Holiday religious traditions go on with online services
Passover, Easter, Ramadan planning virtual observances
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Passover, Easter and Ramadan have something in common: They’ve all become virtual holidays.
Marin synagogues are hosting virtual Passover Seders on Wednesday, churches are livestreaming Easter Sunday services and mosques are making plans for congregants to observe Ramadan and Eid remotely.
The stay-at-home orders are forcing congregants to remain physically distant, but that’s not keeping the people from getting together online and carrying on traditions, said Rabbi Susan Leider of Congregation Kol
Shofar in Tiburon.
“I think people are really sad about being apart, but incredibly strengthened, and just so grateful, by the ability to connect virtually,” Leider said. “The Jewish tradition has been adapting through the ages and that’s exactly what we’re doing now and we’re staying strong while we’re doing it.”
Leider said the only difference for Passover this year at Kol Shofar is that everything will be online. The synagogue is hosting a Wednesday Passover Seder dinner and five services, all online.
With a group of rabbis, Leider developed a virtual Seder playlist and guide on how to celebrate virtually with the congregation, distant family or family members at home. The guide includes a listing of kosher foods for Passover. More information is at kolshofar. org.
Things are similar for Leider’s Christian colleagues, said the Rev. Ginger Strickland of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ross.
Since she has started streaming services online, Strickland has been taken aback by how connected the community has become, she said.
“It’s a reminder that church is not the building. The church is the people, and we are still that,” she said.
Strickland said Easter Sunday is one of the biggest draws for the church, with hundreds of congregants flocking to St. John’s donned in spring colors and big hats. To maintain that same vibrancy, “we’re encouraging people to do that from home,” Strickland said.
Leading up to the big day, the church offers services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. These days represent the final days in Jesus’ life, she said.
“We want to enter this story with the community in a way that is really transformative, the only difference is it’s online,” she said
The service schedule is at stjohnsross.org.
At the Islamic Center of Mill Valley, Iman Mufti Abdullah Nana said the Ramadan tradition of 30 days of fasting that begins April 23 doesn’t require any sort of special gathering. However, the mosque already uses SoundCloud, an audio-only streaming service, to broadcast sermons and lectures.
But after Ramadan is Eid, a three-day holiday full of festivities and worship, he said.
“We still don’t know if the shelter-in-place will be over,” he said, “so plans have not yet materialized.” Nana does plan to continue broadcasting sermons and says in the meantime he encourages his congregation to “cherish time spent with families and remain calm.”
In San Rafael, the Rev. Cynthia Cochran-Carney, pastor at First Presbyterian, said it has a weekend lineup of celebrations and services ahead. She and her husband, the Rev. Jeffrey Cochran-Carney, pastor at First Congregational Church of San Rafael, have been posting their music and services to YouTube.
The response to the online offering has been positive, she said.
“We’re experiencing a different kind of connection that is deeper than I had expected,” she said. “There is this fear that we’re living with anxiety about the virus, but it’s also given birth to these new practices of reading and reflection.”
“I hope the people will gather in place to reflect on the meaning of Easter, which is resurrection and hope,” she said.
She is also encouraging her congregation to wear their Sunday best, big hats and all, when they tune in for an Easter Sunday social via Zoom. More information is at fpcsr.org.
Also in San Rafael, Rabbi Stacy Friedman of Congregation Rodef Sholom has made an online schedule similar to her colleagues with Passover services and celebrations planned to be hosted via Facebook Live and Zoom streaming services.
She added that the congregation has organized several educational programs and a Passover scavenger hunt for kids, which can be found online at rodefsholom.org.
Friedman said Passover week is about commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. Celebrating the festival amid a pandemic offers an extra bit of edge to the teachings, she said.
“It’s a reminder of our freedoms,” she said, adding that she is asking her congregation, “How can we use our freedoms in a way to give back to those who are really struggling and experience new kind of liberation?”