Dear Beth Zion Family,
The question I am asked regularly is, “What is happening for the High Holidays?” As you already know, due to the current pandemic, rules and regulations change on an almost daily basis. The rabbi, administration, trustees and officers of the congregation have been working tirelessly on various different scenarios.
Our primary goal is to offer a safe and meaningful High Holiday experience.
I would like to thank the respondents of our recent survey, as this has helped us understand the needs of our community.
We will therefore be offering various options for the holidays this year:
1. An indoor service
a. Held in the Main Sanctuary
b. Prayers led by Rabbi Yamin Benarroch and Cantor David Sebag
2. An outdoor service
a. Held in a tent
b. Prayers led by Brian Hofman and Danny Farkas
3. An indoor Sefardic service
a. Held in the Smiley Auditorium
4. Scheduled outdoor Shofar blowing
a. In order to control crowd sizes, advance registration is required by clicking here
b. Proper hygiene procedures will be in place to ensure the shofar is blown away and at a distance from congregants
Please note the following important details:
i. For security and crowd management, all services will require advance registration.
ii. All services will be abbreviated. Services will begin at HaMelech. (Our goal is to keep services at 2.5 hours, based on the survey responses)
iii. Ticket sales will start tomorrow September 1st. For those financially effected by Covid19, please contact the office to make arrangements.
iv. Seat purchasing will be available here or by calling the office at 514-489-8411 or in person.
v. When purchasing seats, you will be required to inform the office of the members of your family that are within your bubble.
vi. You will not be assigned a seat upon purchase. In order to optimize social distancing, seats will be assigned to you approximately 1 week prior to the holidays. (We will make every effort to seat you as close as possible to your regular seats)
vii. For those who are not comfortable attending services on Yom Kippur, there will be a special Zoom Yizkor service on Erev Yom Kippur. (details to follow)
viii. We will be holding a special Kol Nidre Fundraiser (More details to follow)
We look forward to spending the holidays with you in a safe and meaningful environment.
Shanah Tovah,
Shlomo Benarroch
President
