Temple Beth Israel begins to host in-person Shabbat services again after 16 months

With a greeting of “Good Shabbos” and an elbow tap, fist bump or sometimes a short bow, members of Temple Beth Israel once more filed into the sanctuary for Friday evening services. 

In-person Shabbat services returned to Longboat Key on July 30 after the temple spent 16 months  closed to everyone but the office staff and congregation leaders. 

“I’ve been president for 14 months and have never been able to address the congregation,” congregation leader Stuart Sinai said. 

His name has been on the Temple’s roadside sign and the parking space reserved for the temple president, but his congregants have never heard from him other than over Zoom. 

“Being there, physically present with one another, brought a real sense of connection and closeness and strength,” Sinai said. “Being together brings out the kind of energy that can’t be replaced by a Zoom service. Everybody I’m sure had a smile under their mask. When I got up to look around before I spoke, it appeared to be a convention of bank robbers, but it was terrific to be together again.”

Members have stayed in touch with in-person events such as a singles luncheon, but for the most part it’s been virtual connections. The temple also set up a Friday, pre-Shabbat Zoom cocktail hour that kept members together. Rabbi Stephen Sniderman tested the readiness of the congregation to come back in-person via the cocktail hour. He found that most were anxious to get back into the world. 

Barbara Pressman brought her daughter-in-law and grandchildren, and Rabbi Michael Eisenstat’s birthday was recognized before service began. Those in attendance still kept each other at arm’s length for the most part, but a few snuck a handshake. Once members found their seats, they did so in every other row and with masks on their faces. 

“I have been waiting to be back again,” Suzanne Schuster said. “In these tumultuous times, being here is warming. It’s so nice to see familiar faces. If we can live our lives with a mask on, that’s OK. We can live our lives.” 

There are things to get used to again, like the way the doors stick a little, and things to finetune, like which no-touch greeting is best to greet friends again. Sniderman wasn’t recording services at the temple, so the sanctuary was usually empty. 

“We basically haven’t used this place in 16 months,” Sniderman said. 

When Sniderman started service on July 30, there were about 40 people in the in-person audience who welcomed the return of Shabbat in the sanctuary with applause. 

“This service is an experiment,” Sniderman said. “We’ll have our grand opening later on and our soft opening next week. This is the pre-soft opening.” 

The plan for now is to continue with a combination of in-person and live streaming for the more popular Friday service and in-person only on the more sparsely attended Saturday service. Executive director Isaac Azerad said the Friday attendance is about on par with a typical summer service. 

“I’m gratified by the number of people who came,” Azerad said. “From all indications it looks like we’re probably going into a very good season coming up. Aside from that, we’re slowly working the quirks with the technology.”

Throughout the pandemic, Sniderman had pre-recorded his services, so the switch to live streaming is a gear shift. However, he has the Temple Beth Israel Education Center’s technical whiz Carl Kurtyka to help him out. The upcoming season will be the education center’s first as part of TBI. 

“We’re blending everyone in here,” Sniderman said. 

The education center will be a key part of the temple’s reopening as it will serve as the bulk of programming for the socially minded congregation. TBI members will get free education center membership, but Azerad said they already have 395 others signed up to take classes. In October, the Friday evening Shabbat dinners will start again, too. 

“We’re hoping we won’t have to make different arrangements,” Sniderman said. “October and November will be the time when we’re going to start going in earnest. In the meantime, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing. As far as programs are concerned, boy, we are going to have so many programs.”