High Holy Days 2020/5781
Dear Temple Members and Friends of Beth Israel:
We’re doing our best to prepare for High Holy Days. A few things are certain (and calming to know): Rabbi Lader and Larry Sheir will be on the Bima for all of our services; Beryl Palnik will be present for all of the Shofar portions. The schedule remains quite similar to past years. The biggest change, of course, will be the use of Simulcast links for the services held in our sanctuary. Ritual Chairperson, Luis Fernandez, Rabbi Lader, and I considered all of the possible options and, frankly, we did not have many realistic ones to choose from! We will include links to the broadcasts in our weekly newsletters.
Truth be told, we don’t want to lose the fairly regular donations that come in during the Days of Awe. It’s no secret that our general fund depends on your High Holiday donations to ‘keep the lights on’ and pay our salaried personnel.
Yizkor Services and Book of Memory
There will be two opportunities for Yizkor, one after the Yom Kippur Morning Service at 12:30 p.m., and a full Yizkor Service at 5:00 p.m. at the conclusion of the Afternoon Service. Remembering loved ones who have passed away, and all that they meant to us, has always been a part of the thoughtful reflections of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Our Yizkor booklet—the Book of Memory—will be prepared and references will be made to the prayers it contains during both the Yizkor services. If the names of your loved ones appeared in last year’s Booklet, you may advise us to “Reprint without changes” or “Make changes as indicated.” If you are adding names for the first time, space has been provided for that purpose. Please help us by completing the form and sending it back to us by September 15, 2020. Booklets will be posted on our website before Yom Kippur; if you would like to have a hard copy, please let us know.
Suggested Donations
At this time of year, in honor of the holiday, and in memory of loved ones, we ask our Members for a financial contribution to Beth Israel with a suggested minimum contribution of $100.00 from each member household and $150.00 from nonmembers.1 Any additional amount is greatly appreciated.
How to get your High Holy Day Prayer Book
Prayer books, calendar for the New Year, BI-TWT’s four-fold calendar of activities for the coming year, and yahrzeit/memorial candles will be available to pick up from the temple on:
- Sunday, September 13th – 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, September 15th – 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
If needed, please call the temple office (216-941-8882) to make other arrangements.
L’Shanah Tovah Tikateivu,
Peter A. Sackett
President Board of Trustees
1 Please note that should you decide to become a member, your High Holiday donation will be applied towards your membership dues