FORT WORTH, Texas — Technology has proven to be friend and foe, even to the faithful, in 2020.
“We’re just having an unstable internet connection here,” said Rabbi Andrew Bloom on a recent morning as he broadcast daily services from Congregation Ahavath Sholom on Facebook Live.
Until the coronavirus pandemic hit, his synagogue did not regularly stream its services.
Bloom said his Fort Worth congregation is still mastering the art of virtual services, a process he says has given him “a few extra grey hairs.”
But virtual is reality in 2020 as Jews begin observing the holiest days of the year.
“Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the new year in Judaism,” he explained. “This is really the time to do inner reflection on what we’ve done right, what we’ve done wrong, and what we can improve.”
This year’s High Holidays come not just amid a pandemic, but also protests and politics that have deeply divided the nation.
Bloom said his sermons will address all those things, but he'll keep his focus on turning negativity into positivity.
“We’ve taken COVID as so negative and rightly so,” he said. “We’re praying for health and recovery.”
But he said he’s thankful for the opportunity it offered his congregation to forge new connections with people who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, attend in-person worship services, like those who are "homebound, or can’t drive, or they’re embarrassed because they don’t know anyone or anything in a prayer book."
“I think Zoom, Facebook Live, YouTube has allowed us to show people that they are in fact religious no matter where they are,” he said.
Congregation Ahavath Sholom recently debuted a new live broadcasting system ahead of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, which are generally the most attended services of the year.
The pandemic also forced spring Passover observances to be held online.
While some North Texas congregations will hold some outdoor community services over the weekend, most are being held online.
Bloom doesn’t mind.
“Religion isn’t within our sanctuaries, religion is wherever people are,” he said.