Monday 22 June 2020

Position paper for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services at New London



by Rabbi Jeremy Gordon
Draft Only At This Point
Summary
This will be a Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur season unlike any other. We will offer a wide range of provisions to get as close as we can to what we know and what I don’t expect we can have this year:
                     i.Community-wide Zoom Gatherings on the fringes of Festive days. As we did with our community Passover Seder, we will offer opportunities for NLS members to come together on Zoom to celebrate Festivals before they officially begin; probably to include Kol Nidrei.

                   ii.Uploaded Resources. Pre-recorded materials will give on-screen viewers the best experience of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we can offer. These will come in two kinds, more traditional offerings from Chazan Stephen and I as well as participative and collaborative material with contributions from across the community. These videos will be uploaded for viewing ahead of the Festive days. 


                 iii.Physical Services at NLS if possible. These are likely to be shorter services with different foci. Physical distancing and related protocols will be observed. Risk assessments will be done (and redone) with closest attention paid to government and medical advice. We are actively researching how best to be ready for the options that might be open to us, by September, to create a safe environment for members and staff. 


                 iv.Live-Streaming. We will stream services from the Synagogue using a ‘set and forget’ system. The streaming offering, which will be viewable from the New London web-site, will not be perfectly designed for online consumption, but it will be ‘live.’

Fuller reasoning, explanations and Halachic engagement follows.
Now
I’m proud of how we have adapted our prayer services to this new world. We have been hosting services on Zoom, streaming and uploading a wide range of materials. And there are children’s services, events and more. So far so good. We are reaching lots of people who, otherwise, wouldn’t be accessing communal prayer.
But we aren’t streaming/Zooming our most popular service – Shabbat mornings. And Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are on their way.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Even assuming a substantial lifting of regulations, many members will have entirely reasonable concerns about transmission and will avoid coming into the building, even if we take significant steps to ensure physical-distancing. What about children who don’t understand protocol? What about the anecdotal stories about the particular dangers of singing together? An American colleague has even raised concerns about transmission by Shofar, based on academic work on the “propagation of respiratory aerosols by vuvuzelas.”[1] Many larger communities have already declared that their buildings will be closed for our most sacred days, shouldering a responsibility not to tempt members who should not be attending into the buildings, no matter how tightly services are controlled. It’s heart-breaking.
Easy Decisions – Use of Facebook, Zoom and Streaming on the Fringes of Holy-Days
We will continue to share material on our Facebook page; liturgical highlights, sermons and the like. This material will be ‘up’ before Yom Tov.
We will continue to use the pre- and post-moments of holy-days to allow membership to come together for these special occasions. Our Zoom Pesach Seder and the regular Friday night services are good models for this. I recommend we hold Kol Nidrei ‘together’ on Zoom timed to end at 6:30pm and a Zoom Havdalah/Break-fast after Neilah the following night. These can be preceded or followed by open-space for people to schmooze, perhaps even using break-out room facilities.
We will need to pre-record content that will give our members the closest experience of being together for RH/YK that we can. I imagine three pre-records (which will need professional support to create and edit). One will be a ‘traditional’ offering liturgical highlights and a sermon. A second will be a children’s provision, perhaps using our expert youth-educators as well as integrating short videos from our children e.g. singing to a backing track which can be cut together. The third would be ‘second-space,’ and will be more creative also designed for families with older children.
We can invite participation from across membership (very short greetings to give people a chance to see Shul-acquaintances, readings, bits of leyning etc.) I think we can create something very special that will tick many of the ‘boxes’ of needs and desires of the NLS family.
We need to draw our energies away from ‘two-days a year’ and seek to engage every member over an extended period that stretches from Ellul to the end of Tishrei; more phone calls, more opportunities to reflect together, more possibilities for interaction between members. We’ll need some creativity and an investment of time and effort and we’ll need our members to understand that this year will necessitate a different journey through these days, but that’s all doable.[2]
A Framework for the Use of the Building if Government Regulations Lift a Reasonable Amount
What follows is on the assumption that, by Rosh Hashanah, government regulation will
allow a set, but limited, number on site. This number will be based on different household groups able to maintain social distance.
We are keen to offer in-building services in this eventuality and are looking at how to do that safely. It may be that this will not be possible. It is too soon to know.
Advice to members who should be self-isolating will be not to attend. Other members will not choose to attend for any kind of public gathering come September, not even for Rosh Hashanah. Those decisions will be respected and supported.
If we are able to offer in-building services our physical-distancing, cleaning, disinfection and other protocols will, of course, be guided by government and medical advice. Our goal will not be to ensure ‘perfect’ levels of hygiene. We will formulate, implement and communicate what we will be doing and will encourage our members to take informed decisions.
Currently, I am not in favour of a more heavy-handed approach to this issue. I do not, for example, advocate refusing a ticket to those over a certain age or similar.[3] I understand there are risks entailed in allowing members to make their own decisions about attendance, but we are, and have always been, a community that values members’ self-determination regarding their Jewish journeys. We should avoid the overly paternalist approach.
We could structure in-building provision as follows;
·       Members would be able to select to attend one service over Rosh Hashanah and would reserve a specific seat next to members of their household but otherwise physically-distant from other attendees.
·       The services would have different foci, for example;
o   8:30-11am – speedily through close to a ‘full’ service, limited Chazanut & teaching. Strict distancing protocols.
o   11:30pm-1pm – liturgical highlights but much abbreviated (no Shacharit). Strict distancing protocols.
o   2pm-3:30pm – family focussed highlights with a more creative approach – parallel children’s services for younger children, but older children would be expected to remain in the sanctuary. Less able to give strongest guarantees maintaining distancing protocols.
Depending on demand we could offer similarly ticketed access to evening services and second day services for Rosh Hashanah.[4] If we are allowed to enter the building in reasonable numbers, we would need to develop protocols for building hygiene, social distancing[5] and tweak the service.[6]
Yom Kippur presents slightly different challenges. I currently imagine that Kol Nidrei will be offered as an on-line Zoom service before the fast comes in. Yizkor will certainly be offered as a pre-recorded video and also as part of in-building and streamed services.
Streaming on RH/YK
Reform and Liberal communities in this country, and many Conservative communities in the States are already streaming Shabbat services. Some have been doing so for some time, many others have made that move since lockdown. The, largely American, Masorti legal committee has recently passed a responsum permitting streaming of services on Shabbat and Yom Tov,[7] but streaming on Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur would be a radical departure from the norms of a traditional community in this country
·       Halachah
Electricity didn’t exist as the Halachic framework for Shabbat observance came into existence, but it has been considered incompatible with the observance of Shabbat, usually. Following the work of Rabbi Danny Nevins, [8] I consider the key Halachic concern in this area to be Koteiv;[9] not the principle (De’oraita) category of physically writing letters, but subsidiary (Derabanan) categories such as typing on keys and leaving a digital record of streamed materials.
Additionally, the internet, phones and computers are also the paradigmatic tools of our weekday engagement in the work of the world. Turning them off is, perhaps, the single greatest way we can create and preserve a sense of Shabbat in our lives, usually.[10]
That said, there are reasons, and ways, to use electricity on Shabbat. The most famous is Pikuach Nefesh – in order to save a life. A whole range of, usually, forbidden activities are also justifiable and even mandated Mipnei Sakanot Nefashot – to avoid endangering health. But these terms don’t apply to our challenge. Streaming services might be valuable in many ways, but it isn’t going to save lives.
There are also ways to justify moving right to the edge of permissibility when certain social circumstances demand such adaptation – Tzorech Gadol. A good example of this is the use of hearing aids on Shabbat. Many of the most rigorous and renowned decisors of the last century permit the use of electrical hearing aids on Shabbat because of the ‘preservation of human dignity.’[11] [12]
Such permissions, and this is very common in all Halachah, are rarely blanket, but hedged by calls to minimise breeches of Shabbat involved; for example stating that the aid should be turned on before Shabbat, or turned on by a non-Jew, or turned on in an unusual manner (Grama). There is also a Halachic distinction between the deliberate activation of an electric device (for example switching on a computer) and our being part of a world where electric transmissions happen around us both without any deliberation action on our part (we walk down the road and a movement sensor causes a light to switch on).
·       Changing to Meet the Challenges of the Age; On the One Hand, On the Other Hand
Judaism underwent a massive transformation as a response to the destruction of the Temple; from a Jerusalem-based, Cohen-led, sacrificial worship to a diasporic, rabbi-led, prayer-based worship. Judaism has changed and transformed throughout our history, as, of course, our founding rabbi understood so clearly.[13] The example most on my mind is the Eruv.[14] Reading the Torah and texts from the Second Temple period it’s clear carrying was absolutely prohibited on the Shabbat. By the time Rabbinic Judaism comes into formation, with the codification of the Mishnah, a complex legal mechanism exists whereby connections across courtyards and otherwise allow observant Jews to carry from one house to another. Remarkably there is very little justification of this clearly new arrival in Halachah. The rough edges of transformation have been sanded down over time. But the intent is clear. The word Eruv means ‘intermingle.’ Rashi says the Eruv is the way in which neighbours in a courtyard should be “MeEurovim - comingled, each appeasing each other.” The Ritba says Eruv allows for a “Tarovet – complete mixing together – and love.”[15] The perceived need to foster interconnectedness and fellowship results in a transformation of Halachah as one modality of observance – the Temple – is no longer capable to holding together Jewish community.[16] Our ability to come together in fellowship on Shabbat is deeply important. And Judaism has changed and even thrived as a result of bravery and transformative creativity which has allowed that to happen.
On the other hand, Jewish history is full of those who thought Judaism would be compatible with adaptations and accretions and those pathways have ended in a loss of Jewish commitment.
Judaism adapts to changing circumstances; it always has and always will, but there is a danger in chasing after even genuine crises that are, in the context of the 3,000 year long journey of our people, passing. It’s too early to tell whether it is better to risk over-adapting or under-adapting. It’s always too early to tell. Judaism is the pursuit of that which is beyond the passage of time, it cannot bend to the will of time, all the time.
·       Temporary Measures
Jewish law has mechanisms for permitting the usually forbidden in a ‘Shaah DeChak’ –pressing situation – but also understands that, once-given, emergency permittances frequently result in the immediate abandonment of once-treasured ideas. This is indeed a danger which will have to be accepted and monitored.
·       My Own Position
I’ve been reflecting on the term ‘privilege’ when it comes to the question of streaming on Shabbat and Yom Tov. I’m very fortunate. I live in a busy household. I miss my fellow New Londoners, but I’m not lonely in lockdown. I’m also liturgically self-sufficient. I love communal prayer and miss its rhythms, but I can connect to God through my own prayer, without a screen on. Before his untimely death in 2019, my former colleague, Rabbi Jeremy Collick wrote of his experiences during an eleven-week hospital stay.[17] Jeremy was in many ways the most stringent of my colleagues and a person who would never countenance yielding on a commitment to traditional Halachah, usually. But Jeremy wrote, “Having been in hospital for so long, the worst day of each week, without doubt, was Shabbat; few visitors, no TV and no services. After much heartache, I used my laptop to be part of the Shabbat morning service of a Conservative synagogue in Chicago and spent an incredible morning transported back to my world, to Shabbat and the wonderful feeling of being a part of what we Jews do.”
Members who won’t come to Shul on Rosh Hashanah will not avoid the Shul because they don’t care about Shul, or being Jewish. Even for members who ‘usually’ only come twice a year, these days are of tremendous importance, they matter. New London is a community that understands and honours that a commitment to Jewish life takes many forms, not only Halachic.
Part of the role of a congregational Rabbi, as I understand this sacred task, is to be prepared to be moved by the genuine needs of congregants. A member of our Council noted that the Synagogue could not insist its clergy forsake our own standards of observance to stream our services, and I’m grateful for that support. But if I felt we, at New London, should stream services, I would do everything I could to make that possible.
·       Spiritual Forces and Market Forces
What is our obligation to protect the future of New London as a membership organisation? Many members are adapting their religious engagement to these strange times and are sharing their delight at the depth of this unusual faith journey. But we have a significant number of members who expect only to connect to Jewish prayer twice a year. They have either less desire or less ability to pivot and adapt. If they cannot or (for very good reasons) will not attend at Rosh Hashanah in person they will look for us on-line. If they cannot find a streamed service from New London they will either not bother with Jewish prayer engagement at all, or go somewhere else. My concern about this, it must be admitted, is partly self-interested – I don’t want our members going elsewhere, or even nowhere. I want our community to be stronger not weaker. But this isn’t just about self-interest. I believe in the value of our community not purely in terms of our fidelity to Halachah. We have a very special role, at New London, one forged through each of the thousands of services and decades of years of our existence. And each member at New London is a deeply valued part of that – even those who don’t come 52 weeks of the year.
·       A Tentative Conclusion re Live-Streaming
I recommend New London streams services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I think we need to stream on such a holy occasion to meet the needs of Jews who cannot, or should not, attend a Synagogue, but who feel a need to connect to these most sacred days through live congregational prayer. I don’t want New London to place the needs of its congregants who cannot come to Synagogue below those who can.
There are ways to stream in a minimally Halachicly invasive manner, which we will utilise. This entails creating a ‘set and forget’ system using PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) cameras driven by AI. The stream will be embedded in the Synagogue’s website[18] and will broadcast from before Yom Tov until after Yom Tov, functioning similarly to the Synagogue’s existing security camera set-up. We will circulate technical guidance to allow members to set up their viewing computer before Yom Tov so that it will continue to run through Yom Tov broadcasting such visuals and audio as appear in front of the cameras without the need for typing or similar direct interaction with the computer at home. I consider this to be a breach of the subsidiary, or DeRabban categories of Shabbat observance, justified by the needs of this time.
Streaming will not capture the live-service in a manner ideally suited to at-home viewing. We also will be unable to guarantee sound quality or even that a feed will be repaired if it goes down. But the pre-recorded service will always be available – and will be designed for at-home viewing.
Slippery Slope
I acknowledge that if we think this is the right thing to do for Rosh Hashanah, we could consider making provisions for ongoing streaming without calling on ‘Shaah DChak’ language. The Coronovirus lockdown has sharpened the fact that Nishtaneh HaZman, Nishtaneh HaTevaim – time has changed and the nature of our existence has changed. We live increasingly in worlds where on-line engagement is ubiquitous. I believe passionately in the value of in-person ‘off-line’ connection, particularly on Shabbat. I believe many of us will crave the opportunity to come together, in person, when it is safe to do so. But if this is the right thing to do for September, it may be the right thing to do and we will have to trust on the compelling experience of the in-person experience to vouchsafe the strength of our future as a community that comes together in person. That said, at the moment, I do not believe that the community wishes to move in this direction.
 I’ve reread the sermon I gave on the occasion of completing ten years as the Rabbi of this special community.[19] I looked 50 years into the future and suggested that the Judaism of our future will;
·       Be driven by that which is felt meaningful
·       Function as a lever for our engagement with the world around us and
·       Be open to all.
I still think that is right, and I think that streaming our services is orientating ourselves to be part of that future. This is not a position without risk (what is?), and it’s not a decision which does not cause pain. Personally, as Jew-in-the-pew, as Rabbi and a member of this community we will have to accept that streaming releases our grip on a claim to full halachic observance. There might even be members who will find this decision pushes them away from the community – though I don’t think there are many for whom this is the case. This is not a simple decision, but I think, and indeed have faith, that it is the right one for us as a community.
Constitutionality
These proposals have been discussed broadly, including at Council and Services Committee. Council have decided that a decision to stream live on RH/YK only, this year only, is not ‘substantial’, as defined by the Synagogue’s Articles of Association. As such there is no need for a General Meeting to authorise these decisions.
10 June 2020



[3] Though right to refuse entry, even to members, will need to be retained by the Synagogue for anyone showing symptoms of infection.
[4] With First Day falling on Shabbat, Shofar will only be sounded on Second Day, this year.
[5] We could have a temperature-check on entry and have guidelines/rules for use of gloves/masks etc. following medical and govt advice as that emerges over the summer and into the autumn.
[6] We can make the Bimah ‘one-person-at-a-time,’ Aliyot can be read from a Sefer on the Bimah with Gabbai assistance and the Oleh standing ‘in place.’
[9] Other classic Malachot that might be performed by a person using electricity Include Mavir (lighting a fire), Boneh (assembling parts into a whole) and Bishul (heating) among the Avot Malachah and Hashamat Kol (making a noise), Muktzeh (handling prohibited items) and Shema Yitaken (lest be tempted to fix) among Toledot Halachah.
[12] My partner at New London, Rabbi Natasha Mann, has written on the issue of Halachah related to abortion where mental distress can result in abortion (by default forbidden in Jewish law), becoming permitted.http://vigilantejudaism.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-thought-on-hhdays-technology-and.html
[13] See particularly, A Tree of Life, L. Jacobs, 1984.
[14] Actually, three related Halachic transformations. I’m focussing here on Eruv Chatzerot.
[16] In ultra-orthodoxy, of course, where transformation in the early Rabbinic period is acknowledged, it is acknowledged as vesting only in a Sanhedrin of equal number and wisdom as the great gatherings of the first centuries of the common era.
[18] As distinct from being shared through Facebook/Youtube/Zoom or similar.

Friday 19 June 2020

Professor Ada Rapoport-Albert of Blessed Memory




The academic Jewish community has lost one of its brightest lights this week. Professor Ada Rapoport-Albert has passed away. Ada was a former Quest lecturer at New London and, in some ways a colleague, and in some ways a student of our founder Rabbi, Louis Jacobs.

They shared a love of Hasidism, and Louis was an invited contributor to a major collection of articles Ada edited, Hasidism Reappraised. Louis’ contribution, was typical of his scholarship; a gracious presentation of a range of connected sources all set in context. Ada’s own contribution to the volume is a masterpiece; dismantling virtually every previous attempt at explaining the early history of the movement. The story of Hasidism I was taught involved a radical transformation from an individual to a movement at a specific point in time. It turns out that that wasn’t the case. Thank you Ada.

At her Quest lecture at New London, Ada presented brilliantly on women in Sabbateanism and Hasidism. Her contributions on women in the Jewish mystical tradition is unparalleled in world scholarship. She arrived, reminding me, as she always did, of Morticia Addams (flowing hair, gothic costume, black-painted lips and nails), and proceeded to unfold a mesmerising web of insight. Aside from anything else she had the most magnificent command of the English language.

She started, as our Quest lecturers were wont to do, by paying homage to our founding Rabbi. Ada studied Talmud with Louis. She was a historian, not a religious leader, but you could feel the warmth with which she referred to our Louis.

I last met Ada at a conference hosted by the Friends of Louis Jacobs earlier this year. She took the stage, drew from the deep well of knowledge at her disposal and gracefully paid tribute to Louis. She concluded to warm applause and came to sit at the back of the room for the following contribution; next to me. The next lecturer, also a professional academic, had sent in their contribution by video. They weren’t in the room to see Ada’s presentation, which was a shame – it would have saved them from making a major error. The second academic specialised in modern Jewish thought but chose to share insights not from their own area of specialisation, but from Ada’s, and they messed up, in a room full of people who had just heard the leading scholar of the field. There was a sharp intake of breath and some stifled giggles. I turned to look at Ada. She looked at me, raised one eyebrow and returned her gaze to the front of the room.

Professor Rapoport-Albert was a magnificent scholar who combined total command of a sprawling and complex field with the capacity to deconstruct and reconstruct sweeping theses. She was classy, stylish and warm-hearted. And she will absolutely confound the male founders of the Hasidic movement she understood so well when she gets a chance to sit with them in the World to Come.

You can watch Ada sharing some insights into the founder of modern Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov, here. (She's being interviewed by my colleague Rabbi Marc Soloway)

May her memory be for a blessing,


Thursday 18 June 2020

Changing to Meet the Challenges of the Age; On the One Hand, On the Other Hand


·      
Judaism underwent a massive transformation as a response to the destruction of the Temple; from a Jerusalem-based, Cohen-led, sacrificial worship to a diasporic, rabbi-led, prayer-based worship. Judaism has changed and transformed throughout our history, as, of course, our founding rabbi understood so clearly.[1] The example most on my mind is the Eruv.[2] Reading the Torah and texts from the Second Temple period it’s clear carrying was absolutely prohibited on the Shabbat. By the time Rabbinic Judaism comes into formation, with the codification of the Mishnah, a complex legal mechanism exists whereby connections across courtyards and otherwise allow observant Jews to carry from one house to another. Remarkably there is very little justification of this clearly new arrival in Halachah. The rough edges of transformation have been sanded down over time. But the intent is clear. The word Eruv means ‘intermingle.’ Rashi says the Eruv is the way in which neighbours in a courtyard should be “MeEurovim - comingled, each appeasing each other.” The Ritba says Eruv allows for a “Tarovet – complete mixing together – and love.”[3] The perceived need to foster interconnectedness and fellowship results in a transformation of Halachah as one modality of observance – the Temple – is no longer capable to holding together Jewish community.[4] Our ability to come together in fellowship on Shabbat is deeply important. And Judaism has changed and even thrived as a result of bravery and transformative creativity which has allowed that to happen.
On the other hand, Jewish history is full of those who thought Judaism would be compatible with adaptations and accretions and those pathways have ended in a loss of Jewish commitment.
Judaism adapts to changing circumstances; it always has and always will, but there is a danger in chasing after even genuine crises that are, in the context of the 3,000 year long journey of our people, passing. It’s too early to tell whether it is better to risk over-adapting or under-adapting. It’s always too early to tell. Judaism is the pursuit of that which is beyond the passage of time, it cannot bend to the will of time, all the time.


[1] See particularly, A Tree of Life, L. Jacobs, 1984.
[2] Actually, three related Halachic transformations. I’m focussing here on Eruv Chatzerot.
[4] In ultra-orthodoxy, of course, where transformation in the early Rabbinic period is acknowledged, it is acknowledged as vesting only in a Sanhedrin of equal number and wisdom as the great gatherings of the first centuries of the common era.

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