We had considered joining Temple Sinai (TS) in the fall of 2019 and then covid struck the world with force. We decided to delay our move from a local temple to Temple Sinai until religious school resumed face to face.

Moving on from our prior temple was a difficult one as we had many years of membership there, but we knew it was time for a fresh start with TS being so close (0.2 mi.). We have a next-door neighbor member and their child works at TSRS. We also knew the children would have plenty of classmates from Lafayette Elementary School. Jason’s mother Patty also made the move as a new member.

We were welcomed with open arms by clergy, teachers, and members. From the new member reception to the celebration of Sukkot where Niya got to shake the Lulav at Sukkot with Rabbi Roos’ direction, we have always felt cared for and valued at TS as an interfaith, interreligious, and multiracial family. Both Niya and Baba had wonderful consecrations and we got to rock out to Rabbi Diamondstein in concert for the last night of Hannukah.

We are so thankful for joining the TS community and being filled with such positive and loving energy during such a difficult time with the pandemic. We feel that being so close to TS its members, clergy, and staff have made us neighbors in the truest sense. The late Fred Rogers once said,

“When we look for what’s best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we’re doing what G-d does, so in appreciating our neighbor, we’re participating in something truly sacred.”

We look forward to sharing many more moments with our neighbors at TS!

Jason Fabrikant & Joanna Lo, Parents of Niya & Baba

How the Temple Sinai Library Continued Serving the Congregation During the Pandemic

The Purim Spiel was barely over and the laughter still echoed when the dark cloud of the pandemic descended, ending for the foreseeable future any possibility of the congregation of Temple Sinai in Washington, D.C. gathering in person. For the Library Committee, the closing of the Temple posed a number of challenges: How could we function if we could not meet in the library? How could we provide our most basic service – the lending of books – if congregants could not enter the Temple? And, most importantly, how could we maintain our cohesion as a committee and, at the same time, offer a lifeline to Temple members who now found themselves isolated in their homes, cut off from their social connections?

As thousands of Americans began dying of COVID-19, we faced our own, more personal angst: Our beloved and much-admired committee co-chair was terminally ill. A person whose dedication to the Library Committee knew no bounds, he quickly saw a need for the committee to continue functioning and came up with a solution: Zoom meetings. It was from these meetings that many good things flowed.

Before the pandemic, committee members would volunteer in the library on Mondays or Wednesdays and perform their tasks in small groups or individually. This arrangement meant that many members did not get to know each other well, if at all. With the advent of weekly Monday morning Zoom meetings, we met as a group where we processed and shared the changes in our lives and the world, drawing strength and support from each other. In addition, meeting virtually enabled our co-chair to stay involved even as his condition worsened.

Ideas and programs quickly developed. Among the most significant were the Circle of Book Lovers, a weekly compendium by one of our members of books, Israeli TV shows, movies, and virtual lectures and discussions; a book cart for contactless book borrowing; a major redo and improvement of the library’s homepage thanks to the work of a tech-savvy member; partnering with the nursery school to offer individual book bundles for Purim, Passover, and Shavuot; and the addition of a major new bibliography, A Guide to Jewish Perspectives on Ethics & Moral Values by still another member.

With the coming of 2021 and the prospect of vaccines to put an end to the pandemic, the mood of the committee brightened. Unfortunately, our optimism dampened with the very sad news that our co-chair had lost his battle against cancer.

In a time filled with pain and tragedy, the Library Committee never wavered in its commitment to the Temple community. In fact, it increased its efforts to serve in the face of severe obstacles, created new programs that continue as the Temple reopens, and welcomed new committee members. In doing so, the committee not only helped maintain the connections of Temple members to each other and to the wider world, it also strengthened the personal bonds among the committee as well.

Mitch Miller, Temple Sinai Library Volunteer

As published in the AJL News and Reviews. (December 2021/January 2022). a publication of the Association of Jewish Libraries.

This year, as we have done for almost 20 years, our family led High Holiday services at Five Star Premier Residences of Chevy Chase – a senior living community.  Due to the pandemic, we were unable to be there in 2020, but this year we were determined to find a way.  We arrived as a group of eight, plus a recorded version of Cantor Laura Croen chanting the major prayers, and with Ted Rosen accompanying shofar.

The plan was to hold services outside on the patio, but the weather did not cooperate.  Instead, it flash-flooded, complete with g thunder and lightning.  We did not feel comfortable going inside given  unvaccinated young children in our family, so we found a compromise.  As seen below, the residents remained inside and masked. We led our service from  outside, underneath a tailgate tent, and used a microphone to transmit the liturgy and music inside to the Five Star congregation.

From the outside, we relied on residents’ cues regarding our volume (see the photo below).  A pole attached to the awning covering us had to be raised every few minutes to drain the rain water to prevent it from collapsing.

In past years, when we’ve been inside and together with the residents, we could see how the service, and particularly the music, transported them to a place rich with memories and meaning.  This year, it was impossible to see through the window that was covered in rain and difficult to hear their responsive reading through the thunder.  Even with the challenges, it was wonderful to be back at Five Star and to bring services to a community that otherwise wouldn’t be able to participate in the High Holy Days.

Although they thank us for coming every year, we are the ones most grateful for the opportunity to share the holiday with them.   It is a very rewarding and moving experience for us.

Patrice and Barney Feinstein
Kimmy Feinstein
Deena Feinstein Krulewitz and Adam Krulewitz
Emily, John and Maddie Havnewitz