‘I think we have done an amazing job’ in the crisis
V THE UNITED Synagogue will never forget its 150th anniversary, though not for the reasons it would have wished when putting together its calendar of commemoration. Instead of a gala dinner, a grand synagogue concert and other events to mark the milestone, it found itself hastily readjusting to a national emergency.
But there is at least the consolation that for the official anniversary Shabbat this weekend, synagogues have the option of again meeting for some kind of service within their buildings after months in lockdown. Celebratory material will be going out to households in advance.
What remains British Jewry’s largest religious organisation was brought into being by an Act of Parliament in 1870 when five London synagogues formed a union for those who “conform to the Polish or German ritual”.
Its Hebrew name, Kehillat Kadoshah Knesset Yisrael, the Holy Community of the Congregation of Israel, signals its inclusive intent — to provide a traditional Orthodox home for anyone regardless of their level of observance. “It’s there for all,” says its president for the past three years, Michael Goldstein.
While its 62 synagogues may have been physically dormant since late March until last week, they have turned to technology like never before to keep in touch with members. “The whole concept of the United Synagogue is kehillah, community, and what we have managed to do over the last three-and-a-half months is adapt our community. I think we have done an amazing job as an organisation in maintaining community online,” he says.
One popular innovation has been the Friday evening Kabbalat Shabbat services streamed by a number of synagogues before Shabbat comes in. “It’s been one of the highlights of the new normal,” he notes. “The attendances are wonderful in many places. I think it is one of the things we will encourage shuls to maintain.”
In response to the crisis, the organisation “increased the pace” of chesed (social care) work. “We are still sending out hundreds of food parcels on a weekly basis.”
But perhaps one statistic above all illustrates the “sudden shock” of Covid. “We buried more than four times the number of people in April 2020 than we did in April 2019.”
Not only did the US have to deal with the practicalities of arranging more funerals; it had to do so while trying to keep staff safe and providing comfort to families when the usual mourning rites were restricted.
When Mr Goldstein went back to his own synagogue, Mill Hill, which reopened earlier this week, it was the first time he had been able to recite Kaddish since the funeral of his own father more than three months before — the US does not recognise virtual prayer gatherings as a minyan.
Hitherto, he had been davening with a group of people in his community by Zoom every day. “We developed a moment whereby, at the three or four times during the course of the service where we would expect to say Mourners’ Kaddish, there was just silence and the mourners were allowed to have some personal reflection.”
While life is now returning to synagogues, it is being done in “baby steps” and caution is the watchword. Getting people back into their habits of regular attendance is “something I think is going to take time”, Mr Goldstein reflects. But the US is clear that people should not feel pressurised.
As the summer moves on, activities will resume. Over the holidays, the youth division, Tribe, is planning day camps in schools.
Major anniversaries are often times when organisations can look forward to a windfall of congratulatory donations to help build up their funds. Yet like other communal institutions, the US now has to wrestle with the financial fall-out from the virus.
“We have seen a big drop in all our sources of income over the last four months and so we need to be very cautious to make sure the organisation recovers financially,” he says.
In April and May, it experienced double-digit drops, though June was a little better.
“While we are able to withstand what we think will be quite a big fall in income during the course of 2020, we need to make sure we are financially sustainable. So there needs to be some corrective action.”
No project has been put on ice and “we will accelerate some of the things we were going to do on the sustainability side”.
While proud of its recent success in seeding new communities such as Mill Hill East, the US is likely to be “more cautious” on that front now. And it is going to have to scrutinise more closely some of the ageing communities it helps to prop up — although when asked which, he is
We are still sending out hundreds of food parcels weekly’