The Committee Excelled

Rosh Hashanah at the Merion Tribute House has always exceeded expectations.  It is a Conservative service in that it gives women full participation and modifies the language to include matriarchs but has a complete and traditional liturgy, performed expertly by the participants.  Cost of attendance is nominal, largely to cover rental space and extra chairs.  Pulling this off from one year to the next, with one or two new participants each year, requires a lot of coordination, done by a small volunteer committee.  It moved from a challenging task to a daunting one this year as Covid-19 moved the Holy Days from the sanctuary to the screen for most congregations.  My home congregation, which does not stream on shabbos and yontiff, effectively moved the day of Rosh Hashanah to whichever day a person wants to watch the pre-recorded and diminished proceedings.  I think it is the wrong approach, as the day specified for our Festivals in Torah, read as the Festival Maftir, creates the time boundary that bestows the day's sanctity.

Despite the challenges, the Merion Tribute House Committee, opted to have a live option on the Torah specified day.  Safety required considerable alteration of logistics and minor alteration of content.  Our service was moved outdoors, under a series of canopies with folding and other portable chairs spaced at the corners of each canopy.  As families assembled, they could move the chairs to sit as a family as they would do at home.  This meant that the entire project could disappear in a downpour.  The liturgy was abbreviated to what the consulting Rabbi deemed Halachically essential.  Shofar blowing was limited to the portion assigned as a shofar service without the added blasts in the Musaf.  And in Conservative tradition, the proceedings would be streamed live for those who opted to watch from afar.

It went off flawlessly.  We arrived at the start both days, assisted with the set-up.  People who led the various segments presented their portions expertly, though sometimes challenging to hear without a microphone, which on the first day was offered only for a terrific Dvar Torah.  Outdoors had its own learning curve.  Typically Rosh Hashanah post-mortems from congregations financially dependent of the success of their presentation can expect gripes about the air conditioning.  The crisp outdoors under the canopy had very effective air conditioning.  On the First Day, the women wore coats while the men mostly had woolen talesim, which did not shield the wind very well.  On the second day, women all wore closed shoes, men were a little more layered, me with a sweater under a wool sports coat.  My seat was at the intersection of two canopies which allowed the sun to shine on my place part of the time.  Our cat knows to stretch out by the window facing south that receives the sun.  I am now a creature comfort disciple of my cat.  The direct sun felt refreshing amid a generalized chill.  And mandatory spacing of chairs greatly expanded the No Chatter Section  of the outdoor sanctuary far beyond what could be attained indoors.

As successful as the event turned out, some things cannot be replicated.  No handshakes or any other skin to skin, or even sleeve to sleeve contact.  No conversations, little chance to chat with people you've not seen for a year.  That's part of the Holy Days too.  We pray as individuals but amid a much contracted community this year.  As well as most of the participants performed, they will just have to assume my notice and my admiration.

All great initiatives begin with somebody's imagination and with a risk of not succeeding.  This committee had experience, a legacy of most things going well, a few that need revision for the subsequent year.  There's the inevitable checklist of inviting participants, notifying people likely to attend, asking for money to cover costs.  But this year brought more fundamental questions.  How important is it to protect the specified day?  Could we satisfy Covid-19 safety restrictions?  How badly do we need to serve food?  Is there an advantage to having less time at services?  Will people come?  After concluding that the Holy Days and their rituals are fixed in time, that the ability to gather Jews for worship at that time protects Judaism, then the rest becomes an assessment of logistics and of Plan B's, those elements of imagination that not all committees have ingrained in their purpose.  They could not have succeeded more grandly.