president

We are a strong and resilient community and together we are facing the challenges of these very difficult times.  For the first time in two years we observed Rosh Hashanah together and in person.  We had to be masked and everyone had to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination, but we did it.  We even made it a hybrid event with an online option. It took a lot of hard work from many dedicated and creative people, but we did it.   Thank you Rabbi Dean, Cantor Shayndel, the Ritual Committee (Jane Durango, Maggie Jacobs, Alan Marks, Carl Nelson, Michelle Husby) and our Reopening Committee (Linda Rose, Lucinda Casson, Louise Snitz). And a special thank you to Michelle Husby who has been navigating confusing and often contradictory information. 

Unfortunately, our challenges persist. COVID-19 is not magically going away.  We must continue to adapt to ever changing conditions.  Climate change is real.  We have witnessed wildfires, hurricanes, and floods.  And that is just in the past week.  Here in Richmond we have to prepare for hotter temperatures and longer more intense wildfire seasons. We need to protect ourselves from smoke and viruses and that requires improved air circulation and filtration in our sanctuary.  To accomplish that we need to replace the circa 1964 heating system.

Our recent High Holy Days appeals have consistently been for others.  I think this year we can do something for ourselves.  Since, for health and safety reasons, we need to replace our sanctuary heaters, let’s do something nice for ourselves and add air conditioning.  We deserve it.  

Please use the links provided below to make your donations to help insure both our safety and our comfort.

See you in person or online for Kol Nidre.  Shanah tovah u’metukah (a good and sweet year)   שָׁנָה טוֹבָה וּמְתוּקָה.

We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?   -Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel

Rosh Hashanah begins Monday night.  Last year I was sure that this year we would be back in our sanctuary with the pandemic behind us.  Well, man plans and God laughs.  The Delta Variant is forcing us to find new ways to observe our High Holy Days and I think that because of the hard work, the dedication and the creativity of Rabbi Dean, Cantor Shayndel, the Ritual committee (Jane Durango, Maggie Jacobs, Alan Marks, Carl Nelson, Michael Cohen, Michelle Husby) and the Reopening Committee (Linda Rose, Lucinda Casson, Louise Snitz, Michael Cohen) we will be able to safely gather simultaneously outside in person and online for meaningful services.

I look forward to seeing you either vaccinated and masked or virtually online and want to wish you shanah tovah u’metukah (a good and sweet year)   שָׁנָה טוֹבָה וּמְתוּקָה.

 We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?   -Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel

I have not known Josh Genser as long or as well as some of you, but I have known him long enough to know what he has meant to our TBH community and our community beyond our synagogue.  He has helped tremendously with everything TBH from Buildings and Grounds, the Annual Men’s Weekend, the Hanukkah Latke Party, to our Rosh Hashanah afternoon gatherings at his home, and of course his pro bono legal work.   I know I speak for all of us when I say that we will miss him.
Josh’s passing reminds me that our tomorrows are not guaranteed and Josh’s life inspires me to try to help “…build the world that God wants us to help build.” (Rabbi Dean). As mortals, we do not know how much more time we have, so “Teach us to number our days, that we receive a wise heart.” (Psalm 90).  Let’s make every day count.
There really is no time to quibble or argue, or gossip.  We may disagree at times, but we need to be kind to each other.  As we approach our High Holy Days observances, please remember that there are a lot of people trying the best we can to do something we have never done before.  I am confident that our services will be meaningful, but there may be inconveniences.  Please be patient with us and be patient with each other.  We are a strong caring community and we can do this.

We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when? 
-Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel

Reading  Rabbi Dean’s words about honesty and trust caused me to think about what honesty and trust look like in synagogue leadership.  Although we are far from perfect, the officers and board of TBH strive for honesty and transparency in order to earn your trust.  Other than the personnel and personal matters that we are required to keep confidential, we have no secrets.  All of our board meetings are open to the entire congregation and are listed in the Weekly Update along with the Zoom link.  The minutes of our meetings are available for your perusal, and I encourage you to contact me (president@tbhrichmond.org) with any concerns.  We serve the Temple Beth Hillel community, our community does not serve us.
This month we are making a lot of difficult choices for our High Holy Days observances.  It is essential that they be meaningful, and even more essential that they be safe.  Compared to last year, much more is known about Covid-19 and we have powerful vaccines available to us, but we have to balance that with concerns about the Delta variant surge.
Please do your part by providing Louise with proof of vaccination for yourself, your family, and any guests that will attend our services.  Please read, understand, and follow the protocols contained in this Weekly Update.  If you are not vaccinated or are not comfortable attending our in person outdoor services, please join us online.  Finally, please make reservations so that we know how many chairs to put out.
Meanwhile, for Shabbat let’s take some time to breathe, to unwind, and to appreciate what we have.  We live in a fantastic place.  We have redwoods and beaches nearby.  We have visual and performing art and a wonderfully diverse community rich in cultures and, yes, food.  We have possibly the best weather in the world.  And most importantly, we have each other.  Shabbat Shalom.

We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when? 
-Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel
Read last week’s letter

We’ll do the best we can with what we’ve got.  As a teacher and theater artist and now as Temple Beth Hillel president I lived/live by these words.  We could bemoan all sorts of setbacks and challenges or we can forge ahead and do the best we can under the given circumstances.  

Not so long ago we were anticipating the end of this pandemic and a return to nearly normal, but circumstances have changed.  With the Delta variant surge there really is no end in sight.  So, what do we do?  Do we seek to assign blame?  Do we rant about how difficult things are?  Or, do we work with what we’ve got?

I say we work with what we’ve got to hold our community together. We have significant obstacles to overcome, but I am confident we can do it – starting with our High Holy Days observances.  

For  safety we will hold our services outdoors and we will require everyone who attends to provide proof of vaccination.  It may be cold at night and it may be hot during the day and there might be delays while we check everyone in, but if we are kind to each other we can do it.  We can come together as a community to pray on these very holy days.  

We will do our very best to make the experience meaningful and safe and available online to those who can’t be with us in person,  but we have never done this before.  So please be kind if something goes wrong.  Please realize that we are all inconvenienced and we are all in this together.   

Meanwhile, for this Shabbat let’s take some time to breathe, to unwind.  This morning, Mercedes reminded me that we live in a fantastic place.  We have redwoods and beaches nearby.  We have visual and performing art and a wonderfully diverse community rich in cultures and, yes, food.  We have possibly the best weather in the world.  And most importantly, we have each other.  Shabbat Shalom. 

 We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?   -Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel

Three steps forward and two steps back and five steps sideways – that’s how we are progressing toward reopening for in person events. 

As I am writing this on Wednesday, August 4, concerns about the Delta variant are causing us to take two steps back and delay returning to in person Shabbat services until it is safer to gather indoors.  Meanwhile we will continue to pray together online.

For the High Holy Days, we are taking five steps sideways and planning for all services to be held outside.  We are in the process of acquiring all the elements needed to make our observance comfortable, meaningful and safe.  We will have outdoor sound and lighting, and we are planning to get heaters for the evening services.

We are taking three steps forward by upgrading our internet service, acquiring the equipment needed for hybrid in person and online events, and providing air filtration in our sanctuary.  A contract has been signed with Comcast and we will soon complete our broadband high speed internet installation.  We are evaluating specific models of equipment and prices to give us hybrid capability.  We have documented and are still documenting the vaccination status of our community members.  And, we have received the first of three planned bids for replacing our very old heater furnaces in our sanctuary with new more efficient units that include air conditioning and HEPA filtration.

Of course we all know the Yiddish adage, “Der mentsh trakht un Got lakht.  Man plans and God laughs.”  With conditions and recommendations changing day to day and hour to hour,  all our plans are subject to change.  The only thing I am certain of is that with our dedication, creativity, and the strong spiritual leadership of Rabbi Dean and Cantor Shayndel, our community will get through this with pikuach nefesh guiding us.  We will do everything we can to protect the health and safety of all of us. 

 We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?   -Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel

As we turn a corner in the Jewish ritual calendar and our celebration of the Feder/Windrix wedding marks our return to in person events, I feel we are turning a pandemic corner as well. 

Of course, the Delta variant is concerning, but I still feel that overall we are emerging from our isolation.  Increasing COVID-19 infection rates demand that we use all due caution to protect the health of all of us, but I think we can do it.  

For example, we are going forward with our plans to observe the High Holy Days in person.   We are preparing for several options from all our services indoors and in person to services outside, to services online, and we are preparing combinations of all of these – some to happen simultaneously.  We are preparing to adapt our plans and protocols to federal state and county conditions and recommendations.  We want our observances to be meaningful and safe and I am confident we can do it, but we do need your help.

If you have not already done so, please provide your evidence of vaccination.  (Directions are in the following article.). This is essential to our plans.  Without the vaccines, we would still be isolated and holding all events online.     

Meanwhile, congratulations Judy Windrix and Mel Feder on your wedding Sunday.  We wish you many happy and healthy years together.  May your celebration be the first of many celebrations to come for our TBH community. 

 We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?   -Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel

As we adapt our reopening plan to current guidelines, a difference between what we can do and what we should do is emerging once again.  Even under California Tier restrictions churches (synagogues?) were granted exemptions from most restrictions by the US Supreme Court (South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom) and now with Tier Restrictions becoming guidelines we can legally meet with no Covid precautions.  But should we? 

Rabbi Dean wrote that “Morals, values, wonder, these are the reasons for religion.”  Our Jewish morals and values are the core of who we are and command us to uphold the sanctity of human life.  In order to do so we must proceed with an abundance of caution.  In order to protect the most vulnerable among us, we need to verify vaccinations or negative tests and with the emergence of the Delta variant, we must require everyone to wear masks.  I know masks are not always comfortable and requiring everyone to submit proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test may seem a little intrusive, but we must protect the health and lives of all of us.

 We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?   -Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel

As we slowly and cautiously emerge from this pandemic I have been thinking about COVID silver linings.  I know it’s a reach.  What can possibly be good about this past year and a half?  Well, I will try to list some things.

I think we have learned a lot about ourselves, our tenacity, our creativity, and our adaptability.  We managed to stay together as a community while we were physically apart.  We learned to use new, to many of us, technology and we learned about precautions used to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.  And I think we have learned to appreciate each other more than before. 

Now, we need to apply the things we have learned to our future together.  For example, as we reopen for in person events, online services, classes and meetings can be a matter of accessibility and convenience rather than necessity.  With what we have learned and are learning about the technology, members of our community will be able to attend and even participate in events even if health, geography, or busy schedules prevent them from being at our synagogue.

Another COVID silver lining is that we really didn’t have a cold and flu season.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could use what we learned about hand washing, social distancing, and mask wearing to prevent colds and flu?  I hope that some of these precautions can be integrated into our new normal. 

However, I think the most meaningful Covid silver lining is that in a time of physical isolation we have learned how important we are to each other.  Joni Mitchell sang, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”  I think this is true of many of the things that have been gone during this pandemic.  I hope that I will never again take visiting loved ones, attending the theater and making theater, or going to a ballgame for granted. And I hope that we never take gathering in prayer in our sanctuary or being together to learn or to socialize for granted. 

 We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?   -Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel

It’s summer and not much is happening at Temple Beth Hillel, right?  The religious school is on summer break and the next major holiday is still a couple months away, right?

Well, not really-especially this year.  We have seated a new board.  We celebrated a Bar Mitzvah, a new baby just joined or will soon join our community, we will be celebrating a wedding soon, we are working on our plan to reopen for in person events, and soon we will be preparing for the High Holy Days.  

Although we have reason to be optimistic that we will soon be able to emerge from our Covid cocoons, we still face emotional, logistic, and fiscal challenges that will persist for a while.

We have learned much wandering in our pandemic desert.  How many of us knew what Zoom was before March, 2020?  I know I didn’t and now it is an essential part of our lives.  I am amazed at how well we have adapted and stayed together which gives me confidence that together we will overcome our challenges and thrive.  

I doubt things will be the same as before and the way we always did things may no longer work, but we have proved that we are creative and resilient.  I am excited about our future and eager to be together again in person.

 We are Temple Beth Hillel.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am not for others, what am I?

And if not now, when?   -Rabbi Hillel

~ Michael R Cohen, President, Temple Beth Hillel