hwor5008

Randy Boswell,
Chair-Ritual Practices Committee
randyb@templedavid.org

Added November 2021

Weekly Online Havdalah has been Discontinued

The Ritual Practices Committee has decided to discontinue weekly online Havdalah effectively immediately.

We will consider resumption if there is sufficient interest to do so. In the past few weeks, there have only been one or two families participating.

Thank You for Helping with the Sukkot

A big THANK YOU! to everyone who helped construct and take down the outside and inside sukkot. The efforts of all of the people involved really add to the extra joy in the celebration of the Festival of Sukkot.

Thanks to the Construction and Deconstruction Crews: Bruce Antonoff, Jeff Baldel, Stan Beck, Marshall Berger, Andrew Bright, Wendy Bright, Jacob Carney, Lisa Carney, Greg Casher, Dr. Helen Dorra, Adam Fisher, Jay Goodman, Sara Harner, Max Hersch, Jim Jones, Arin Keough, CJ Keough, Gabby Keough, Natalie Keough, Dr. Matt Levin, Deb Scheib, Kelly Sheinberg, and Alan Sloan.

Also, a special Thank You to all of the kids, teachers, and other adults who helped with decorating.

The Challenge Is Out!
Ya’amod! “We will Stand!”

Please ascend the bimah—individuals, couples, or families—to lead services whenever Rabbi Symons plans to be absent. Rabbi Symons and other service leaders will be glad to work with you and to co-lead services with you as you get more comfortable.

If you are interested in exploring this—whether for Erev Shabbat, Shabbat Morning, or Shiva services, please be in touch with Rabbi Symons or Ritual Practices Chair Randy Boswell.

Stan Beck
Chair—Ritual Practices Committee

Published June 2021

Enjoy Havdalah on Zoom Every Saturday

Join our Temple David community every Saturday night for a very brief Havdalah service on Zoom. It’s an easy and fun way to bring a meaningful Jewish ritual into your home, and you can enjoy it with other Temple members. Online guests are welcome too!

What is Havdalah?

Havdalah means separation and is the ritual that ends Shabbat, separating it from the start of the new week. It includes all your senses. It’s the original multimedia presentation and might even be the first Zoom smell-o-vision.

How do I participate and what supplies do I need?

Just tune in on Zoom and enjoy. Optionally, get a cup of wine or grape juice, some fragrant spices such as cloves or cinnamon, and a multi-wick braided candle (or 2 regular candles held together). The service is on page 612 of Mishkan T’filah, or you can use the Temple David blessings sheet.

What time is Havdalah?

Shabbat ends when it’s dark enough for three stars to be visible in a clear sky. The exact time is listed on a Jewish calendar. This varies each week, so we’ve blocked the time to make it easier to remember. Join us Saturday night on Zoom via www.templedavid.org/athome.

June and July at 9 p.m. on Zoom
August at 8:30 p.m. on Zoom
August 21 at 8 p.m. in-person at Monroeville Park or on Zoom

Havdalah is community focused and community led

Want to be a Havdalah leader? Randy and Marsha Boswell made a great instructional video for Temple David members:

After viewing the video, Stan or Randy can answer any questions you have, and then you’re ready to sign up to lead Havdalah.

For your first time leading, you might want to screen-share this video that’s similar to what we do at Temple David:

We also provide a free Havdalah candle for new leaders!

Thanks to our current leaders Rabbi Symons, Helen Dorra, Randy and Marsha Boswell, Reena Goldberg, James Corsale, and Stan Beck.

See you on Zoom, and invite your family and friends!

Published April 2021

Thank You!

Online creativity takes a lot of help, so I have gratitude for our talented, energetic, and dedicated members.

Thanks to Rabbi Symons for leading the Purim service, reading from the Book of Esther, and interviewing some of the lesser-known citizens of Shushan and the palace staff: wine steward Arin Keough; Shushan’s chef Rachael Farber; stable boy Jakob Williams; chief eunuch Fred Bortz; tax collector Harvey Wolfe; historian Ilana Yergin; and stake designer Jeff Baldel.

Thank you to everyone who sang in the virtual Purim sing-along: Kay, Reena, Andrea, Randy, Marsha, Helen, Greg, Henry, Sylvie, Arin, Gabby, Natalie, CJ, Carol, Bob, Sara, Cora, Elisa, Laura, Rachel, and Stan. Whew! Also, thanks to Rev. Bob Schaefer for his encouragement and technical assistance in putting the video together. This was a new endeavor for me.

Weekly Zoom Havdalah has been going well thanks to our leaders Rabbi Symons, the Casher-Dorra family, Randy and Marsha Boswell, the Goldberg family, and the Beck family. This is on Zoom for 10 to 15 minutes every Saturday night. Because the days are getting longer, you will find the start time on the temple calendar, in Next Ten Days, and on Temple David At-Home. We would like a few more leaders to be able to keep it going.

We are all especially grateful to Jay Goodman for his work on internal communications, which includes the bulletin, e-mails, and website updates that allow us to connect with Zoom for the many online experiences at Temple David. If you have an idea or request, please let me know.

Stan Beck,
Chair-Ritual Practices Committee
412-491-0313 or stanb@templedavid.org

Purim 2021

Purim Song Videos

Published January 2021

Virtual Purim Sing-A-Long

We’re creating a virtual sing-a-long for Purim this year, and we’re inviting everyone to join in: adults, children, members, friends, relatives, guests, individuals, groups. We’ll most likely be at home watching and singing, but Zoom doesn’t support group singing, so we’re putting together a Brady Bunch-style grid video, and we need your help.

This is a group sing with everyone singing the melody–there are no harmony parts to learn. No pressure for perfect, in-tune, singing. Mistakes are no problem. It’ll sound great when all the videos are combined, just like when we sing together in person.

We have detailed instructions for how to record your video at home. Use the song sheet to sing along with the audio guide. Submit your video, and we’ll combine them to show on Purim at the Zoom service. Then everyone can sing at home together with the video. Wear a costume for a virtual Purim party!

The combined performance will be shown after the Megillah reading on the evening of February 25, so we’d like your videos by February 1 to allow plenty of time for Stan to combine them. Click on the links for instructions, the song sheet, and the prerecorded audio guide. After you’ve recorded your video, upload it using the link. All of the links will be on the Temple David At-Home page for the full month of January.

Thank you for your participation! Call or text me if you have any questions or need help. Remember, it’s easy. No harmony parts to learn–just sing the melody along with the recording of Stan and his family. Kay Liss says, “If I can do it, so can you. It’s easy, and fun.”

Stan Beck,
Chair-Ritual Practices Committee
412-491-0313 or stanb@templedavid.org

Download the instructions: https://is.gd/tdpuriminstructions
Download the song sheet: https://is.gd/tdpurimsongsheets
Download the audio guide-track: https://is.gd/tdpurimaudio
Upload your completed video https://is.gd/tdpurimupload

Published November 2020

Thank You!

This year we couldn’t rely on using last year’s High Holy Day experience as a framework to improve upon. Fortunately, we had the past six months’ Zoom experience to build on. Thank you to Rabbi Symons and Beverly Reinhardt for adapting so beautifully with the addition of creative online elements. Thanks to all of our members who were open-minded and joined us. Also, thanks to our members who couldn’t join online, but connected from home in their own way.

Thanks to Marc Yergin for polishing the silver Torah ornaments–finials, breastplates, and pointers. We weren’t there to see the Torahs in person, but we appreciate it, and this is an example of the spiritual nature of the holidays.

Some members filled the service parts that Rabbi Symons selected. Thanks to Harlee Abromson, Elisa and Laura Beck, Heather Benes, Marsha and Randy Boswell, Greg and Helen Casher, Carol Congedo, Reena Goldberg, Linda and Jim Jones, JoAnn Lippock, Kay Liss, and Gail and Andy Schmitt. Thanks to our Torah and Haftarah readers and blessing chanters Stuart Abramson, Bruce Antonoff, Jeff Baldel, Heather Benes, Randy and Marsha Boswell, Carol Congedo, Jay Goodman, and Barbara and Ilana Yergin.

Thanks to our choir under the direction of our amazingly talented Norm Chapman, who used the online format to creative advantage. He also has the ability to bring out the best from Randy and Marsha Boswell, Carol Congedo, Jay Goodman, Kay Liss, Connie Schwartz, and Jan Zimmer. Randy and Norm took some great video and still photos that enhanced our services. Thanks to cellist Elise Feagley and to Tom Congedo for playing guitar and singing during the Memorial Service.

Thanks to our Zoom session hosts Bruce Antonoff, Elisa Beck, Randy and Marsha Boswell, Reena Goldberg, Jay Goodman, Brett and Mindy Pechersky, and Robin Sloan. Jay Goodman set up our Zoom sessions and kept the links available and secure on our website, while Stuart Abramson kept track of all of our guests and provided technical support.

With all of our services online, a few in-person experiences seemed essential. We decided to go ahead with Tashlich at Valley Park, and included a Zoom option. Thanks to Randy Boswell for clearing a path to Turtle Creek, and Elisa Beck for providing on-location Zoom video. Bruce Antonoff and Rabbi had the idea for another in-person experience with drive-in shofar on the roof. Alan Sloan helped Rabbi and me get onto the roof, and Nick Filotei gave us his time and technical expertise along with lending us the transmitter from Monroeville United Methodist Church to broadcast sound to everyone’s car radio. Thanks to Mark White for contacting the Monroeville Police Department and to MPD for their extra presence.

Another idea to connect with Temple David members was to hand deliver Gates of Repentance prayer books as part of a gift bag. Thanks to Reena Goldberg for ordering supplies; Stuart Abramson, Laura and Rachel Beck, Carol Gordon, Jim Jones, Mark and Joann White, and Nikke and Jacob Williams for assembling the bags and putting them in delivery order. Thanks to Heather Benes, who picked up the challah rolls at 7:30 a.m. on Erev Rosh Hashanah; Heather and her granddaughter Katelyn helped Reena add them to the bags. Thanks to our delivery teams of Stuart and Sally Abramson, Stan and Laura Beck, Heather Benes with Katelyn, Randy and Marsha Boswell, Lisa and Jacob Carney, Reena Goldberg and Harvey Wolfe, Jay Goodman, Marcine Hillman and Jan Zimmer, Linda and Jim Jones, JoAnn and David Lippock, Kay Liss, Miranda Nixon, Mike Scheinberg, Alan Sloan, and Leslie and Jim Snitger. The greeting cards with blessings were designed and created by Bruce Antonoff, Reena Goldberg, Jay Goodman, and Rabbi Symons. Stuart Abramson and Mary Bendorf provided the magnets with holiday dates and brochures from the Membership Committee.

Elaine Wolfe coordinated and expedited production of the memorial booklets to insert in the bags. Beverly printed the cards, the labels for the bags, and membership directories for each team. John Yakim and his bees provided the honey from their hives on Old Ramsey Road.

Thanks to Helen Dorra and her children Henry and Sylvie for purchasing and constructing our first family-sized sukkah, and providing craft materials and children’s activities. Laura Beck helped complete the walls and roof, and Jeff Baldel provided the furnishings. Thanks to our Simchat Torah players Fred Bortz, Randy and Marsha Boswell, Melissa Cooper, Barbara Fisher, Reena Goldberg, and David and Jan Zimmer. Thanks to JoAnn Lippock and the Religious Action Committee for organizing the food drives for Crossroads Food Pantry.

Thanks to the Ritual committee Bruce Antonoff (Ritual VP), Al DeRoy (Consultant), Helen Dorra, Barbara Fisher, Gail Schmitt, Rabbi Barbara Symons, Elaine Wolfe, and Barbara Yergin. The High Holy Day Committee met several times and provided advice and support; thanks to Bruce Antonoff, Reena Goldberg, Jay Goodman, and Rabbi Symons for all of their input, and for creating the mailings carried out by Beverly Reinhardt. Thanks to Kay Liss for helping Beverly with the pledge cards.

We’re looking for a new Ritual chair for next year. Refer to the above thank-yous for some of the greatest helpers in the world.

Stan Beck, Chair-Ritual Practices Committee
stanb@templedavid.org

P.S. From the Rabbi: Thank you to Stan Beck for his creativity, attention to detail, and involvement in all things-holidays.