Care & Welfare

CONDOLENCES TO:

The families of Thelma Israel and Jean Stein, who recently passed away. MAZAL TOV TO:

Max Willis on the occasion of his bar-mitzvah ceremony Lila Krikler on the occasion of her bat-mitzvah ceremony Emily Garland on the occasion of her bat-mitzvah ceremony Charley Swarc on the occasion of his bar-mitzvah ceremony

GET WELL SOON TO:

Jan Nomberg, Rosta Rosenberg, Vivienne Schuster, Shirley Waitzman, Daniel Weston.

TELEPHONE NUMBER IS RESTORED

We are delighted to inform you that our telephone number has been restored. You can now call 02089538889 to contact the office. However due to the Coronavirus and working from home the best way to be in touch is by email office@tlse.org.uk.

MI SHE-BEIRACH – MAY THE ONE WHO GIVES BLESSING…

Every evening gathering (6.30pm Facebook & Zoom) features this prayer: Mi she-beirach avoteinu, m’kor ha-b’rachah l’immoteinu May the source of strength, who blessed the ones before us Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing And let us say: Amen Mi she-beirach immoteinu, m’kor ha-b’rachah l’avoteinu Bless those in need of healing with r’fuah sh’leimah The renewal of body, the renewal of spirit; And let us say: Amen. It reminds us that there are those in our congregation who need healing or support. And it also asks God to give us the strength to make our lives a blessing and bring that healing or support to those in need. This is how community works. In these dark and difficult days, let us be there for one another. Amen. BURIAL

In cases of bereavement, please contact our Burial Officer, Joan Shopper on 01582 792959

Mike Beral reports on what went on to make the streamed services possible decide it is safe for the singers to With no opportunity for rehearsal, find the best recording of each s many of you may know, I have helped to lead the TLSE Singing Group for many years, and I am A also the “go-to” techy for the shul, so it seemed pretty clear that I was going to be closely involved with the High Holydays this year. Here is how it happened.

May

Rabbi Pete tells us that four Rabbis (Pete Tobias, Neil Janes, Charley Baginsky and Rachel Benjamin) would be joining forces to lead services for TLSE, Mosaic, South Bucks and Stevenage congregations. It is clear that we are going to need recorded music, but how to do it?

June

I now know that we will be hosting our own evening services and joining with the others for the daytime services. We will definitely need our own music, we can’t rely on other congregations. But we can’t get the singing group together indoors in the middle of the pandemic, to record.

July

Rabbis Pete and Rachel come up with list of prayers and music we will need for our shortened services. It is still a lot! I agree with Joseph Finlay, Mosaic’s musical director, that he will provide most of the music for the daytime shared services, we will have enough to worry about for our Three more recording sessions with

evening services.

August

Daniel Renak, the leader of the Singing Group and our organist, agrees to record a number of the organ accompaniments, so I can use them as a “backing track” to record the singers. About 15 minutes in, the organ starts to get quieter; then it electrical burning smell. We had problems with the 20 year old instrument in both 2018 and 2019 – we now think it may have played its last note. A few years ago we were gifted an electric piano, so a quick change of instrument and we are on our way. We have around 40 pieces in all. Lockdown is easing slightly, so we meet in the shul, socially distanced. I’ve set up enough headphone feeds so that everyone can hear the backing tracks and I can record just the voices, ready to mix them afterwards. Rabbi Pete joins us and we video his guitar pieces with the singing group as his backing band. it is one sing though each piece as a reminder then the live take. We have a quick listen back – we are delighted with what we have achieved – not perfect but still very satisfying. It’s great to be back together singing. Back home to the computer, to piece, mix it with the organ track, extract the words and transliteration from a PDF of the Machzor, find a suitable background photo, and put it all together for each musical item. It gets easier with more practice.

September

stops completely, and there is a slight the singing group, a lot more editing, and it is all ready. Another chat with Joseph to agree which TLSE parts can be used for the daytime services. South Bucks send me their recording of M’chalkel. It is all coming together. A call from Michael Walton, chair of the trustees of TLSE. The Jewish

Deaf Association are asking if they could use our services for their members, with a sign language interpreter? That was an interesting challenge, but it worked on the day. Their interpreter signed the service and their members watched a separate Zoom session. I also found an automated subtitles service which got the English right 90% of the time, but understandably struggled with the Hebrew (T’kia = Tequila!). Time to learn some new technology. With so many music tracks and other pre-recorded elements, screen sharing in Zoom wasn’t going to be slick enough. By setting up each item in an OBS playlist I can click each one in turn and it appears in Zoom. I’ll just have to stay alert during the services and click at the right times! Urgent call from Rabbi Rachel. Mosaic did a Selichot service but the audio didn’t work on Zoom for blowing the Shofar. A quick tweak,

install the latest version of Zoom, another rehearsal, and we are all good. A few more bits to add into the mix – the High Holyday appeal videos, the pre-recorded Additional Service, pre-recorded Torah service elements, switching between the shared services and our own services, but we got there. Whereas in traditional Judaism the women are upstairs, in our case it was me, in my “studio”, while Penny joined the services downstairs. Of course there were some slightly stressful moments during the services, but we made it pretty much unscathed, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Like everyone, I hope it is the first and last time we ever have to do High Holydays like this, but we are investing in streaming equipment for the synagogue so that members and guests can join virtually even when we are back in our building. That’s the next project.

The TLSE Singing Group for 2020: Richard Elman, Harry Hurst, Adam Rabin, Peter Rabin, Daniel Renak, Mike Beral, Monique Blake, Tess Elman, Ann Etkind, Debi McAree, Linda Perez, Elaine Greenberg.

e are delighted to say that we are planning to restart some of our services in the TLSE building in Elstree, fully in line with government Covid-19 secure guidelines. We will start with Friday evening Erev W Shabbat services, and then hope to re-introduce Saturday morning services at the end of November. As we are a Covid-Secure building you are not restricted whether you live in a Tier 1 or Tier 2 area. All services will continue to be livestreamed as well.

If you plan to come to a service “in person” you will need to tell us you are coming in advance using our on-line booking form which you will find in the weekly email, so we can make sure we maintain social distancing between family groups. If you cannot find the link please email or call the office. We have some simple guidelines, which we ask you to follow, which have been carefully considered to ensure everyone’s safety. You will find the details below. If you have any questions about our return to the building, please contact Gayle McCombe gaylex7@gmail.com 07830 101273 or Mike Beral mike@beral.co.uk 07871 804081.

TLSE COVID-SECURE GUIDELINES

We have some simple guidelines that we ask you to follow when coming to any of our “in-person” services. All our services will continue to be livestreamed. The synagogue seating will be arranged in “pods”, one per family. You will need to book a pod for the right number of people before the service; the numbers of pods will be restricted to ensure that we can maintain social distancing. The link for booking will be in the weekly email. You will need to bring your own Siddurim (prayerbooks), kippot and tallitot. There will be none available to borrow.

Arriving at the synagogue • Please try not to arrive more than 10 minutes before the service is due to start.

• When you come into the building, please use the hand sanitising station which is available at the synagogue entrance. • You will need to wear a face covering over your mouth and nose while you are inside the building unless you are exempt.

• Please keep your coats with you and do not use the coat-hooks in the narrow corridor.

• We encourage you to use the NHS Covid-19 app and scan the QR code in the entrance foyer.

• You will be directed to your pod when you arrive by a steward. Please go straight to your pod – the biggest risk is socialising with other groups within the building. • Please minimise the use of the toilets.

The Rabbi will be behind a plastic screen while taking the service. Please do not approach the Rabbi directly. If you need to speak with him privately, please let him know, but respect his need for distancing as well. Social interaction, mingling or gathering of any kind is strictly prohibited and social distancing must be maintained at all times throughout the building and car park. This will be monitored by our stewards. You must not attend if you or anyone in your household or whom you have been in contact with, are showing, are diagnosed with, or are in any way concerned with any Covid-19 symptoms, such as a fever temperature, persistent cough or loss of taste or smell, or if you have been told to self isolate through the Government's Track and Trace scheme.