News and Updates from the Community

Greetings Isolated Friends,

I hope that you are all healthy and fairing relatively well during these very difficult and unprecedented days. As you know, services and classes at the synagogue are suspended, and the building is closed to the public. The Annual Dinner which was scheduled for March 30th has been postponed. Thank you for partnering with us as we diligently follow the advice of our medical professionals and the laws of our officials, as we demonstrate to God that we value life above all.

Despite this social distancing, it is my intention to try to replicate as much of the Sixth Street Shul experience as possible.

Synagogue Classes: Starting tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, my classes will be held on Zoom. For those of you who do not know, Zoom is a remote conferencing service that facilitates meetings online, by video and by phone. A useful instructional video may be found here. I strongly encourage you to download the free app to your phones and/or computers and then click the meeting links  that I send out long the before the scheduled classes. If you do not have the technology to participate over the Internet, you may simply dial in. I will provide the links and numbers in a separate email as well as PDFs of any relevant class material.

Community: It is very important to me that we stay social; that we continue to look out for each other and do so even more diligently than usual. This means calling each other, reaching out on social media, and making sure that our friends and neighbors are adequately supported. Please email me if you need any contact information or if you can think of anyone that might require attention.

Passover Preparation: As difficult as it is to fathom, Passover is just around the corner. I am in the process of compiling several resources to help you manage in advance of the upcoming holiday. For now be aware of the following two links: Passover Charity as well as Passover Preparation.  The preparation page is very much in process, but for now contains links to a list of products that do not require special Passover supervision. There will be several Zoom classes devoted to Passover preparation. As always, we will be sure to apply Halacha authentically, but also with some flexibility in light of our current predicament.

Finally, Shul Swag: I love the amusement and sense of pride that our Shul Swag encourages. Unfortunately, I cannot deliver yarmulkes and hats at this point, but I have created this folder of custom Zoom backgrounds. Simply download the images, and adjust your virtual background on the Zoom app. These Sixth Street backgrounds will let your co-workers, friends, and family know where you proudly, daven, study, and eat mini-hot-dogs. May we all return soon in good health.

With love and blessings,

GZB