A miracle occurred yesterday that must be shared. This year, we have been neither here nor there. Last week, the moment that our Sinai Temple community received the devastating news that our families could not gather inside our sacred space for Rosh Hashana was the same moment we envisioned a way for our community to gather in a meaningful and safe way on Yom Kippur. Words cannot express the gratitude we have to our communal institutions who all said, “Yes!” to open their doors for our worship spaces. Dr. Sarah Shulkind of the Milken Community School and Dr. Jeff Herbst of American Jewish University answered our call and helped us in unimaginable ways, guiding us to find the best spot in our community.
We knew our Sinai family was spiritually thirsty and hungry to see each other and feel each other’s presence.
With a call to Sinai Temple’s Saba Soomekh, Associate Director of AJC, who has been instrumental in introducing Sinai Temple to our interfaith partners over the years, a shidduch, a heavenly partnership was born with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, under the leadership of Dr. Steven Rudd. Yom Kippur Under The Stars brought over 1,000 of our Sinai Temple members together: Parents and children hearing the final blast of the shofar.
Hinei Mah Tov u’manayim shevet achim gam yachad: How good it is for brothers and sisters to gather. May we have a year ahead in which we increase our partnerships with our faith neighbors, granting peace to our community.
Click HERE to watch the Havdalah Under the Stars service starting at 1:32:52.
