All Services Returning to Building in September

Beth El Congregation is blessed to have regular weekday minyanim. Coming to services is a great way to start your day in a Jewish way, experience some community, and even to grab a quick nosh on your way to work. Many people who come to the morning minyan come every day, some people dedicate a certain day of the week to attend, and some people come when they feel that it’s right. For many of our members it is very important to attend a weekday service to observe a yahrzeit of a loved one. 

We are extremely fortunate to be able to offer daily weekday services as many synagogues are not able to do so. At Beth El, we encourage our members to find the touchstones of our tradition that resonate with them, finding ways to engage that are meaningful for them. We also understand that not every member can make it to every service, but how fortunate are we that if we need a minyan to go to, we know that Beth El provides one. 

The minyan is the great equalizer. Each and every one of us counts; it is both a privilege and a responsibility.  We understand that during the early days of COVID, online services provided us with the outlet to be able to continue offering these daily services in what our Rabbis of Blessed Memory called Sha’at Ha-Dechak, or an emergency situation. We also understand that viewing services online is not the same as attending them in person. To that point, we are planning to return evening services to the building. Prior to COVID we were just about making a minyan during weekday evening services. It can be distressing for members to arrive at an evening or morning service and realize that there is not a minyan, meaning that their mourner’s Kaddish might not have the same weight that it would were a minyan present. Being able to recite the mourner’s Kaddish as part of a sacred community is one of our tradition’s most important rituals.  

Remembering the cherished teaching “kol yisrael areivim zeh ba-zeh,” all of Israel is responsible for one another, we are asking that our community members do their best to show up for each other. Please consider making time to attend a morning, an evening service, or a Shabbat service to help those people in our community who need to recite the mourner’s Kaddish the way it was intended…with a minyan, with community. In a synagogue of our size, it should be very easy to make a minyan. 

In consultation with the Religious Services Committee, it is our intention to return all evening services (to include Saturday evenings) to the building on Tuesday, September 3 at 5:45 p.m. We aim to use this new time for all evening services with the exception of Saturday evenings and erev Yom Tov services.

We hope that you will make some time in your lives for sacred time, which helps to build our community, and helps ensure that we can all participate, because we all count. 

Looking forward to seeing you in services!