covid19updates

Good Morning Young Israel Family,

TGIF - Thank God, it is Erev Shabbos!!

Looking back at this past week, it is hard not to feel "wow, what a week it has been!". Our Young Israel is closed, schools are closed, work has been moved home, social distancing is all over -- our world has been turned upside down.

At the same time, I think about the incredible strength each of us has shown these past few days - managing shutdowns, juggling family, work and chesed, stepping up for those in need, reaching out to others and, not any less significant, getting to this Friday! Kol HaKavod -- we should all be proud of what this week has turned out to be for each one of us and our community as a whole. I certainly am! 

As we transition into a Shabbat perhaps unlike we have ever experienced before, it is an opportunity to reflect and celebrate these victories and successes and use them to propel us forward - through Shabbat and into next week. Below, you will find my top 10 tips for enhancing this upcoming Shabbat (plus a bonus feature courtesy of the Porat family!!).

Additionally, I hope you will join us for some of the exciting virtual opportunities for us to still 'Shabbat' together! Either before Shabbat or afterward, I encourage you to come online and connect with our Young Israel family and our cherished community! 

As always, and especially now, please know that Miriam and I are here for you and anything you may need! Please don't hesitate to reach out! 

Have a wonderful day, filled with strength and good health, 

Rabbi Tuvia Brander

Below, this email includes various updates and resources for our community - please read it thoroughly and carefully and utilize it as appropriate.

(1) Week-In-Review
(2) Friday Tefillah Zoom Continues
(3) Let's Still Do Shabbat: Pre & Post Shabbat Programs 
(4) Ten Tips For Preparing For This Shabbat
(5) Shabbat Schedule & Davening Instructions
(6) Next Week's Minyan & Classes Schedule 
(7) Addressing Financial/Resource Needs -- LET US KNOW!
(8) Zoom Info and Instructions/Assistance for those not yet connected
(9) Young Israel COVID-19 Information Repository

(2) Daily Tefillah Zoom - Virtual Davening Together 
Add some Tefillah and Torah to your routine, join us for our twice daily virtual davening get-together. Together, we can still harness the power of prayer together by davening at the same time. 

This morning, Friday, we will be davening Shacharit at 6:45 AM.

See below for next week's schedule.
Direct computer link: www.youngisraelwh.org/zoom

(3) Let's Still Do Shabbat: Pre & Post Shabbat Programs


As we prepare for a very different sort of Shabbat this week, we will be hosting a number of virtual ways for us to still "Shabbat" Together!

Friday morning at 11:45 am, we will be hosting our Tot Shabbat Groups for children 6 and under.

Friday afternoon, everyone is invited and encouraged to join us for a Pre-Shabbat Musical Kabbalat Shabbat!

Plus, after Shabbat, don't miss our communal Havdallah and our adult Melaveh Malka Virtual Hangout afterwards!

All of them can be accessed either by computer (youngisraelwh.org/zoom) or on the phone by calling 1 (646) 558-8656 and using the Meeting ID: 685 094 0946#.

(4) 10 Tips To Enhance Your Shabbat This Week!!
1. Print out something uplifting to read on Shabbat. Here is the one day of the week that we have to focus on our spiritual aspirations. In the absence of communal prayer, let’s think proactively about alternative ways to allow our spirits to soar.

2. Reach out to someone older or under quarantine. Let them know that they are not alone and that you are thinking of them.

3. Download and print Yair Lichtman's Youth Shabbat Survival Guide (here) with Becca Maurer's pre-Shabbat activity (here)

4. Dress for Shabbat. We won’t be in shul, but we can still accord Shabbat the dignity and kavod it so richly deserves by dressing as if we were going to shul. 

5. If we can’t daven together literally, let’s at least daven together at the same time. We’ll start our Morning davening at home at 9am. (I promise we’ll end before 11am.)

6. Please recite this special Tefillah for the victims of the coronavirus.

7. Think about someone you miss seeing in shul. Either call them before Shabbat or make a mental note to call him/her after Havdalah.

8. Think about a favorite shul moment from Shabbat morning. 

9. Sing. I know that in my own life, shul is the place where I do the most singing. Join us for our musical Kabbalat Shabbat and sing with us AND join us for a communal Havdalah as well. You can either Zoom in from a computer or just call in on your phone. (go to youngisraelwh.org/zoom)

10. Our conversation and our mental energy have become entirely consumed by the coronavirus. As Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, Shabbat is a sanctuary in time. We may not be in our literal sanctuary, but we can still use Shabbat to carve out this temporal sanctuary. Conservatively, let’s set aside an hour during which talk and thought of coronavirus is off limits. (And then I would invite you to transport this model into the rest of the week.)

PLUS!! Just to bring a little bit of the Young Israel to you, I am thrilled to share this short taste of Shabbat services at our shul (courtesy of the Porat family!)

(5) Shabbat Schedule & Davening Instructions

Shabbat Schedule

Candle Lighting tomorrow is 6:45 PM

Under conditions in which we are unable to pray together in the same space, our sages felt that praying together at the same time serves as a virtual-bridge between us and binds our prayers into a force beyond compare.

Let us all, to the extent that we can, aim to begin davening Mincha, Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv in our homes tonight as Shabbat comes in (around 6:46 PM) and tomorrow at 9am (the latest time for the Shacharit Amidah is 10:56 am; the latest time for the Shema is 9:55 am). The earliest time for Mincha is 1:28 pm-which should ideally be davened before seudah shlishit, which in turn, should begin sometime before 7:04 pm.
 
Davening Protocol

• Certain parts of Tefilah are omitted when davening individually:
  • including Barachu, Kaddish, Chazarat ha-Shatz (the repetition of the Amidah), and Kedusha
  • Friday night: Omit the blessing of Magen Avos (beracha achat me'ein shevah) after the Shemoneh Esrei of Maariv.
  • Shabbat day: Omit Berich Shemeih (yes Matthew). Ashkenazim also omit Yekum Perkan and Av Ha-Rachamim (since it is Shabbat HaChodesh).
• Pitum HaKetoret, which follows Ein Kelokeinu, is seen as a particularly potent prayer at a time of need, especially in the context of the spread of disease, as the incense
• At the end of davening, Tehillim (Psalm) 130 can be added as a way of focusing our attention on the dire needs of those suffering from the virus and in the hopes that our actions will limit its spread and severity.  
• Birchat HaChodesh (Blessing the New Month) is recited as this week is Shabbat Mevarchim. Rosh Chodesh Nisan yihyeh b'yom HaChamishi (Rosh Chodesh Nisan will be on Thursday). The Molad will be Tuesday (morning) 10:14am and 11 Chalakim (Jerusalem Time)

Torah Reading
While Torah reading, in its most ideal sense, requires a true Sefer Torah, in lieu of that possibility our best option is to read the Parsha (Vayakhel & Pekudei), the Maftir (HaChodesh), and the Haftarah (Chodesh) from a whole Tanakh. If one doesn't have a whole Tanakh at home, reading from a Chumash is the next best option. Artscroll has generously made available this week's Parsha and Haftorah for free; you can download and print a copy here: https://artscroll.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/vayakhel-pekudei-download.pdf
The reading for Mincha need not be read from a Tanakh or Chumash, and reading it in the back the siddur suffices.
 
Havdalah:
Please make Havdalah in your homes once Shabbat has departed, after 7:47pm. At 8 pm, everyone is then invited to participate in a community-wide virtual Havdalah, on our Zoom (log on instructions below). Though one cannot fulfill the obligation to say Havdalah through technological media (unless under pressing circumstances), one is welcome to say 'Amen' to any berakhot heard contemporaneously (i.e. live).

(6) Next Week's Schedule
Minyan Times
Mincha Maariv next week will be at 6:55 PM. We will begin Mincha together followed by a chapter of Tehillim and short D'var Halakha from Rabbi Brander in memory of those whom we are saying Kadish for and concluding with Maariv. 
Shacharit, Sunday, will be at 8:15 AM and Monday-Friday at 7:00 AM.


Classes
Sunday morning at 9 am join Rabbi Brander's Talmud Class
Monday morning at 11 am join Yair Litchman exploring Rav Moshe Feinstein's Position on Cheating On Tests
Wednesday at 11:45 join Rabbi Brander's parasha lunch'n'learn - Pondering the Parasha

Also, stay tuned for a series on exploring the practical aspects of making Pesach, especially this year, including a review of kashering, cleaning for Pesach as well as a look on how to lead a seder this year!

Plus, we are in the process of finalizing a virtual support group focusing on how to deal with anxiety, isolation from social distancing and getting along with your household members.  

(7) Addressing Financial/Resources Needs
As a community, we are here to help each other.  We recognize that the financial and resource tolls of this crisis will only grow.  We are preparing to support our community on many levels.  If you are in current need or expect to be in need, please contact Rabbi Brander or Les Loew so we can begin to assess need, prepare and provide immediate support.  If you'd like to offer support, please donate here.

(8) Zoom Info and  Instructions
Remember all Young Israel Zoom-based Meeting will have same log on information!! 
To join Zoom online on your computer or smartphone go to: www.youngisraelwh.org/zoom
You can also connect simply by calling in! Just dial our special conference call: 1 646 558 8656 and when asked key in our Meeting ID: 685 094 0946 followed by # and then another #. 

Especially in these trying times, we want everyone to be able to connect together! If you are not sure how to use Zoom yet, here is a great tutorial: CLICK HERE. Also, we are happy to send someone to your home to set it up and make sure you have the ease of access you need to connect with the many different programs coming your way. Lastly, did you know that you don't even need a computer to use Zoom -- you can easily connect with a simple phone call -- just dial our special conference call: 1 646 558 8656 and when asked key in our Meeting ID: 685 094 0946 followed by # and then another #. 

(9)Young Israel COVID-19 Information Repository
All the emails that we are sending about Covid-19 are posted to our website at www.youngisraelwh.org/covid19