Looking Ahead and Staying Connected

Rabbi’s Message – August 25, 2020

Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz

When Ohio’s “Stay at Home” order began, none of us knew how long it would last or what impact it would have on our congregation and community. What we did know was that our community needed to recite Kaddish and hear the names of loved ones recited aloud for Yartzheit and Mi Shebeirach healing prayers. Out of our commitment to meeting that urgent need, we immediately increased the frequency of our email communication. We began sending TIDBITS on Fridays as well as Tuesdays. This enabled us to provide information and videos specific to Shabbat. We have continued this for the past five months, but the situation is changing and evolving. For instance, many of us are no longer in quarantine, we have several ongoing Zoom activities, and we are streaming weekly Shabbat services via YouTube. I am proud of the rich content and unique opportunities Temple provided during this challenging time. Though we are still very much in the thick of this Covid-19 pandemic, Temple will return to our pre-pandemic level of communications beginning in September. The TIDBITS you receive on Tuesdays will contain all of the information you will need to access Shabbat services and study, as well as the regular content you have become accustomed to. We will no longer send out a Shabbat Edition TIDBITS after this week.

As we look to the fall Holidays, we promise to keep you informed on all that is happening. Returning to a once-a-week TIDBITS will not make it any more difficult to tune in for the High Holidays. The September Temple Tablet and Dayton Jewish Observer will include many details and our website will be kept up to date. The most important thing for you to know at this point is that all of the High Holy Day services and resources will be available through our www.tidayton.org website. You will not need to learn any new technology to participate, unless you choose to “cast” or “present” the service onto a larger screen. Our goal is to keep everything as simple and user-friendly as possible. You can expect to see content about holidays on the website and on our Facebook page in the next week or two.

Thank you for supporting and living the Jewish value of pikuach nefesh (saving a life) during these last five months. May we all go from strength to strength.

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