Jewish High Holidays in the Age of Covid-19

Chabad of the Shoreline offers selection of outdoor high holiday services and packages for home celebrations.

Guilford, CT- This High Holiday season COVID-19 has created difficulties for many in joining a synagogue service in person on the Shoreline and across the country. For many there is no precedent for High Holidays outside the synagogue and alone.

Chabad of the Shoreline is offering a variety of services and packages to allow residents to celebrate the holidays with community or alone in a safe meaningful manner. There will be a particular focus on residents hearing the Shofar, the traditional rams horn, sounded on Sunday, September 20.

Services include traditional services in tents outdoors. Participants will adhere to all health guidelines with masks and social distancing. There will also be a completely outdoor short service with Shofar sounding and the “Tashlich” ceremony at a body of water. In between those services families, and individual, can come and have their own ten-minute private Shofar sounding ceremony.

“We want everyone to be able to experience the holiday safely. Everyone must RSVP and agree to follow the health guidelines on our website www.jewishoreline.org. We will also be training volunteers across the Shoreline in the art and rituals of sounding the Shofar, explains Rabbi Yaffe “This will allow them to sound the Shofar for family and friends who are not going to synagogue throughout the day”.

A lending library of prayer books and prayer shawls has been created for those praying at home.

In order to allow children to experience the High Holidays in a fun meaningful, age-appropriate way at home, Chabad has created a holiday box with activities and crafts.

Over 2000 Jewish homes on the Shoreline received a holiday guide with a deeper look at the Jewish holiday season.

To learn more about the holiday and to plan your own services, a website chockfull of prayers, classes, meditations and more is available to peruse and print out before the holiday at jewishoreline.org/highholidays

“On Rosh Hashanah we commit to renewal, return, repentance and acceptance of the sovereignty of the Almighty. It is a day of judgment but we celebrate it with a feast as well. We have confidence in the outcome of judgment because we enter the Divine courtroom with the knowledge that the Judge is our father.” explains Rabbi Yossi of Chabad.

We want to provide the physical celebration as well as the spiritual” says Rabbi Yossi. Just as Ezra the scribe tells the people on Rosh Hashanah in the book of Nehemiah, "Go, eat fat foods and drink sweet drinks and send portions to whoever has nothing prepared, for the day is holy to our Lord, and do not be sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Packages of the traditional holiday foods, such as round loafs of challah, and pomegranates will be distributed.

Kosher catered meals from Abel’s catering in Woodbridge will be delivered locally to the Shoreline. For anyone struggling financially, Chabad, with the help of local sponsors will cover the costs, allowing everyone to celebrate the Jewish New Year in the best possible manner.

For the complete schedule, to RSVP, to order any of the packages and offerings, or just for more Holiday information, please visit our website www.jewishoreline.org or email us at chabad@snet.net

PRESS CONTACT:

Yossi Yaffe 203-645-4635 chabad@snet.net. (Note: In keeping with Jewish practice, Rabbi Yossi will be unable to answer phone calls or email inquiries on the holiday, which begins Friday, Sept 18 at sunset.

About Chabad of the Shoreline

Chabad Lubavitch of the Shoreline seeks to connect Jews of all ages with their heritage of Torah and mitzvos through innovative programming, educational projects, and communal events. By experiencing the joys of Judaism, individuals and families can build a community and enrich their lives.

For more information visit www.jewishoreline.org

About Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, begins this year at sundown on September 18 through nightfall on September 20. Literally meaning “head of the year,” the two-day holiday commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of introspection and repentance that culminates in the Yom Kippur holiday. For more information about Rosh Hashanah, visit www.jewishoreline.org/HighHolidays.

About the Shofar

The shofar is the central symbol of Rosh Hashanah, which is celebrated near the beginning of each fall. Synagogues blast the shofar every day for a month leading up to the holiday, culminating with a sequence of 100 blasts during the Rosh Hashanah services, which take place this year on September 20. The cry of the shofar is our coronation of G-d as king. It is also a call to repentance as Jews look back at misdeeds of the past year and resolve to improve during the coming one. From more on the shofar, visit www.jewishoreline.org/Shofar

NOTE: The shofar is only sounded on Sunday, September 20. While Rosh Hashanah services will also take place the preceding day — Saturday, September 19 and the evening of Friday September 18— the Shofar is not sounded on the Sabbath.