Due to recommendations from State authorities and the best practices of the CCAR we will be offering worship services via Zoom instead of livestreaming. There are two ways to view the service: Go to our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/TempleBethEl/?ref=br_rs or Zoom:https://zoom.us/j/714517689
Saturday, April 4, 2020 \ 10 Nisan 5780 9:00 AM Torah Study
https://zoom.us/j/771959481 Meeting ID: 771 959 481 One tap mobile +16468769923, 771959481# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 646 876 9923 US (New York) Meeting ID: 771 959 481
We recognize that this is indeed a Passover like none we have experienced before.
We will look forward to gathering for our Temple Beth-El Second Night Seder via Zoom. All are welcome to join us.
5:30 PM Zoom Pre-Seder Meet and Greet (bring your own chopped liver) This will be a chance to greet one another and shmooze.
5:45 PM Minyan
6:00 PM Seder Introduction
We invite you to share the Passover story and eat the festive meal in your own homes.
8:00 PM Seder Conclusion
We might not be able to gather in person, but as we have learned over the last few weeks, the strength of our community spirit is strong and transcends the circumstances. We will look forward to seeing you then and hearing from you throughout the holiday.
Here are some resources as you prepare for the holiday during these unusual times. This page will answer questions about digital haggadot, what to do if you can’t find a shankbone and how to make a zoom seder run smoothly.
We will be in touch next week with directions on how to join us for the Seder on the second night.
B’shalom,
Rabbi Sarah Mack Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman Cantor Judy Seplowin Judy Moseley Rachel Mersky Woda
This year, when we chant the words “Ma Nishtanah Halailah Hazeh,” “why is this night different,” during our Passover seders, we will be thinking about much more than holiday rituals. For this night will be different, not only “from all other nights,” but different from all other Passover seders.
During this seder we will consider not just the meaning of the plagues in ancient Egypt; we will think about how we respond to a plague in our own time. During this seder, instead of gathering with family and friends to celebrate our redemption, we will be with loved ones in novel and creative ways – by Face Time or Zoom – or maybe the old-fashioned miracle of a phone call. This year we will long for the simple intimacy of a holiday hug, and next year recognize the blessing of what it means to hug the people you love.
But as we consider the meaning of this year’s seder, I am drawn to the parable of the “defiant child,” the one who does not include himself or herself in the seder. The Haggadah refers to this child as separate and isolated from others and challenges him or her to rejoin the larger community. This year, as all of us experience days and months of isolation and vulnerability, may we use this experience as a catalyst for change: to reach out to the lonely and disconnected, to direct our scarce resources to those who need them most, and to remember that for many of our neighbors, isolation is not a temporary condition, but an ongoing reality.
May our seders this year be stirring and meditative, thoughtful and sobering. May the words of the haggadah inspire both reflection and action. And when we end with the prophetic words, “L’shanah haba-ah b’yerushalayim,” we pray that next year we will be restored to good health, and that we will be together in friendship, and in community. Chag Pesach Sameach.
Upcoming Virtual Events
Watch your email for more pop-up classes
Pop-up Torah Classes In our amazing community, we each have something to share! Join us for these classes where members of our community will share their Torah via the Zoom links below. Do you have some “torah” to teach? Let us know and we’d love to showcase your knowledge with our community as a way to stay connected!
Saturday, April 4, 2020 10:00 AM Soulful Shabbat Led by Rabbi Alan Flam, Drumming and chanting with David Stern, Torah Discussion led by Ceceley Chambers
Join Rabbi Mack and Rachel Mersky Woda with special guest, Karen Isenberg, who will provide us with an interactive musical program. Be sure to have a tablet or smart phone handy as we will be playing a Passover trivia game using Kahoot.
Karen Isenberg has been performing in TBE’s Purim Spiel for 12 years. Outside of TBE, she teaches Music Together, a global early childhood music program, with Old Colony Music Together in Rehoboth, MA. For the past 2 years she has received an Individual Artist grant from the RI State Council on the Arts to provide her early childhood music program, “Me & U-kulele” at Providence Community Library branches. An avid ukulele player and singer, she has performed for the past 5 years at the Pawtucket Wintertime Farmer’s Market and other area farmer’s markets and various senior living facilities. She is also a member of the all-ukulele band, Ukunami. She lives in Providence with her husband Michael, daughter Samantha, and dog Crosby.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020 4:00 PM Inequalities Inflamed By Pandemic: The Sociology of COVID-19? with Jessica Holden Sherwood
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all of us, but it’s affecting different groups in different ways. This session will touch on the aggravated inequalities of race (Asian Americans as hate-crime targets), gender (balancing work and family is newly urgent), and class (who’s still getting a paycheck, venturing out or staying in). We will list disruptions to work and the economy, and also the good news of local mutual aid. Temple member, Jessica Holden Sherwood, is an Associate Professor of Social Sciences at Johnson & Wales University. She has been studying inequalities of race, class & gender since before her teenage kids (Abigail and Ellie) were born.
Monday, April 13, 2020 4:00 PM What will happen to the US Economy? Presenter: Robert Sandy
News stories during the pandemic often claim that there will be a severe recession, perhaps on the scale of the Great Recession of 2008 or the Great Depression of the 1930s. However, these stories offer little or no explanation of how economic down turn caused by the pandemic could differ from other recessions, how long the down turn will last, and what the recovery will look like. This talk will cover the definition of a recession, their causes, why some recessions were short and others long, why some had rapid recoveries while others had anemic recoveries. The key question I will address is how the current pandemic/recession fits into these patterns.
Robert Sandy is a retired economist. He was a professor of economics from 1974 to 2011 at Indiana University, Purdue University Indianapolis and at the University of Aberdeen. He served as the Economics Department chair for 12 years and then served as Indiana University Assistant Vice President for Statewide Academic Relations for 5 years. He has authored textbooks on statistics and on the economics of sports. He has written twenty articles in leading economics journals. His main research area is occupational safety and health. In retirement he continues to work as a consultant on using statistical sampling to detect Medicaid and Medicare fraud.
Click link below or dial up: +1 646 876 9923 US (New York) Meeting ID: 771 959 481
Meditation and Mindfulness Each evening please join our friends at the Center for Resilience for a moment of peace and a 10 minute mindfulness session at 8:00 PM via Zoom.
