PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

The High Holidays at Beth El are uniquely special. One need only think about the Yom Kippur Neilah service to conjure up warm memories of High Holidays past, surrounded by dear family and friends. As the hour draws near, our congregants join together in one voice as the sun sets behind the tent, and is simultaneously reflected through the stained glass behind the bima in the main sanctuary. Awe-inspiring moments such as this sustain us as Jews, and keep us attached to our faith and to our synagogue.

By the time you receive this issue of The Bulletin, the Beth El team - clergy, staff and lay leadership - will be putting the finishing touches on months of planning for this year’s High Holidays. One might think that planning for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is no big deal; after all, Jews have been celebrating these holidays for thousands of years, and we’ve been doing it at Beth El for well over over 100. However, a great amount of thought goes into preparing for the High Holidays at Beth El each year. This includes mundane matters such as what the physical setup will look like, what our security plan is, and what to do in case inclement weather makes it impossible to have any outdoor services. It also includes planning those sublime elements of the services that for our congregants are truly meaningful, whether touching us through song or through a poem, story or words of Torah.

It is somewhat ironic that the arrival of the High Holidays is a culmination of all of these months of preparation. In reality, it marks a beginning - of the Jewish year, and hopefully of the journey we each individually embark on after having taken, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the time to reflect on where we are in our lives and where we are going - “the Work,” as Rabbi Schuck calls it. Many of us strive during this time to recommit to our relationships with family members, friends, and most importantly, ourselves. This year, I hope the High Holidays will also be a time for us to turn over a new leaf in our relationship with Beth El. After two and one-half years since the pandemic struck, it is time for us to truly repopulate our services and programs, and for each and every one of us to make our voices heard and our presence felt. We have come a long way since the pandemic began, but we still have some distance to travel. This year’s High Holidays are an ideal time for us to commit to rejoining our fellow congregants in person. In 2020, most of us observed the High Holidays from home, or perhaps in someone’s backyard. Last year, we planned for a mostly in-person experience, but the Delta variant crept up in August and caused a substantial number of congregants to stay home and watch our livestreamed main sanctuary service. It has been too long since we were all together. I truly hope that 5783 will be the year that we have a full contingent of congregants on the Beth El grounds. In fact, while we will once again livestream the main sanctuary service for anyone who prefers to worship from home, a team of volunteers in consultation with our clergy is planning a variety of initiatives to make the in-person experience this year particularly compelling, some as part of the service and some separate. For example, we plan to offer, among many other things, lay-led learning sessions, opportunities to engage in silent meditation, group aliyot honoring people who experienced various milestones or life-cycle events this year, and even coffee and donuts (not on Yom Kippur!). We hope you will be there to engage in these exciting opportunities.

One of my predecessors as Beth El President had a practice of welcoming new members to our community by saying to them “Welcome Home.” My wish for 5783 is that all of us, new members or long-standing, will “return home” for the High Holidays, and that as we embark on this new year will discover, or rediscover, all of the wonderful things Beth El has to offer.

My best wishes for a Happy New Year - Shana Tovah u’metukah!

The High Holiday season coincides with the launch of our annual B’Yachad campaign, which is so vital to Beth El’s operations. Please be on the lookout for an email communication with a link that will enable you to make your donation in one of several giving categories. Contributions will be recognized in the next issue of The Bulletin. Thank you in advance for your generosity!