ZOOM, golly, golly, golly! As the shutdowns began and Synagogues emptied it almost seemed as if the song had ended.  Cantorial Concerts across the country, and even in the world were cancelled due to the pandemic.  Bimas across the globe became barren and hushed. Sanctuaries seemed suddenly hauntingly silent.  And then there was Zoom.  When it became clear that during the Pandemic we could no longer gather in our sacred spaces to lead davening, to raise money for our Synagogues through Concerts, or to teach, we Cantors found another avenue, another opportunity to continue the song. 

Through technology, Cantors across the globe were able to continue davening, continue performing concerts, and continue teaching Bar/Bat Mitzvah and students of all ages about our Prayers, Chanting the Torah, and the rich history of our Musical Tradition.  Cantors began offering Kabbalat Shabbat Sing-a-longs on Zoom, Facebook, and even YouTube livestream.  We offered concerts to our communities, not for “Fund-Raising” but for “Fun”-Raising giving our congregants a well needed respite from the daily stress of Covid.  Many of us worked in coordination with each other to help organizations like JNF; UJA; USCJ; and many other worthy causes. 

During this time I had the opportunity to work on a Sub-Group of the USCJ Covid-Task Force on utilizing Zoom and other on-line Meeting Technologies.  I worked with Rabbis and Executive Directors on our team.  Our sub-group discussed ways to continue having services, classes, and even preparing for what would be the most unusual High Holy Days any of us have experienced in our lifetimes.   The most important thing was that regardless of the situation in which we found ourselves, our traditions would continue. 

My colleagues and I have been working and putting much thought into how to provide the most spiritual services in these new formats for worship.  Every prayer has been studied in new ways and it has been amazing to implement and watch as we all grasp onto these new ways of providing spiritual connection through our T’fillah.  It’s also been sad to let go, at least for 2020, of long standing traditions, like Hin’ni, the Cantor’s prayer, and the drama of Kol Nidre three times.

Our song keeps going, the music keeps playing, and our Prayers continue to flow regardless of the situation.  We all gathered together on a Jewish version of “Hollywood Squares”.  We prayed together, we learned together, we sang together.  We found out that regardless of the situation – the Jewish Community will continue as strong as ever.  

Zoom has many challenges.  To keep sound from becoming cacophony we have to sometimes mute each other or ourselves.  Regardless, our song continued.  We have not missed a Minyan since we moved to this format.  Life-cycle events were presented on Zoom.  The Zoom Bar/Bat Mitzvah became a hit, having family members who would not be able to attend under normal circumstances joining in.  Our song did not end.  We celebrated Pesach on Zoom – families connecting with family members, whom they had not seen in many years, joining in on the Zoom Seder.  Shabbat Meals were shared with family members throughout the world on Zoom.  And through all of this our song continued. 

At DHJC we purchased a livestreaming service from Live-Control.  At our High Holy Days we had a very successful hybrid style service with a limited number of congregants in the Sanctuary and others able to watch our services on livestream in the comfort of their homes.  Members who have not attended in many years due to health or distance were able to join in to our DHJC services.  Our Bima is no longer silent  – our song did not end. 

No-one can say how long we will be in this situation.  No-one can say if we will ever go back to the way we were.  But through all of this we must remember: that regardless of what happens in the world around us – we here at DHJC continue as strong as ever.  We are TEAM DHJC and all that implies.  We will move forward and adapt.  For our song will never end.