WJR hosts novel event
WHILE MANY synagogues will be holding on-site services in some form over the High Holy-Days, there will be people either unable to get to them or who feel unsafe going.
But at New London Synagogue, the oldest Masorti congregation, members will for the first time have the option of catching proceedings on camera.
For although the Masorti movement has ruled out Zoom services over festivals and Shabbat, it has given individual rabbis discretion on deciding whether to offer “passive streaming” of services.
In the words of the movement’s official statement: “If he or she decides to passively stream on Yomtov, it will only be with an anguished heart and out of a sense of profound need.”
The exceptional times brought about by the pandemic have led New London’s Rabbi Jeremy Gordon to permit what he acknowledges will be a “radical departure”.
New London will deploy a “set and forget” system similar to a security camera that runs all the time or the KotelKam, which provides constant footage of the Western Wall.
It will not involve having to switch on a home computer during Shabbat or Yomtov.
“We’ll help any member who wants to know how to do it,” Rabbi Gordon promised.
He believes that watching something on a computer generally is “not Shabbatdik”. But it is justified by tzorech gadol, the “great need”, when people may be isolated or denied the opportunity to take part at a peak religious time of the year.
Streaming poses various halachic problems — for example, by making a record of something.
“What we had to come up with is a way of streaming that does not break Torah mandates around Shabbat.
“It does break rabbinic mandates around Shabbat but the need is enough to justify it,” Rabbi Gordon explained.
He cited the example of hearing aids which, with strict application of precepts, would be forbidden on Shabbat
but are widely permitted by rabbis, even in the most Orthodox circles. “There is an incredibly good reason to say these are OK if certain ways are followed.”
The streaming option is just one of the preparations now being made for the High Holy-Days. “We are going to be doing in-person services but you are going to have to book ahead of time.”
Quite how many people the 700-seater sanctuary will be able to safely sit at any one time has yet to be determined.
But alternative rows will be left empty and there will be a gap of two seats between households.
New London is looking to offer a variety of services over Rosh Hashanah. An early morning service which will contain the most of the prayers; a later service featuring liturgical highlights and an afternoon service for families.
In addition, it is planning to send out recordings of the main prayers in advance and will also run a Zoom Kol Nidre service before Yom Kippur comes in.
“I want New London to do everything it can be inclusive at a time like this,” Rabbi Gordon said.
It breaks rabbinic mandates but the need justifies it’
AS PART of the World Jewish Relief at Home programme, more than 300 tuned in to watch Emily Maitlis interview Jonathan Freedland about his latest thriller To Kill A Man, written under the pseudonym of Sam Bourne.
The discussion included how President Trump’s behaviour has scuppered potential plotlines, extending to the future of American politics and Brexit.
Organised by WJR’s Connections committee, the evening raised more than £4,000 and Connections co-chair Jean Marks thanked “all those who generously donated towards our Covid-19 appeal”.