Dear Friends,
Things are quite different this year! Over the years that I have had the privilege of being at
Beth Jacob, I have grown to love the High Holiday services in all their grandeur. Please note
that while services will be different this year, we have been working assiduously to ensure that
we offer meaningful, safety-compliant services for all. To accommodate and encourage the
greatest number of participants, we will offer several modified and shortened services on our
campus. We will also stream certain services as outlined below.
Please read the entirety of this letter to learn about all of the changes to our High Holiday
operations this year and how you can participate.
On-Campus Services
Logistic, Seating, Parking
In-person attendance requires adherence to the arranged social distancing seating and masks
must be worn at all times while on campus. These are unfortunate but necessary measures.
Each person who will attend services on campus must sign up ahead of time at the link
provided toward the end of this letter to ensure that we have sufficient seating for everyone
with adequate spacing between seats. There are separate sign-ups for men and women so we
can arrange the seats appropriately. As you can imagine, seating and spacing necessarily will
be limited, and first priority will be given to shul members. Households can be seated
together/adjacent to each other. If you wish to be seated with your household, please
indicate accordingly when signing up (see illustration below). Please sign up by Tuesday,
September 15 th.
Parking: All services will be held outdoors. There will be a large temporary tent in the
parking area that will serve as the prime location for our outdoor services. As a result, the
parking lot will be closed to all cars.
Rosh Hashana Services
Following guidance from the OU and the RCA, we will offer modified, shortened services to the
extent possible. Please note that there will be no cantor / chazzan this year, nor will there be a
choir for any of our services. If possible, please bring your own Machzorim (see below for
purchase links). Please also note that due to space and distancing restrictions, we must
unfortunately limit attendance for all on-campus services to those who are Bar or Bat Mitzvah
age and older. Children younger than Bar/Bat Mitzvah age will not be permitted to attend. We will hold a separate program/shofar blowing for children on Sunday afternoon, September 20.
Please see below for details.
We will offer four separate services for each of the Rosh Hashana mornings, Saturday,
September 19th and Sunday, September 20th . These will be shortened services so certain
paragraphs/sections will be omitted, they will feature less singing, and we will have shortened
Misheberachs by Torah readings. And yes, even the rabbi’s speech will be shorter. We
anticipate that each service will last approximately two hours. The services for Rosh Hashana
will be as follows:
Rosh Hashana Shacharit Options:
1. 7:00am Ashkenas Hashkama Services beginning with a shortened Psekei D’zimrah
(Baruch She’amar, Ashrei, Nishmat—the rest should be said on your own prior to
services), Shacharit, Torah Reading, Shofar Blowing (Sunday), Mussaf.
2. 7:00am Sephardic Services
3. 8:30am Regular Ashkenas Services beginning with a shortened Psekei D’zimrah (Baruch
She’amar, Ashrei, Nishmat—the rest should be said on your own prior to services),
Shacharit, Torah Reading, Rabbi’s Words, Shofar Blowing (Sunday), Mussaf.
4. 10:45am Ashkenas Services Torah Reading, Rabbi’s Words, Shofar Blowing (Sunday),
Mussaf.
Rosh Hashana Mincha-Maariv Evening Services:
-
6:15pm, Friday evening, September 18 th
-
6:10pm, Saturday evening, September 19 th
-
6:20pm. Sunday September 20 th
We may add additional services if there is sufficient demand.
Staying Home, Streaming Options, and Yizkor
- Machzorim/prayer books
If you prefer to stay home for the High Holidays, I will be sending out a guide for prayers to be
said at home with page numbers and all. If you don’t have your own set of Machzorim (High
Holiday Prayer books), I strongly encourage you to purchase your own set. It is a great
investment. You may purchase the ArtScroll set here or the Koren set here
We will also be lending out copies of theBirnbaum (red cover) Machzor for those who do not have a machzor.
- Streaming options
For the past few months, we have streamed Friday night davening on GoToMeeting to allow
people to participate until we power down just before sunset. We will do the same for the
High Holidays. On Rosh Hashana Eve, Friday, September 18 th , we will stream mincha services
starting at 6:15 pm up through the Rabbi’s Drasha on GoToMeeting and will power down just
prior to sunset. On Yom Kippur Eve, Sunday, September 27 th , we will stream Kol Nidrei and the
Rabbi’s Drasha starting at 6:10 pm and will power down just prior to sunset. If you wish to
participate in any of these services via GoToMeeting, you may do so at the following link
https://www.gotomeet.me/RabbiCiner
As we did prior to Pesach and Shavuot, we will again stream Yizkor Services for those who
cannot attend yizkor services in person on Yom Kippur. The live-streamed yizkor service will be
held on Eruv Yom Kippur, Saturday night, September 26 th at 8:15pm at the following link
https://www.gotomeet.me/RabbiCiner
Children’s Shofar Blowing
On Sunday, September 20 at 2:30pm, we will offer a short program for children and will blow
shofar near the large gazebo at University Community Park near the intersection of Royce
Road and Beech Tree Ln (see map). If you wish to attend, please wear a mask and respect
distancing requirements.
Sign-Up for Services Is Required:
Each service will have its own sign-up list, one for men and one for women. As noted above,
household members who would like to sit together should sign up as a single quantity (1) and
then let us know how many household members will be attending as indicated below:
You can sign up for services here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040549a5ae2faaf58-rosh
We thank you for your partnership and steadfast support for the shul and community
during these unusual times and we look forward to sharing uplifting and meaningful
holidays.
Wishing you, your family, the community and the world a healthy, happy, growth-filled,
sweet New Year!
Yisroel Ciner
Warren Morten
BJI Board
