FAITH ON CABLE
Yom Kippur hits Houston’s airwaves in this unusual year.
Finding a way to celebrate the High Holidays in the midst of a pandemic will now be as simple as grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.
Even the distinct sound of the shofar, which heralds the Jewish new year, will soon be broadcast on cable.
Jason Plotkin, program director at Congregation Emanu El, spent the past few months brainstorming a way to make Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur more readily accessible to Houston’s Jewish population.
The synagogue, near Rice University, started streaming its services even before the coronavirus forced members to stay home. The temple also has its own Roku Channel.
Still, Emanu El wanted to do more for the High Holy Days — the most sacred observance of the year.
This year, Rosh Hashanabegan on the evening of Sept. 18, and is celebrated until Sept. 20. Yom Kippur starts the evening of Sept. 27 and is observed through a day of fasting and prayer. The 10 days between the two are spent reflecting on the past year and repenting, asking forgiveness and contemplating ways to be better in the year ahead.
Though other Jewish holidays such as Passover might translate well to Zoom or more intimate family gatherings, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur tend to be busier, as many people spend hours in services for the occasion. So Plotkin wanted to go the extra mile to assure everyone had access to the High Holy Days.
“My goal was to figure out a way to expand our base even more,” he said. “It’s great to watch on the internet or Roku, but I really wanted to help people who didn’t have technology.”
He also worried about seniors who might have trouble logging in to a livestream.
Plotkin started reaching out to members, asking if they knew anyone from television or radio who might help. Longtime member Susan Farb Morris introduced him to her friend Tom Richards, executive director at HoustonMedia Source.
“To be able to tune in the TV to the holiest experience of the year on the Jewish calendar just made a lot of sense,” Plotkin said.
Richards cleared the schedule for the services Plotkin wanted to air.
“My next question was, ‘How do you get the feed?’ ” Plotkin recalled.
Emanu El has spent the past six months perfecting its livestream, which Richards said made his job easy. The synagogue added cameras to its livestream and included a shot of the prayer book so viewers could read along.
“Emanu El is already on Facebook and YouTube; they’re on top of tech stuff,” Richards said. “They’ve already got their act together with streaming. We just pick that up and broadcast it. Technically, it’s not a big deal.”
The synagogue did not have to travel to a recording studio or find extra people to help. That’s the beauty of public media, Richards said.
“The barrier to entry is pretty low,” he said. “We provide training, access to equipment and the opportunity to put shows on the channel. All you need is an idea — and we’ll help you do the rest.”
Because Houston MediaSource is not ratings-based, diverse issues and opinions can be represented on air, Richards added.
“We want to have as many segments of the Houston community represented as possible,” he said. “This is the kind of thing we love to be a part of. We salute Emanu El for making it happen.”
Richards wanted to help, knowing that Houstonians would miss their synagogues for High Holy Days during COVID-19.
“It’s tradition, going to services,” he said. “For a lot of people, there’s a big hole in their year. To not be able to go, I can only imagine, would be very distressing. I certainly hope this will give them some comfort.”
To prepare, Plotkin attended Zoom classes on media literacy. Now he’s ready for cable television.
“We’re taking it to a whole new level,” he said. “We’re all set up to do this. To see the pieces come together, to hear the community be excited about watching it on a big screen, it’s a relief.”
One of the goals of the viewing experience will be to make it feel intimate. That means pushing the videos closer and aiming for head-and-shoulder shots.
“We actually learned a lot from the televised RNC and DNC,” said Rabbi Oren Hayon of the political conventions. “We watched them critically to see which addresses were powerful. We learned a few things. It felt better when speakers didn’t pretend they were in front of a crowd.”
Hayon and other synagogue leaders will be applying those lessons during rehearsals.
Plotkin said being on cable will make it simple for retirement homes to tune in. At the same time, Jewish families can enjoy watching from their living rooms.
Hayon is encouraging Emanu El members to create their own synagogue experience at home, clearing the room of clutter, bringing out family photos and lighting a candle.
“It’s time for a new start,” he said.
For Houston’s Jewish population, joining their community on screen will be moving, Hayon said, especially during COVID-19, when connecting can seem daunting. At the same time, he said, people who are not Jewish will have the opportunity to learn about Jewish prayer, culture and tradition.
“It’s really empowering to have a Jewish holiday on a cable dial,” he said. “I also like the idea of being able to stumble upon this on TV.”
Joshua Furman, adjunct lecturer and curator of the Houston Jewish History Archive at Rice University, said although there are Jewish programs on radio and television, this could set a precedent.
“This might well be the first time the High Holy Days are being broadcast on TV in real time,” he explained.
Furman said this will definitely mark a unique year — when Jewish people are turning to creative ways to celebrate Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur because they cannot attend services in a synagogue. That’s an experience he will be capturing for the archives.
Hayon explained that the Jewish new year is a time of spiritual spring cleaning.
“You start by taking an internal inventory, looking at your hopes and disappointments,” he added. “We want to clean out, to critically think about, realize when we need to make amends and restitutions. All of these things are hard to do in the best of circumstances.”
During the coronavirus pandemic, introspection can feel especially challenging, the rabbi explained.
At the same time, COVID-19 has provided space for contemplation — and an opportunity to reprioritize.
In fact, Hayon was already thinking of loneliness and isolation in contemporary times, before the pandemic brought it home for so many.
“As modern people, we often think we’re more connected, but I’ve been worried that it’s illusionary,” he said. “Churches and synagogues are positioned to address that in ways that others may not be.”
And during COVID-19, Emanu El was charged with addressing connection more than ever.
“We started thinking in broad strokes about what people need from their spiritual community, knowing that we’re facing limitations. How do we do that remotely?” Hayon asked.
In the early months of the lockdown, the synagogue responded by producing content, as much and as quickly as possible.
“By June and July, lack of content was no longer an issue,” the rabbi said. “Everyone was producing content, and there were a billion things you can spend your time on.”
The conversation shifted at Emanu El to how to make content more interactive.
“How do we use the time we have in front of us to make life more meaningful and not just entertaining? I don’t want to just be a provider of content. I want to create experiences,” Hayon said.
Bringing the High Holy Days to cable will be one way to meet that goal.
At the same time, Hayon is confident that watching as Jewish rituals and traditions continue will offer a sense of hope.
“People who came before us practiced these traditions in all types of trying circumstances,” he said. “This is a reminder of their value and importance. Life goes on. It’s going to be different, but we do these things because they give texture and meaning to our lives.”