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all of us to sample services not only across
town but all over the world.”
Still, Bergman and his rabbinical
colleagues, Daniel Horowitz and Blair
Nosanwisch, have heard from congregants
that they want to return to more in-person
services and programming that can also
be streamed for others through Zoom.
And it’s been working. For example, an
August film screening of the documentary
Modern Israel and a talk with the
filmmaker drew over 25 people into the
building.
During the warmer months, the
synagogue has welcomed younger families
with monthly pre-Shabbat barbecues.
These, in turn, have offered a multi-
generational Shabbat experience using
the synagogue’s outdoor spaces such as its
playground, a tent and new pavilion space.
“Overall, people are still coming to
enjoy both indoor and outdoor services
and programming, and we have a lot of
great things going on,” Bergman said.
“We hope to keep (outdoor Shabbat
services and programming) going at least
through October with the help of space
heaters, until it really begins to snow. We
have been very creative with our outdoor
space.”
WORKING TO DRAW PEOPLE IN
Rabbi Shalom Kantor of
Congregation B’nai Moshe in
West Bloomfield said the new
reality is that his congregation
is working to draw people
in and make them feel
comfortable, and that means
recognizing a wide range of
comfort levels. This year, to
kick off the High Holiday season, B’nai
Moshe hosted a community-wide Selichot
service and concert with Rabbi Josh
Warshawsky.
The congregation has held in-person
services, including monthly Kabbalat
Shabbat services with instrumental
accompaniment followed by Shabbat
dinners and kiddush lunches on Shabbat
mornings that have drawn between 40-50
people each week.
In-person services are also held Sunday
and Monday mornings. During hybrid
services, when congregants are praying in
the building and those at home pray over
Zoom, services are led by those attending
in person aside from a few English prayers
that can be read over the internet, Kantor
explained. This year, to welcome younger
families, the congregation will introduce
a “Moshe Mousketeers” family Shabbat
program.
“We would love for more people to
come in person, but we are trying to work
with our congregants wherever they are,”
Kantor said. “Non-Orthodox synagogues
have experienced a revolution with Zoom
in terms of how people access prayer.
And with any revolution, once you go
through it, you can’t go back. And while
having services completely in the Zoom
format, as we did in the early days of the
pandemic is not the ideal for most, our
congregation did an audit and we decided
what worked was to have in-person
services three mornings a week and
Zoom evening services every evening but
Saturday. And when we are in the building
in-person, we have Zoom access to those
services as well.”
Kantor said there is a high vaccination
rate among his congregants and like other
synagogues, there has been a medical
advisory board that has flexed masking,
eating and social distancing policies in
accordance with CDC guidelines and the
current rate of COVID cases. For now,
masking is optional, and congregants
space themselves by sitting in every other
row.
“From the beginning of the pandemic,
I have assured my congregation that no
one would be left behind, and as a rabbi,
my solution is to throw our arms around
each other, whether that be literally or
figuratively,” Kantor said. “Whether they
attend in person or over Zoom, we want
people to have meaningful access to
services and to be comfortable.”
INDOOR AND OUTDOOR SPACES
At Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield,
creating a flow of indoor and outdoor
spaces has been built into the
congregation’s “Project All Together,”
capital campaign and renovation plans.
The long-awaited campaign is designed to
bring Shir Shalom’s preschool on-site, as
well as to add educational, sanctuary and
outdoor spaces for the congregation.
Rabbi Daniel I. Schwartz said as the
plan moves forward, he
hopes current and future
congregants will find the
building a comfortable place
to feel welcomed for prayer
and other programming.
An updated social hall will
include more natural light
and lead into an outdoor
patio and pavilion area. Schwartz
envisions these outdoor areas to be used
for multiple purposes: from a place to
gather for an oneg or kiddush following
services, to outdoor classroom time for
Rabbi
Daniel I.
Schwartz
Rabbi
Shalom
Kantor
Temple Shir Shalom high school students prepare
to lead the family Rosh Hashanah Service at West
Bloomfield High School last year.