Brooklyn.
When I was a teenager, a very large Synagogue in NYC would broadcast their Sabbath services each Friday afternoon over radio station, WQXR. I would listen religiously when sundown was late in the day. While the content of the service was Reform in nature (not my religious orientation), I still felt there was something very powerful about disseminating a Sabbath service to the greater public. It gave people who would not frequent a house of worship the opportunity to participate: the unaffiliated; shut-ins; and even a professor of mine who would listen in his car on the way to the Hamptons.
I felt that I would like to replicate that idea in some way in the future. While I am personally fully observant and encourage my community to observe more, outreach is a very important goal of mine so the idea of broadcasting religious services always remained at the back of my mind.
I began to do YouTube videos and Podcasts in 2014. Topics would range from the weekly Torah portion to social and political issues. However, I had never had the opportunity to conduct a live service on-line.
Enter the COVID Era
At the very beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, I put out a press release that our services would go completely virtual. Then, we had to learn how to do it!
I knew that Zoom was popular, but I initially found the format overwhelming. I am the kind of person who needs full concentration while performing a task, so background noise does not lend itself to a great broadcast by me.
We first tried Facebook Live for our Pre-Sabbath services. The format came with too many glitches. We weren’t even sure exactly when we were on or off the air! We then transitioned to YouTube Live.
However, since some of our older members were not well versed in using the internet efficiently, we would simultaneously give people a dial-in option on a conference line. It did not go very well.
There was way too much noise, and some folks had trouble staying muted. On one occasion, I remember overhearing a person ordering a pizza pie. His order was broadcast over YouTube Live. It was distracting, and I don’t even remember if the listener was ordering kosher or not. In retrospect, the incident was hilarious, but it prompted us to do away with the conference line!
We ended up conducting services, classes and events on both YouTube and Zoom.
It was helpful that our internet services were recognized last April 2020 when we conducted a broadcast of a Passover Seder live on YouTube. We received a visit from an Associated Press reporter who wrote a story about it which became international news. The recognition meant a great deal especially since we do not regularly solicit funds for the work we do. We got more visitors and some funding.
Challenges
Because we are a Modern-Orthodox congregation, we are unable to broadcast on Sabbath and Jewish Holidays. This is based upon our principle that the Sabbath is a day of rest. On the seventh day, God rested and so, among other things, observant Jews refrain from using technology on that day. We came up with the idea of conducting “Pre-Sabbath” internet services on Fridays prior to sundown and broadcasting some services during the week as well.
There was also the realization that since people are not physically present they could easily walk in and out. We needed services that were long enough to be meaningful but not so long that the online experience became too taxing. For this reason, our services and classes rarely run over 30 minutes unless it is a special Holiday or event.
In the first couple of months, we experienced many technical difficulties. Last Fall, we upgraded our internet system to the highest speed available. The decision was costly, but it did put an end to most of the ancillary technical issues we experienced in the past.
Online has grown our community
All our services, classes and events are kept very basic. You do not have to be deeply immersed in religion to fully participate in our on-line activities. They are relatable. We have people from all over the Country. They feel we are putting God in their reach. Outsiders now have an inside scoop into the Jewish religion.
Membership has also increased. This was somewhat surprising.
We also take great pride in the diversity of our online congregation, something that is similar to our normal congregation. We have the observant watching along with the non-observant. Their knowledge ranges from the beginner level to the learned. We have young and old. Our participants are also diverse politically.
In that spirit, our topics are relevant and presented in a non-partisan way. I might mention a political issue but only to illustrate an important religious or spiritual value. I believe that politics in the service of religion can often make for a very effective discussion. However, we keep a careful distance from using religion in the service of politics.
We have gotten some very positive feedback. People also like the inter-personal nature of our services. Participants have the opportunity to key in names of loved ones who are either ill or have entered the peace of life-eternal. Many times people will also share some good news in their lives as well. In this way we share all of life’s journeys together in a most meaningful way.
We are also able to do life-cycle events such as weddings and Bar Mitzvahs through Zoom. Families really appreciate this alternative.
In-fact, our congregation now offers on-line membership. For more information, please visit!
The return to normalcy
Over the spring, we have begun to gradually get together in-person. However, we plan on continuing our online activities. Vaccinations will allow this changeover. However, it is unlikely that things will be normal in the way we were used to. Some people will want to continue the Zoom services because they are uncomfortable still with in-person interaction.
My wife Adina is the first person to give good advice about our in-person activities. She tells me, “Speaking for myself, it means that I weigh the risks and benefits of my choices in doing anything social.” Before the synagogue plans an in-person event, there is a lot of checking with members regarding their comfort level. Parents requested some symbolic events for their children, so during Hanukkah last winter, the synagogue had an outdoor menorah lighting in the backyard for our Hebrew school.
She is very attentive to the communal aspects of our congregation. “Our goal with the synagogue is obviously to be a place of prayer, but also a place of community—serving God,” she says. Particularly during COVID, we need each other and know that we have support. Paradoxically perhaps, online has done that for the last year.
Rabbi Shlomo Segal is the Spiritual Leader of Kehilat Moshe of Southern Brooklyn
