By Bernie Green:
Like survivors emerging from a bunker following a serious attack, we gathered at Hod Ve Hadar as the first Corona closure was lifted. There was much joy meeting in person after the isolation and fear many of us experienced as the pandemic swept the globe. The first open Shabbath was the Yahzeit of my father and I felt gratitude that I was able to say Kaddish. There were many other adjustments we had to make in addition to the restrictions of social distancing and the now all too familiar masks. Should we pray downstairs in the Tamar center (which gives us the option of additional members to sit outside) or in the main hall? The numbers allowed to attend changed frequently. John Pollard did an amazing job arranging Torah readers and the Torah readers rose to the occasion as the pool of available readers shrunk. We approached the High Holy Days wondering what would be allowed. Setting up streaming enabled the house bound, vulnerable and locked down to be part of the services.
We became the Corona minyan, which for me is a spiritual oasis in this time of turmoil.
All who feel comfortable attending are invited and those who still feel unsure, join us via streaming
October 2020