2025 High Holidays
Dear members and friends,
Like last year, we are hosting hybrid services for most of the High Holidays.
What we mean by hybrid services is an online platform – Zoom – that will host the service.
Members that are attending the services in person will meet in the TBS Sanctuary. Members
that are attending the services virtually will join the service on Zoom. It is our intention that
where you are physically should not matter with respect to participating in the services.
Everyone should be connected in real time visually and audially.
We are offering these services to our own religious community, but also to the larger West
Shore community. For security reasons, we are requiring all attendees to register separately for
each service they plan to attend, whether in-person or on zoom (see below).
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Registration Instructions
Option 1: In-person attendance
In-person attendance will be available for all High Holiday services. TBS is not charging for
attending High Holiday Services, whether in-person or on zoom. Registration is still required,
but there will be no fees or paywall to attend services. Instead, we will be requesting
donations to Temple Beth Shalom on a voluntary basis.
TBS Safety Protocols
1. Masking will be optional for all-in person attendees. If you feel the need to mask,
please do so. If you do not have your mask with you, we will provide a mask.
2. While we are not requiring vaccinations for attendance, we do strongly recommend that
all attendees get fully vaccinated. This is as much for your own personal health, as well
as those in your family and others in the community that cannot be vaccinated.
3. We are requesting social distancing outside of family units. Alternate rows in the
Sanctuary have been cordoned off.
4. Finally, if you are showing COVID symptoms, and/or have tested positive for COVID in
the last 5 days, we ask that you join our services via Zoom (see Option 2 below).
Option 2: Participation in services through Zoom
If you are not attending a High Holiday Service in person, you are invited to participate via
Zoom. As with in-person attendance, TBS is not charging for attending via zoom; however, we
are still requiring advance registration. Rather than selling tickets, TBS is requesting donations
to Temple Beth Shalom on a voluntary basis.
If you need a Reconstructionist Prayerbook, you can either rent one from TBS or purchase one.
Please contact the office no later than September 1 st . During most of the services, the
Prayerbook page will be shared online.
Option 3: Viewing services on YouTube as livestream
If you are not attending a High Holiday Service in person, nor plan to register and attend on
Zoom, you are invited to view the services live on YouTube, which means it can be watched on
a computer or TV. Because it is a livestream, you will not be able to directly participate,
though.
Participating
Once you have registered, you will receive a unique link to each Service. Put the link in an accessible place, but please do not share it with anyone else. If you have other family members that are wishing to attend a service on a separate device, please ask them to register separately. If you are attending in person, you will come to TBS for the service, but will not need the link.
If you have never participated in a Zoom meeting, take some time to learn what is involved. If you need help in navigating the Zoom software, please contact the office in advance. Someone will reach out to you to help with this.
THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you have a tablet or phone, make sure the name of the phone is your name. If you acquire the Zoom app, you can set your name properly in advance, and entering the meeting is easier. We want your actual name as it appears to us in Zoom, so we can recognize you as someone who registered.
To join the service, click on the link. You will be placed in a waiting room and then brought in to the service in a two-step process. Your microphone will be muted on entry.
Watching on Youtube:
Our Temple Beth Shalom Youtube channel, Temple Beth Shalom – PA, can be found at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2t1U2CmwTq_OvMi22QQZIw/featured
If you are joining the services via Youtube, you can go to our Youtube channel. Active services should be available on the channel at the tim of broadcast. You can also bookmark each of the services to put it on your calendar.
Kol Nidre Food Appeal
Dear Members and Friends of TBS,
In previous years, it has been a tradition during the High Holidays to bring groceries to the Temple for the Kol Nidre Service. While this has been an extraordinary year and we have been strict about coming into the building, it has been an all-too-common year for those in need.
As a response to our traditions and to the economic hardships brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic, we are asking that instead of physically bringing food to Temple Beth Shalom, you make a (substantial?) donation to either area food banks, such the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, or to Mazon, which is the a national Jewish Organization that is fighting to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel.
Click on one or both of these links to donate to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and/or Mazon.
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank
Sincerely,
Temple Beth Shalom Board
