To Once Again Hear the Songs and Laughter of Our Children

By Johannah Sohn, Ed.D., Director of Youth Education

One of the most beautiful things about Judaism is the predictability of the calendar. Throughout the pandemic, my children stayed anchored to Jewish time as we celebrated Passover, Channukah, Yom Haatzmaut, and more. We held on to our family traditions throughout the craziness of the time. Secular time may have been morphed into “COVIDtime,” but we knew it was spring as we crunched our matzvah and sang the four questions.

The High Holy Days this year feel like such an incredible opportunity to return, to come back to our community and post-COVID “new normal” lives. Perhaps this is the year to add to or create family traditions that you and your loved ones can hold for years to come?

The word machzor, in Hebrew, means “cycle” from the root of the same word meaning “to return.” It feels especially fitting this year that we dust off our machzorim, High Holy Day prayerbooks, and return to our lives, our communities, and our connection to Judaism.

Religious school programming is back in the building! This year we have so many exciting additions to the program, including electives like dancing, arts and crafts, cooking, and model building, to name a few. We have a wonderful program for our teens focused on Jewish values and how they apply to their everyday lives. Our teachers are well prepared and excited to greet our students in-person, as we come together for meaningful Jewish learning opportunities.

As we find our way back to the Temple Beth Sholom building, the walls will once again hear the songs and laughter of our children, the prayers of our community, and the joy of celebration. The predictability of the cyclical Jewish calendar brought us comfort during a chaotic time and now, as we come together to celebrate the High Holy Days, our community brings us solace as we return to the world outside.