From the President – December 31, 2020
So, what’s next? What will our post pandemic future look like? I suspect that things will not return to our pre pandemic normal. I hope that we have learned from our experiences and we can use this hard- earned knowledge to move forward and create a new normal. I suspect that Zoom and other forms of distance meeting will remain part of our lives, not as a tool of necessity, but rather as a tool of choice. I imagine some TBH events employing a hybrid of in person and virtual means, but I have no idea how that will work. There are issues that we will have to work on together and unknown challenges ahead, but I am confident that we will solve these issues, overcome our challenges and emerge even stronger than ever. As a start, if all goes as planned, by spring our internet service will be connected by fiber optics which will give us the bandwidth to stream from our synagogue, increase our security with more cameras, and more. I choose to be excited about our future.
For now, as 2021 begins with our Shabbat service tonight, we will stay together while safely distanced until we are sure it is safe to gather in person. Religious School classes will resume, Rabbi Dean’s Adult Ed classes will continue, Cantor Shayndel’s Torah Trope classes will begin, and preparations for our first Purim Spiel in many years are progressing toward a Zoom presentation. We have been and will be facing the challenges of Covid-19 with determination, creativity, persistence, and faith.
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
From the President – January 7, 2021
January 7, 2021 by tbhrich • president
Following the death of my stepmother, a Holocaust survivor, I felt that the responsibility to tell the cautionary story of the Shoah fell to my generation and to me. I decided to produce and direct The Diary of Anne Frank at Rosemead High School, a majority minority school east of Los Angeles. The challenge was to get the students to make an intimate connection with a young girl and her family who died long before they were born and in a faraway land. I knew that group of kids was special, but was still surprised when every member of the cast gave up a Sunday to visit the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. We were fortunate that we arrived just in time to hear Elizabeth Mann, a survivor, tell her story that brought the entire audience to tears. While we exited Ms. Mann hugged each teary eyed student and gathered the cast together.
“I want you to promise me two things,” she said. “Never give in to hate, because hate and fear caused all of this. And never lose hope, for without hope even in my worst times in the camps, I would not be here today.”
Although we are living in a difficult time, I remember the advice of Elizabeth Mann who survived the very worst of times. I refuse to lose hope. I know that our amazing community will survive our challenges and emerge from this pandemic stronger and more appreciative of each other.
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