By MYRON LOVE It was a frailiche Yom Tov this year. From all reports, there seems to have been a real joy for people able to once again attend services without having to deal the Covid restrictions of past years.
The final numbers are in and they tell the story. Overall, Yom Tov attendance was almost back to where it was pre-Covid restrictions. Lets start with the Shaarey Zedek, our community’s oldest and largest congregation.
Dr. Rena Secter Elbaze , the Shaarey Zedek’s executive director, reports that close to 700 worshippers attended the main service, 268 more were at the family service and just over 340 followed online. In comparison, about 200 were in attendance in person last year and that number included attendance at both services.
For this year, we decided to have only one service,” Secter Elbaze says. “It was wonderful having everyone together again. Some people were really emotional about being able to come together again.”
As noted in my pre-High Holidays report, this was the second year that the Shaarey Zedek held Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services in the gym of the Rady JCC. Regular Shabbas services have continued to be held in the Berney Theatre, with weekday services at Temple Shalom – while their long term, spiritual home is being updated and expanded. Elbaze had noted that “in an effort to show our members that we appreciate their patience and understanding during this period of construction, we offered all of our members free seating for Yom Tov for those who wanted to attend services in person, as well as congregants viewing the services on-line.”
Non-members, she added, were able to[purchase their seats and be eligible for free seating if they participated in the daily minyanim or volunteered their time to help with Shabbat minyanim.
A further incentive was the return of popular Rabbi Alan Green to join Rabbi Anibal Mass in leading the main service. Rabbi Mass also led the family service – accompanied by Grant Park High School Grade 12 student Noah Trachtenberg – in the Asper Campus Multipurpose room.
The Yom Tov experience was further enhanced for Shaarey Zedek worshippers by the participation of the popular Quartet and the 20-voice Ruach Folk Choir.
“We were very pleased with how everything turned out,” Elbaze says. “This was the best Yom Tov ever.
“And we are really looking forward to being back in our own building in time for next Yom Tov.”
The members of Congregation Etz Chayim are also looking forward to davening in their new building. Next month, the congregation is scheduled to leave their current 70-year-old location in north Winnipeg and move into the new Etz Chayim building.
Etz Chayim Congregation Executive Director Jonathan Buchwald wrote in an email: “The general feedback from congregants was that they really enjoyed services this year. It was noted, however, that there were some bittersweet feelings, as these were the final High Holy Day Services in the Matheson Avenue building. We are looking forward to holding services next year in our new home at 1155 Wilkes Avenue, formerly the Shriners headquarters, near the IKEA store in south Winnipeg.“
Buchwald reports that 500 tickets were sold in person for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with another 70 screens watching on-line – which grew to 90 for Kol Nidre. Almost 200 people attended Ne’ilah services. He adds that about 60 people attended a special service in the junior auditorium, led by Deborah Spigelman and Nina Eilberg, which was designed for families of all ages,while 50 children of all ages attended the junior service.
“On the first day of Rosh Hashanah and on Kol Nidre,” he says, “we held a unique program designed for teens in grades 9 to 12 led by Halley Ritter,” Buchwald added.
“One of the highlights of our services occurred during Kol Nidre,” he noted. “It involved the removal of all our Sifrei Torah which were then held by various congregants for each of the three recitals of the Kol Nidre prayer. For the first recital, the Sifrei Torah were held exclusively by teenagers and young adults.”
Services were led by Rabbi Kliel Rose and Cantor Tracy Kasner – with Kelly Robinson leading the High Holy Day Choir.
The third largest gathering for the High Holidays this year was Rabbi Matthew Leibl’s brand new “Services on the River: A modern High Holidays” which were held at the scenic Gates on Roblin. “I was very pleased with the attendance,” says the rabbi, who has been in demand for weddings, funerals and other community events since he left the Shaarey Zedek four years ago. “I wasn’t sure what to expect,” added Rabbi Leibl.
He reports that 250 signed up for his Yom Tov services. “We had a good mix of ages. We had families, couples, singles, even multigeneration families.”
In our earlier pre-Yom Tov report, Rabbi Leibl had observed that he had a lot of people asking him what he was going to do for Yom Tov. “I perceived that there was a need for another alternative for High Holiday services,” he noted.
Services on the River: A modern High Holidays” were scheduled for the second day of Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur morning. “Because the shofar is not traditionally blown on Shabbat, we decided to celebrate Rosh Hashanah on the second day instead to be able to have the shofar in our service,” Rabbi Leibl pointed out in explaining why he didn’t offer services for the first day of Rosh Hashanah.
The three services were each 90 minutes in length. “My services were designed to offer moments of reflection and introspection, beautiful live music, and a celebration of the Jewish New Year, all against the pastoral backdrop of the Assiniboine River, which was also our site for Tashlich on Rosh Hashanah,” Rabbi Leibl noted.
“With the river right outside the door, there was a strong sense of serenity accompanying Tashlich,” he added.
Rabbi Leibl described “Services on the River: A modern High Holidays” as “a real team effort,” which he led in collaboration with the husband and wife cantorial team of Justin Odwak and Sarah Sommer.
Most likely, readers can look forward to a reprise of “Services on the River: A modern High Holidays” next year.
Still with the South End, both Ruth Livingston and Jack Craven, presidents respectively of Reform Congregation Temple Shalom and the Orthodox Adas Yeshurun Herzlia report good turnouts for the High Holidays this year – with new families at both their services. The Lubavitch Centre’s Rabbi Avroham Altein also reports some new families at the services this year.
Back in the North End, Rob Waldman, the president of the egalitarian Chevra Mishnayes congregation in Garden City, noted in an earlier interview that the board was not expecting much change from last year. Last year’s attendance was 90 – exceeding expectations. This year’s services, led again by Al Benarroch, also attracted about 90 people.
The venerable House of Ashkenazie, the last of our community’s older-style Orthodox congregations, was the only shul to report a bit of a decline in attendance from last year – when about 50 people came for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and over 40 for Kol Nidre. – numbers which were the best in some years.
One new option this year for frum members of our community living in the North End was the reborn Chavurat Tefila – on the corner of Hartford and McGregor – which has reopened – after being closed for three years – as the North End Orthodox Minyan. The new congregation began regular Shabbat services at the end of July. Yom Tov services attracted about 40 men and women, with Rosh Hashanah services led by Avi Posen – who came in from Israel – and Yom Kippur services by Cantor Natanel “Naty” Schlossberg from Brooklyn .
Finally, there was one more option for those seeking to attend a High Holiday service. After a two year absence, Camp Massad resumed its innovative Rosh Hashanah service last year. Daniel Sprintz, the camp’s executive director, was pleased to announce that Massad was again hosting its usual Rosh Hashanah program on the second day.