How has Covid changed the way we mark lifecycle events?
Rabbi Dr Pfertzel takes a topical issue and offers a Liberal Jewish perspective
Future generations will look back at our era and will split it into ‘pre-Covid’ and ‘post-Covid’.
The extent of changes that the pandemic has forced us into is still unknown, and only time will tell its magnitude.
As far as religious communities are concerned, a recent study led by Manchester Metropolitan University has tried to identify ‘British Ritual Innovation under Covid-19’. The lead investigator, Dr Joshua Edelman, is a member of Liberal Judaism’s Ark Synagogue. The project ran from August 2020 to September 2021 and focused mainly on religious practice, rather than theological issues, up and down the country. It covered the entire British religious spectrum and found that all faith communities faced similar challenges and responded in similar ways.
People preferred Zoom meetings to streamed services, because they felt more connection with other people. Smaller communities did surprisingly better than bigger ones, because they offered what went missing during lockdowns – a sense of community and connectedness.
At the start of the series of lockdowns, there was a fear of ‘Hollywoodisation’ of services, but it did not happen. Congregants were drawn to smaller, more informal settings, where they would be acknowledged.
Two main challenges have emerged, however, from this new form of religious experience. Lifecycle events are very difficult to hold online. Sadly, too many colleagues had to conduct funerals where they were the only person present, or where people had to join online because of a limit in numbers of attendees.
Being in a community is an important part of the grieving process, and this is missing when you are alone at home, watching your screen. Equally difficult is to feel the simcha of a bar/batmitzvah. A young person and their family are carried by the love and energy of the community in the shul, and this is also missing online.
There is a fear, that appears to be unjustified, that people will happily stay online and not come back to synagogues.
But we have recently seen a reversed trend, and people are slowly coming back to our shuls, because they were missing being together and feeling the energy of the kahal.
- Rabbi Dr Pfertzel serves Kingston Liberal Synagogue
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
