Dear Community,
As we begin celebrating Sukkot–the festival of our joy–we want to take a moment to express our gratitude for the rich and meaningful High Holidays we just observed together.
This was the work of many hands, and we want to thank all those who participated–our ushers and parking attendants, ritual coordinators and Zoom gabbais, prayer leaders, Torah readers, ASL interpreters, sharers of reflections, poetry, and social justice messages, and, of course, our administrative, office, and kitchen staff!
We are very pleased to report that nobody was turned away from services through the entirety of our holiday period. The plan put in place back in June, to hold one service in the sanctuary, complete with preregistration so that we could adjust as needed for actual numbers–proved very effective, as did the practice of wearing name tags, which had the additional value of enhancing our sense of community. We also had several hundred Zoom attendees, and though we had an initial stumble out of the gate on Leyl Rosh Hashanah, we were able to quickly address it and provide a satisfying and meaningful digital experience. And the Zoom preregistration also helped us to insure that the services proceeded without any security issues. We are very grateful for that, and, again, appreciate the foresight of our administrative staff in instituting this plan.
All in all, it felt, as Rabbi Weiner suggested in his sermon on Yom Kippur, like a “microcosm” of our community at its best, “crafted out of the music of our prayer, our poetry and reflections on Torah and personal experience, our calls to attention around the causes that motivate us, and the participation of the broadest swath of congregants who call this place their Jewish home.”
And it is a gift that keeps on giving. Thanks to Jan Levy’s hard work, we are pleased to present you with this High Holidays 5784 Literary Supplement, containing the text of all of the words of poetry and reflection that were shared throughout Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, including all of Rabbi Weiner’s sermons. We hope it furnishes you with food for further thought.
May we go from strength to strength together in the coming year.
chag sameach,
Mara Hahn, JCA President
Rabbi Weiner
HH 2023 LITERARY SUPPLEMENT-2