Rabbi Broitman's HHD Letter 2021
Dear Friends,
I am excited to write to you about our plans for High Holiday services beginning Monday night, September 6th. We invite you and your family to join us at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, a special place for a special time.
This past year has been filled with both joy and sadness, miracles and losses. We made it through together, and now is time to joyfully and prayerfully bring in a New Year together as well. The Days of Awe offer a pause for reflection, teshuvah, and renewal, stepping back to see the larger context of our lives. We can reflect on themes of mortality, responsibility, and gratitude with calmness and focus. We can participate in community prayer that has its own unique ability to connect us to each other and to generations past and future.
Planning community services during a pandemic has been challenging. The plans we have arrived at reflect how far we have come since the beginning of the pandemic and how cautious we still need to be with the Delta variant on the rise. We will therefore have two options to joyfully join the services—gathering in person following our safety guidelines, or joining through Zoom. The following are important details and guidelines:
We have dearly missed singing together in harmony, and I am so excited to bring together musicians and singers who will lead us in making a “joyful noise” as the psalm says. The only thing left that we need is the most important--you. “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth; burst into song, sing with joy …”
Brian, Galya and I wish you and your family a healthy New Year. May the year 5782 be filled with blessings of peace, compassion and justice for all of us and all the world.
Shana Tova,
Rabbi Caryn Broitman
I am excited to write to you about our plans for High Holiday services beginning Monday night, September 6th. We invite you and your family to join us at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, a special place for a special time.
This past year has been filled with both joy and sadness, miracles and losses. We made it through together, and now is time to joyfully and prayerfully bring in a New Year together as well. The Days of Awe offer a pause for reflection, teshuvah, and renewal, stepping back to see the larger context of our lives. We can reflect on themes of mortality, responsibility, and gratitude with calmness and focus. We can participate in community prayer that has its own unique ability to connect us to each other and to generations past and future.
Planning community services during a pandemic has been challenging. The plans we have arrived at reflect how far we have come since the beginning of the pandemic and how cautious we still need to be with the Delta variant on the rise. We will therefore have two options to joyfully join the services—gathering in person following our safety guidelines, or joining through Zoom. The following are important details and guidelines:
- We are so happy to announce that we will be meeting outdoors for all services at the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle will give us ample room to socially distance as needed. We will also be requiring both proof of vaccination and masks, so everyone can feel safe and comfortable. Please consider bringing your own cushions for the benches, and come early to allow time for parking. We thank the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association for their generosity in giving us this beautiful and sacred space.
- We are requiring registration for all who attend, and proof of vaccination for everyone age 12 and over. Please understand that we cannot let anyone inside the Tabernacle without prior registration and proof of vaccination. The registration deadline is Friday, September 3 at noon. On the registration link, you can upload a photo of your vaccination card. For those who prefer to show the card at the door, or a photograph of the card, you may do so.
- Those wishing to attend by Zoom must register as well. Upon registration, you will receive a Zoom link to the services that is unique to you. Please do not share the Zoom link as it will admit only a single device. Feel free, however, to invite family and friends by sharing the registration link, so they can register themselves. The Zoom format will be webinar format—in other words, you will see the whole stage at the Tabernacle but will not see other Zoom participants.
- The schedule of services is attached below. Registration for services is now open.
We have dearly missed singing together in harmony, and I am so excited to bring together musicians and singers who will lead us in making a “joyful noise” as the psalm says. The only thing left that we need is the most important--you. “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth; burst into song, sing with joy …”
Brian, Galya and I wish you and your family a healthy New Year. May the year 5782 be filled with blessings of peace, compassion and justice for all of us and all the world.
Shana Tova,
Rabbi Caryn Broitman
