H eadlines
High “First hugs. The feeling you get
making eye contact on site.”
At the same time, Sklover
wants to accommodate the 30%
of members who are not comfort-
able returning, That’s why the
rabbi will offer online versions of
the services via Zoom.

Goldberg thinks as many
as half of Temple Sinai’s
members may prefer the
Continued from Page 1
services. Conservative, Reform
and Reconstructionist temples
mostly hosted online events,
according to rabbis and
synagogue directors.

Orthodox and Chabad
communities didn’t offer
electronic options because
Jewish law restricts the use of
technology during holidays,
according to Rabbi Yochonon
Goldman of B’nai Abraham
Chabad in Philadelphia.

Especially with
the emergence of the delta variant,
which has caused cases to
rise nationwide in the last few
weeks, this year synagogues are
still going to take COVID-19
precautions, like
social distancing, masking and online
options, if their congregants are
still concerned come September.

But rabbis and synagogue
directors feel
confident reopening for big events
because most of their adult
members are vaccinated, they
said. And in surveys and
conversations, congregants
have indicated that they are
eager to come back.

High Holidays services
just aren’t the same at home,
rabbis said.

“Religious life is commu-
nity,” said Rabbi Lance Sussman
of Reform Congregation
Keneseth Israel in Elkins
Park. “Without community, it
doesn’t feel right.”
B’nai Abraham Chabad and
the Chabad of Penn Wynne
have been open for Shabbat
services for months, according
to their rabbis. But at both
locations, attendees have worn
masks and maintained social
distancing precautions in their
spacious sanctuaries.

But High Holiday services,
of course, are on another level.

Each shul has between 100 and
125 families in its congrega-
tion, but between 175 and 225
people usually show up for
High Holidays events.

Most people at each
synagogue are vaccinated,
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM help members who still feel
unsafe in public, older members
who don’t mobilize as well and
people who may just not be able
to make it in person.

Sussman and Keneseth
Israel have offered digital
services for 10 years. But the
rabbi acknowledged that the
practice has been particularly
helpful during the pandemic.

I would love to see life get back to normal as
much as possible.”
The inside of the Chabad of Penn Wynne
so masking will be optional,
according to synagogue
leaders. And social distancing,
if necessary, will not be diffi-
cult in sanctuaries that can fit
hundreds of people.

“I would love to see life get back
to normal as much as possible,”
Chabad of Penn Wynne Rabbi
Moshe Brennan said.

At Conservative, Reform and
Reconstructionist synagogues,
the conditions and plans are
similar. Most congregants are vacci-
nated. Sanctuaries will be
open. And rabbis are excited to
welcome their communities for
their first big, post-pandemic
gatherings. Temple Sinai, a conservative
synagogue in Dresher, dropped
its crowd size limit for indoor
Shabbat services earlier this
summer, Executive Director
Ari Goldberg said.

The temple has a 400-member
congregation and a sanctuary/
auditorium that, when fully
open, can seat up to 1,800
people. Goldberg expects the
high holiday crowd to approach
1,000 attendees.

“One of our themes is
together again at Temple Sinai,”
Goldberg said. “Anyone who
wants to come back into the
building for services is going to
be able to this year.”
At Sussman’s Congregation
Keneseth Israel, the sanctuary/
auditorium is even bigger, with
space for about 2,500 people,
Photo by Lee Moskow
but Sussman does not expect
the synagogue’s 800 families
to fill the space. The last time
they did that was for a 9/11
memorial service 20 years
ago, so the reform synagogue’s
High Holidays plan for family
and pod seating should be
manageable, the rabbi said.

Sussman is also sticking with
the indoor mask mandate for
the time being.

Or Hadash, a Reconstruct-
ionist synagogue in Fort
Washington, saw overwhelming
evidence in recent surveys
favoring a return to the sanctuary.

The synagogue has 150
families in its congregation.

Out of members 12 and older,
91% are vaccinated and 70%
want to return to the temple
for the High Holidays, Rabbi
Alanna Sklover said.

Sklover said Or Hadash’s
crowds those days usually top
out at 200 people, which doesn’t
leave enough room for social
distancing in the sanctuary. As
a result, those who aren’t vacci-
nated will be required to wear
masks. And since kids under
12 aren’t yet eligible for the
vaccine, all children’s program-
ming during the High Holidays
will be conducted at a social
distance. Those minor restrictions,
however, will not dampen the
moment, Sklover said.

“There’s nothing that can
beat seeing one another in
three dimensions,” she said.

JEWISH EXPONENT
RABBI MOSHE BRENNAN
online option come September
so, like Sklover, he’s going to
continue offering one. Since
the pandemic started, the
synagogue has offered a digital
service option via a livestream
on its website.

According to Sklover and
Goldberg, the online options
“We call it multi-access,”
Goldberg said. “So folks who
are able to come in person and
then folks who are not able to
come in person can still partic-
ipate via the livestream.” l
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