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Purim changes, all that means is that
our mindset has changed. We
have tried to identify, ‘OK,
what does God want from us
now?’” he said.

“Maybe in the past we were
emphasizing certain parts of
Judaism, but now that those are
harder to do or unsafe, what
are our priorities? What does
God want from us now? And
that can change in anyone’s
life, anytime, but the goal is the
same.” l
Continued from Page 1
yet again as the pandemic rages.

At Temple Sholom in
Broomall, Cantor Jamie Marx is
busy adapting Purim spiels for
Zoom. His company, The Spiel
Guy, writes and sells scripts to
synagogues across North America
and the United Kingdom.

He is adapting two previous
scripts by changing ensemble
songs and duets into solos
(group singing is difficult
on Zoom because of delays)
and altering stage directions.

Instead of writing “Vashti exits
stage left,” think “Vashti turns
off camera.” He’s also working
with a graphic designer to create
Purim-themed backgrounds.

One of the skits has a
timely twist.

“I wrote a new spiel called
‘Pandemic in Persia,’ which is a
lot of pandemic humor. So for
synagogues that really wanted a
timely, pandemic-themed spiel,
which a lot of people seem to
want, it tells a story of the Book
of Esther, but as if there was a
pandemic in Persia,” Marx said.

Congregation B’nai Israel
Ohev Zedek plans to hold
some in-person activities with
precautions. Rabbi Yehoshua
Yeamans said the synagogue
will hold several staggered
megillah readings to accom-
modate social distancing, and
participants will be required to
wear masks. He is also planning
a Zoom celebration that will
take place a few days before
the holiday and an ice cream
truck rental to provide outdoor
entertainment for younger
congregation members.

“The fact that it’s a holiday
doesn’t change the imperative
to continue to be as strict as we
have been with those protocols.

At the same time, that does
not preclude the opportunity
to fulfill the commandments
and the obligations of the day,”
Yeamans said.

His congregation held an
in-person Purim celebra-
tion last year during which
people were discouraged from
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Participants at Kehillah of Old York Road’s 2020 Purim carnival
Courtesy of Kim Decker
touching hands. Two days later,
he called an emergency board
meeting, and members decided
to close the synagogue.

Kehillah of Old York Road
will host its Purim CARnival
on Feb. 21 at Perelman Jewish
Day School’s Mandell Education
Campus. The event will consist
of activities and performances
that families can enjoy from
their cars, including a clown
performance, groggers and
change-throwing booth with
proceeds going to charity. Nearly
20 local Jewish organizations
will participate.

This is the first car-based
event the KOYR community
has organized, and Director
Kim Decker said having access
to a large outdoor space was a
game-changer. “I feel really blessed that we
can try to do something that’s
not on Zoom,” she said. “We
can have something a little
different to look forward to.”
The most recent in-person
event she organized was last
year’s Purim carnival.

“We got a huge donation of
hand sanitizer that we used as
a raffle item,” she recalled.

Germantown Jewish
Centre typically holds a joint
celebration among its multiple
minyans during Purim, and
this year it plans to hold it
on Zoom.

“One of the things we’re
planning is to have a sort of retro-
spective. We have wonderful
video going back more than 15
years from celebrations past and
so we’re going to create a sort of
greatest hits reel of celebrations,
to allow people to feel some of
that joy,” Zeff said.

He added that this year of
altered ritual life has taught him
to embrace a different defini-
tion of participation. With
in-person celebrations, there’s
an expectation that attendees
need to participate in the
same way for it to count. On
Zoom, however, the options are
endless, from typing in the chat
box to dressing up to dancing.

“There’s a lot of ways for people
to give feedback, other than being
the one who’s speaking and has
all eyes,” he said.

Marx said the pandemic
has taught him the importance
of virtual services in keeping
far-flung community members
engaged. Whereas streamed
services were once consid-
ered an occasional project, the
synagogue now realizes their
potential for allowing college
students, people with limited
mobility and people in rehabili-
tation facilities to feel connected.

In other words, they’re essential.

“This technology has
enabled us to reach all of them
and we have heard such an
outpouring of gratitude and
love and support from our
community,” he said.

For Yeamans, this year has
been a reminder that serving
God can look different.

“God draws the picture of
our lives and our job is just to
color it in. We cannot draw the
picture. And when the picture
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