HEADLINES | 8
SPECIAL SECTION | 22
50TH ANNIVERSARY
SENIOR LIFESTYLE
The BJE celebrates 50 years of service
Beth Ami Temple plans in-person High Holidays
SEPTEMBER 3, 2021 | ELUL 26, 5781 | VOLUME 73, NUMBER 25
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Area rabbis plan Security organization pitches trained messages of self-care, volunteers to boost security at High resilience during Holiday services High Holidays S A DEBRA GELBART
NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER
focus on failing to live up to expectations combined with reciting a confession of sins, leaves people with a lot to feel bad about during the High Holiday season. But Rabbi Alicia Magal, spiritual leader of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, said this year, unlike in years past, she feels she must point to all the good out there, too. People changed their lifestyles to live as safely as they could during the COVID-19 pandemic, sacrificing social gatherings, outings and trips, despite the toll on their mental health, she said. The synagogue formed several small groups to call other congregants to check in and provide some semblance of community. “We’ve reached out to people in a good and positive and helpful way; people have been very generous, kind and patient for a really long time,” Magal said. “It doesn’t go with what I usually talk about, but I think I have to address the good things we have done this year.” Rabbis across Greater Phoenix are once again navigating a High Holiday season under difficult circumstances. The world faces a slew of new and ongoing challenges while COVID continues. Some rabbis don’t yet know what messages they will offer congregants in their sermons, but many say they will focus on community, self-care and resilience. Rabbi Nitzan Stein Kokin of Beth El Congregation will focus on community and relationship building. “I started planning what I was going to talk about in June, when things were all coming back and restarting,” she said. But her message is even more relevant now, she said, with the delta variant causing health precautions to revert to peak-COVID times. She usually encourages congregants SEE MESSAGES, PAGE 2 to take time to reflect, but people
eating arrangements and other requirements may be new at High Holiday services this year, especially compared to 2019, but security will look similar to what it’s been at many Greater Phoenix congregations during previous High Holidays. But that doesn’t mean security hasn’t been ramped up at some congregations in response to an uptick in antisemitic incidents in 2021. Additionally, an enhanced presence could be composed partially of trained congregation volunteers. “Many Jewish communities outside of the United States have long employed a trained volunteer security model when it comes to securing their institutions that has proven to save lives,” said Evan Bernstein, CEO of The Community Security Service, an organization founded in 2007 to focus on providing training to build on-theground, volunteer-led physical security teams and safety programs. Only recently, Bernstein told Jewish News, has the American Jewish community started to employ this model at the urging of his organization. “In order to stem our vulnerability, all denominations must place a significant emphasis on ensuring that their members are trained in basic security.” Some congregations in the Phoenix area incorporate volunteers from among their members into their security plan. Congregation Beth Tefillah held socially distanced in-person High Holiday services last year, so this year won’t seem that different to its members compared to 2020. Because of the latest phase of the pandemic, Beth Tefillah SEE SECURITY, PAGE 3
“SECURITY” BY PROTOHIRO IS LICENSED UNDER CC BY 2.0
Sharing Torah CBI clergy invite Pilgrim Rest Baptists to view the Torah. To read more, go to p. 4. PHOTO COURTESY OF CANTOR SETH ETTINGER
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