Even as structure and routine begin to crumble, ritual observances don’t stop for the virus. As did many generations of Jews before us, we must adapt ritual to this unprecedented way of life, and Shabbat services, a mainstay for nursing home residents, necessitated creative adaptation.

This week, I tell a friend I’d love to chat but actually I have to run Yom Kippur services are starting soon and I’ve got to repent for my sins before the gates are closed. She laughs. “Well, you’re gay, so you’ve definitely got a lot of repenting to do.”

Six decades have not diminished my appreciation of the rabbinic mentors who symbolically escorted me to rabbinical school and upon whose shoulders I stand.

Now, as restrictions begin to lift, we are faced once again with how to conduct our worship in meaningful ways. Just because our synagogues can be open does not necessarily mean that they should be.

This summer, just in time for Pride Month, ReformJudaism.org is proudly releasing season two of Wholly Jewish, which will focus on members of the Jewish LGBTQ+ community. 

When I returned from my sixth Jewish humanitarian mission to the island of Cuba at the beginning of February, little did I know that the entire world would be in quarantine only a month later. It now feels like a miracle that we were all able to be together.

Frankly, I was skeptical about attending services online – but it was the occasion of the yahrzeit (anniversary of death) for my wife’s brother, and this was our only option for respecting her wish to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish with our Jewish community.

Meet Cantor David Berger, the cantor at Chicago’s KAM Isaiah Israel and ReformJudaism.org’s past Ten Minutes of Torah commentator for the Book of Leviticus.

Instead of walking into Beth David’s sanctuary and settling into the wooden pews, my husband and I perched next to each other in front of my MacBook Air and logged onto Zoom, a video conferencing tool.