But where it’s not, online access to a Jewish community can provide an often much-needed connection in the face of isolation,” Rabbi Akselrad concludes. Cantor Anibal Mass of Shaarey Zedek synagogue in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has seen an increase in recent years in the number of people globally who are availing themselves of online alternatives to synagogue attendance.
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“New media and faith aren’t always a perfect pair,” Cantor Mass says. “A growing number of religious groups find themselves embracing the benefits of technology, like it or not. If a Jew is feeling cut off, for whatever reason, online services are a welcome option and in some instances spiritually lifesaving.” Cantor Mass turns the video system on before Shabbat begins Friday evening and turns it off after sundown on Saturday night, when Shabbat ends. He does this to observe the Shabbat prohibition of using electricity, which many Conservative and all Orthodox Jews abide by. Reform Jews do not hold by this restriction. Las Vegan Lynda Okun and her husband have been accessing online services for the past four years, but not because they can’t get to a local synagogue. “I grew up in Bloomfield, Michigan, and attended Temple Israel for much of my adult life. I started with Rabbi Harold Loss, when we were both younger. Now, he is the senior rabbi there. I’m homesick for his service and can’t bring myself to start elsewhere.” She and her husband, and friends who occasionally join them, are nicely dressed as they sit before a computer, prayer book in hand, and follow the service. “I even get to see old friends as they exit services afterwards,” she says. Midbar Kodesh is a Conservative Temple in Henderson that also offers live stream services on Friday nights and for Kol Nidrei (Aramaic for All Vows, Kol Nidrei is an Aramaic declaration recited each year at the beginning of Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement – evening service.)
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“While online praying is not ideal, the Conservative movement condones the use of technology only in recognizing its value to enhance the spiritual experience for its congregants,” Rabbi Tecktiel says. For those who simply can’t attend services, Rabbi Tecktiel believes the pros of following remotely outweigh the cons. “I understand the Pandora’s box this opens for those who would take advantage of the main purpose here; but my priority stands with those who would be isolated without the Internet opportunity,” he says. Rabbi Kalman Shor, a software engineer and congregant at Chabad of Green Valley, addresses the complexity of online Shabbat and Holiday services from the Orthodox perspective. “Setting aside the halacha (Jewish law) prohibiting the use of electricity on Shabbos and the Holy Days, the real issue lies within the Shulchan Aruch – the Code of Jewish Law. It expressly states that anything that comes between a mitzvah (a commandment) and the one who is observing it renders the mitzvah invalid.” According to Rabbi Shor, the main purpose of Shabbat is to achieve a spiritual connection with the Almighty. For that to occur, he says, there must be no separation between the person and the act of prayer. In this instance, he says, the Internet separates the person from achieving the mitzvah. “If one can’t go to shul, then one can still accomplish the mitzvah by praying to G-d privately with one’s siddur (Jewish prayer book). That said, I understand there are those who value the social connection on Shabbos and, thus, feel good about the online connection to a community. I’m not minimizing the social value. Who am I to judge? I’m simply pointing out that the technology discounts any spiritual connection.” Rabbi Laura Baum from the Reform congregation Temple Beth Am in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the online OurJewishCommunity.org
states: “We see the value of the Internet as one of empowerment and breaking down barriers. Our Jewish philosophy fits well with that. Not everyone else’s does.” An app for the Rosh Hashanah Holiday now enables users to hear the shofar (a ram’s horn) by phone instead of in person. The shofar sound reminds Jews to turn their hearts to repentance and is a requirement of the Holy Day. Shalom TV offers yet another means of accessing “services to go.” Eclectic and egalitarian in Jewish observance, Shalom TV televises High Holiday services to more than 40 million cable homes across America, as well as live streams Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur programs for Jews stationed around the world in the military. Shalom TV president, Rabbi Mark S. Golub, states: “I believe Jews should experience the prayer, song and companionship of the holidays with a Jewish community. We are honored to share services with men and women unable to attend a synagogue during the Holy Days, and who often feel alone.” Judaism may be an ancient faith, but, for some, technology is enabling it to adapt to a modern world. The appeal of the online synagogue has even extended to unaffiliated Jews seeking a meaningful spiritual experience outside the established structure of the temple walls. Communities are no longer just about the person seated next to you. While there is no substitute for the real deal — sugar compared to Equal; whole milk to fat-free; up-close-and-personal connections versus those made through cyber space — advances in communication technology are here to stay. They have and will continue to redefine the way people look at religious observance. Synagogues will have to rise to the challenge of keeping up with and fulfilling the needs and interests of the 21st-century Jew, who lives not only within but beyond their reach.
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