As the summer ramps up and the pandemic falls into a steady decline, HCRJ is finally returning to normal. Activities which have been taking place on Zoom for the past 16 months are beginning to resume in-person. For those of us in the office, this is an extremely exciting time. We have missed you dearly, and as people begin to re-engage, we can feel the buzz of our thriving community come back to life.
The click n’ clack of mahjong tiles creates a rhythmic melody every Wednesday and Thursday, as scores of eager mahjong players resume their weekly games in person. The friendly sound of folks socializing in the halls and learning in the classrooms is a welcome change from the silence of an empty building during this time of caution and concern. We are finally gathering face to face again, and as the heat of the Houston summer continues to unfold, we are exploring a variety of ideas to bring us together in safe and creative ways.
Shabbat services are also returning to a normal rhythm. Worship experiences, which have been limited in capacity for far too long, are now fully open to all. Our hope is to use our summer services as a prelude to the High Holy Days (which begin on Labor Day this year). As we gather in-person for prayer and fellowship, our goal is to fully assess the ways in which we are meeting the spiritual needs of our Jews in the pews.
If you have not already done so, please take a moment to take the brief survey on worship at HCRJ. An email of this survey was sent in early June. We are hoping for a sizable response as every single opinion will be instrumental in shaping the future of Shabbat services at HCRJ.
As we look back, there is much to be learned. COVID protocols kept us at home and forced us to navigate a new wilderness of streaming technologies. These technological tools enabled us to bring prayer and programing to the comforts of home, and they connected us in ways that we could never have imagined. For many, these streamed experiences were lifelines to community during a time of extreme isolation. For others, they created opportunities to rediscover the values of spending Shabbat at home with family or the joys of engaging friends without the stresses of Houston traffic.
Whatever the circumstances may have been, these technological Band-Aids helped us keep our community engaged and entertained; they helped us mend a bit of the brokenness of our world; and they provided us with valuable skills in distance communication. We have learned that technology can help us expand our sacred community in very exciting ways, and we know that they will continue to do so as we broaden the reach and the mission of our congregation in the future.
In the days and months ahead, we are looking forward to seeing you in person, and we are looking forward to sharing in the joys that come with communal prayer and programming. As this hiatus from face to face interaction slowly comes to an end, we are elated to say, “Welcome Back!!!!!”