New Synagogue in Palm Beach, which still provides its programming fully remote, has offered pre-recorded Shabbat and holiday services led by its spiritual leader, Rabbi Barak Bar-Chaim, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some virtual services have been provided on Friday afternoons just before the Sabbath, or Saturday nights just after.
In addition to the services, as well as daily prayer and Torah study Zoom classes, the synagogue has launched or is launching a series of offerings, including an intergenerational pre-bar and bat Mitzvah family workshop, a teen filmmaking workshop and a virtual Tot Shabbat with a child educator. It will also host a series of cultural events such as live-streamed concerts and author Q&As.
Bar-Chaim said, “Our virtual programming has broadened the reach of our community.”
“We now have both a national and global presence,” he continued. “Everyday, people join our classes and services from locations such as New York, California and Canada. We are now using our virtual platform to appeal to people across the age spectrum, from tots, to young children, teenagers and adults wherever they may be. There is no charge to join any activity and we are widening our tent. Technology is bringing people together.”
Rabbi Abraham Unger, the synagogue’s executive director of programs, said, “These virtual programs have not only allowed us to maintain community, but it has also allowed us to strengthen community, especially during this time.”
Unger said the success of the virtual programs mean that “people want to connect, especially during this time.”
“People need that connection,” Unger continued. “I come from a background in research, and all the research show that being connected to community is vital.”
The synagogue has launched programs such as a pre-bar and bat mitzvah family workshop and virtual Tot Shabbat over the past few weeks.
Unger explained the idea behind the pre-bar and bat mitzvah workshop.
“The idea for that was to get families together for a five-session Zoom program where they can really ask questions of the rabbi about navigating the bar and bat mitzvah process.”
Regarding Tot Shabbat, Unger said the purpose of it was “to really get families together to greet the Sabbath before sundown.”
“We’re not going to broadcast during the Sabbath as it’s a day in which we refrain from work and using technology, but children, parents and grandparents too can join together just before the Sabbath on Zoom, which makes it accessible,” he noted. “The family can be spread out anywhere, and they can all share in the synagogue experience virtually, and celebrate and greet the Sabbath together, just as they’re in the Sabbath table together, right before sundown.”
In the winter, the synagogue will launch the teen filmmaking workshop.
“That’s going to be a great program where teens will actually be able to create a fictional film via Zoom, and there will be a professional filmmaking instructor who will guide them through that process, and then there will be a film festival,” Unger said. “That’s a very exciting program, and it’s something I have experience running in other venues.”
Unger continued, “We’re very excited to have it in the synagogue because filmmaking is such an important way of expressing oneself personally, and it’s a way of connecting with one’s identity, one’s heritage and with the broader community through the telling of a story.”
“It’s a great extra curricular activity for high school students thinking about their college applications,” he added.
Regarding plans on reopening in-person services and programs, Unger said the synagogue doesn’t have an exact date for that yet.
“The COVID numbers are looking better now than they were in August,” he said. “We obviously will be back live meeting in person even though we don’t have an exact date, but we also think that technology, including Zoom, is an important platform. I see us moving in a direction where we will obviously be live, but I also imagine there will be some virtual possibilities.”
Email info@newsynagogue.org or visit newsynagogue.org for more information on the programs.
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