Important Announcement From Rabbi Cassi

Dear Friends,

The temple leadership recently met to discuss how to proceed with all our services, events, and programs amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic. Due to CDC guidelines limiting the number of people who should gather, and out of an abundance of caution, Temple Beth El leadership has decided not to hold in-person programs for the time being. Services, Torah School and Torah Study will all be shifted to a virtual setting. Some programs like Taus Lectures, Salon Concerts and Cooking with the Cantor will be postponed. New virtual programs are being scheduled.

Even though we will not be meeting in person, please know that Temple Beth El staff are all available and working hard to provide support and create a wide range meaningful programs for people of all ages, backgrounds and interests.

Congregational Support

I have been absolutely blown away by the number of people who have offered to make phone calls or deliveries to fellow congregants. If you would like to participate in our phone tree or know of anyone who might, please let us know as soon as possible. If you are stuck at home and need help getting a prescription or something from the store, please give us a call. While we can’t guarantee that someone will be able to meet everyone’s needs, we will try our best.

Pastoral Support

Please know that clergy is available if you need to talk, or if you need other support. We take confidentiality very seriously.

Community Offerings

Although we are not meeting in person, we are pleased to have a robust offering of virtual get-togethers. These include social events, as well as opportunities for learning, prayer, meditation, healing, cooking, art, and musical uplift. These programs will be available to you through the video conferencing application Zoom. This software works on any smartphone, tablet, or computer, and will not cost you anything. Each event has its own unique link. Simply click on the link, download Zoom, and you will be added to meeting. The first time you use Zoom, please leave extra time to set it up. If you experience any problems in using it, please watch this video or contact one of the volunteers (Gale Swartz, Andrea Lawrence, Eric Imley, Lillian Imley, Shoni Gramcko, and Karyn Zafran) on our newly formed Tech Team. If you would like to join the Tech Team, contact the TBE office.

Zoom enables participants to see one another’s faces and to engage in conversation. Through using this app, we hope to create virtual community gatherings that will connect us to old and new friends alike. We are still adding to our Zoom offerings and have created a special “Virtually TBE” google calendar of these events, which can be accessed here.

The calendar and our Constant Contact emails are the best way to have up to date information about our virtual offerings.

For now, we are pleased to invite you to participate in any of these new virtual events. Information on Shabbat Services will follow in my next Shabbat email.

Shalom,

Rabbi Cassi Kail