36 | SEPTEMBER 17 • 2020
A
t the beginning of
2020, most people
hadn’
t even heard of
Zoom, the video conferencing
application. By early April, we
were all using
Zoom for work
meetings, the
kids’
school,
funerals and
shivahs, Passover
seders, Shabbat
services and to
connect with
family members during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
As a rabbi, I have officiated
more than a dozen b’
nai
mitzvah services and two baby
namings using Zoom. Zoom
has become the new normal.
Over the summer, knowing
the High Holiday season might
arrive before synagogues
were able to reopen, rabbis
and cantors around the world
began preparing for what
would become the first all-
virtual Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur season.
In order for Zoom to work
well for the High Holidays,
my colleague Rabbi Joshua
Heller, has been in direct
communication with the
company to urge them to
make changes. I spoke with
Rabbi Heller (who authored
the rabbinic position paper
allowing synagogues in the
Conservative movement to
offer virtual services on the
Sabbath) about the changes
Zoom has made as well as the
future of virtual prayer services.
Rabbi Heller has a degree
in computer science from
Harvard, was the first full-
time director of the distance
learning program at the Jewish
Theological Seminary and
has a local connection being
married to Wendy Betel Heller,
a native of West Bloomfield.
What is your background with
virtual prayer services?
Rabbi Heller: I started thinking
about the issue of streaming
even before COVID hit because
in my own congregation
there were people who were
facing different kinds of health
challenges and who couldn’
t
come to synagogue.
There was a [Conservative
rabbis’
Rabbinical Assembly]
Committee on Jewish Law
and Standards conversation in
November when a very early
draft of the paper [on virtual
prayer on Shabbat] came up,
and committee members were
very skeptical about whether we
should be encouraging people
to use technology on Shabbat.
And then once people realized
what COVID was going to be,
the conversation really became
fast-tracked in a lot of ways.
How did the pandemic expedite
the permissibility of virtual
minyans?
RJH: The decision to permit a
minyan virtually was actually
quite controversial. The first
time that I proposed it, the
committee was simply not
interested. With the closing
of synagogues around the
world because of COVID, the
committee backtracked just a
few days later.
How have you advocated with
Zoom officials for updates
based on the needs of Shabbat
and holidays?
RJH: I spent a decent amount
of effort trying to make Zoom
more Shabbat and Jewish
holiday-friendly. One of the
challenges of Zoom is that a
meeting normally could only
last for 24 hours, which is a
problem if you’
re trying to have
25 hours of Yom Kippur or two
days of Rosh Hashanah without
touching your computer. At the
end of August, I was delighted
that we were successful in
getting permission to have
Zoom meetings/webinars
extended to up to 72 hours for
communities where Shabbat
and Jewish holiday observance
require that feature.
How did you get in touch with
the powers that be at Zoom?
RJH:I worked my way up the
corporate ladder at Zoom until
I found the right person who
had the ability to make some
of these changes. We looked at
other options, but Zoom has
the price and features that we
needed.
What happens after COVID is
over? Is this a game changer?
RJH: This is a change that was
coming anyway. COVID just
brought it on faster. When
the Law Committee had the
conversation in November, they
asked me, “Do you think all
congregations will be streaming
services someday?” I said very
flippantly, “Well, only the ones
that are still in business!”
Rabbi Jason Miller is president
of Access Technology in West
Bloomfield. He is a local educator and
tech entrepreneur, who is a leading
expert on the impact of technology on
Jewish life.
Atoning Over Zoom
How video technology will connect Jews during the High Holidays.
Rabbi Jason
Miller
Jews in the Digital Age
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Rosh Hashanah 5781