The Voice | June-July 2020

“At this point, we can’t imagine having done things differently. Our experience was more meaningful, personal, and special than we could have imagined. We felt such connection and warmth among our family and friends on Zoom, and that permeated through to our Beth El community who joined us on Facebook. Our friends and family, many of whom had never before attended a Beth El service, felt it as well and commented not only on how well Max did, but how fortunate we are to have such a wonderful clergy,” said Mr. and Mrs. Shein. “Even though Max’s Bar Mitzvah wasn’t how we expected it to be, the virtual simcha provided a different sense of comfort and calmness during an uncertain time.” The pandemic has seemingly led Beth El members to see their life cycle milestones in a new light. “The fact that families are choosing to have their B’nai Mitzvah virtually, at the proper time, so their child can read the Torah portion they worked so hard to learn, has shown us and them that the service is more important than the celebration,” Cantor King said. “Truly the Mitzvah is more important than the Bar .” As Cantor King noted, virtual gatherings, by their nature, strip down the life cycle event to its core elements, a reminder that it is essential to mark these milestones in and of themselves. “It’s not the trappings - the parties, food, or accoutrements - but the actual mitzvah , the event itself that is important,” Cantor King added. Quarantine fatigue is real. Isolation, with its profound burden of extreme physical and social distancing, can severely damage a person’s psychological well-being. Therefore connecting directly to the tradition in its purest and most comforting essence became the clergy’s top priority during quarantine. “The best thing we can hope for is that our tradition brings us comfort and strength and community into people’s lives,” Rabbi Saroken said. “This is a difficult time for so many people and yet amidst the suffering there is joy, amidst the loss of life, new lives are being created. Amidst the darkness there was light, in sadness there was also joy.” The lessons learned while sheltering at home provide a glimpse into the future of Beth El’s offerings. The clergy agrees that most, if not all, life cycle moments A Brave New World: Changed Forever, No Doubt

Beth El hosts a virtual Bar Mitzvah

will include some virtual component, certainly for the remainder of Beth El’s closure, but also beyond. “In the end, I wonder if there will be a hybrid model, with some folks gathered in-person, while others join virtually,” Rabbi Schwartz pondered. “It’s a bit like Miranda’s line in Shakespeare’s The Tempest : How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in’t. We are living in this brave new world, and the world that comes after this will be changed forever, no doubt.” Regardless of Beth El’s future plans for virtual life cycle commemorations, one thing is certain: marking life’s milestones during the shutdown anchored and comforted the community through the pandemic. “As long as people know that they have a reason to go on, and that they’re not alone, the human soul can endure the unimaginable,” Rabbi Saroken concluded.

THE ANCIENT PRACTICE OF MIKVAH immersion honors the sacred nature of our bodies and experiences.

Immersion in a mikvah, or ritual bath, represents a spiritual transformation. Immersions can mark life transitions such as weddings, births, healing from illness or trauma, significant birthdays, b’nai mitzvah, divorce, pregnancy loss, fertility struggles, and mourning. Our mikvah is now open! To schedule an immersion, go to soulcenterbaltimore.org/mikvah

15 June-July 2020 | Nisan-Iyyar 5780