We will resume our daily minyanim at their usual times, meeting online on Zoom.  Please contact Melani Baker for the Zoom invitation. See the below guidelines for participating.

For more information on the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards’ (CJLS) new halakhic guidelines for virtual minyanim during this crisis, click here.

Congregation Beth Shalom Virtual Minyan Guidelines

1. Only those with video on may be counted towards the minyan, though others may participate via just audio.  Multiple people can be in the same video screen and all be counted. The key here is that part of being in prayer community together is being able to see each other’s beautiful faces!
2. Our virtual gatherings are only minyanim for the purposes of Kaddish D’Rabbanan and Mourner’s Kaddish.  We will skip: chatzi kaddish and kaddish shalem, barechu, kedushah, the repetition of the amidah, and Torah service.

-On Monday and Thursday mornings, the leader may choose to read the weekday Torah reading from a siddur or chumash.  This should be done without aliyot or blessings. The order of events would be: Tachanun (through the bottom of p. 63)-(optional Torah reading)-Ashrei (p.78).

-In the morning, begin the Amidah aloud and then continue silently after “mechayeh hameitim” at the bottom of p. 36b.

-In the evening, recite the Amidah silently as usual.

3. All participants except the leader should remain on mute, but participate normally (singing along, etc.).  Participants should unmute for Kaddish D’Rabbanan and Mourner’s Kaddish and recite “Amen” and “Yehei shmei…” aloud.
4. If possible, please orient yourself so that you’re facing east towards Jerusalem, and please stand and sit as you normally would.
5. Let’s treat each other with compassion- this is a new experience that we’re all embarking on together.  Please be patient with each other as we figure out the kinks.
6. If you need a weekday siddur, you can download a PDF of it here.
7. Please do your best to participate like you would if we were gathering in person! To quote one of my rabbis, Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky: “When you participate in our virtual minyan, try to give it your full focus. Put on your tallit and tefillin. (If your ritual garments are in the shul, and you’re not under quarantine, feel free to come by and pick them up during business hours.) For the virtual minyan, don’t look with one eye, while another eye is on the newspaper or another window on your browser. Don’t listen with one ear and have your earbud set to Spotify. It will take extra work to constitute a davvening community in this fashion. But I am hopeful that we will succeed in creating a special experience, and ‘according to the effort, so is the reward.'”