by Heidi Friedman
Keeping in mind that Havurat Shalom is run almost entirely by volunteers and doesn’t have a paid rabbi or cantor, how do we make the magic of the holidays from Rosh Hashanah to Simchat Torah?
This is a marathon, not a sprint! We start at least three months before Rosh Hashanah. Over the decades, we have compiled lists of all the work that needs to happen. So, the first thing we do is get volunteers to be the leyning coordinator, the davening coordinator and the task list coordinator. Then the leyning coordinator signs up people to chant all the readings, the davening coordinator signs up people to lead all the services, give the divrei Torah and blow shofar, and the task list coordinator recruits volunteers to do everything else.
There’s also a sukkah coordinator (guess what that person does!), a childcare coordinator, an accessibility coordinator, an usher coordinator and a Zoom coordinator.
Once the coordinator slots are filled, the task list coordinator gets people to volunteer for everything else. What is everything else, you wonder? Ahead of the holidays: cleaning tasks, including hiring a paid cleaner, and also getting members to wash the curtains, floor pillow covers, etc; stocking supplies including kids snacks and apples for the Rosh Hashanah break; setting up the physical space including renting tents, bringing the chairs down from the attic, setting up the outdoor lighting and microphone and tech for Zooming, changing the Torah and Aron covers from their everyday ones to their holiday ones, rolling the Torah scrolls to the right spots, etc; and communications tasks like writing and mailing out the fall newsletter (our one remaining paper newsletter a year) and fall fundraising letter, letting the police and parking department know services dates, etc.
During the holidays in addition to leaders and leyners, each service needs set-up and clean-up folks, ushers, and a time keeper. Torah services need someone to give out aliyot. Holiday meals need meal coordinators, someone to bring challah, their own set-up and clean-up, etc.
And finally, after the holidays everything has to be put away, including taking down the sukkah, putting the extra chairs back in the attic, etc.
With only 31 members, some juggling is involved. The person leading Rosh Hashanah shachrit on the First Day, for example, can’t be the person who leads the children’s Rosh Hashanah service and also can’t be an usher for that service. So, usually we sign up the people leading services first and then have them fill in their other volunteer tasks.
All of this work is truly a labor of love. Being a member of Havurat Shalom means committing to do this work, and all the other work needed throughout the year. (Folks who want to be affiliated with Havurat Shalom without a work commitment are associate members.) I’ve been attending High Holiday services at Havurat Shalom since the late 1980s, and when all is said and done, this system of volunteer labor by dedicated members has led to magical davening every year. We hope you’ll join us!
This is a marathon, not a sprint! We start at least three months before Rosh Hashanah. Over the decades, we have compiled lists of all the work that needs to happen. So, the first thing we do is get volunteers to be the leyning coordinator, the davening coordinator and the task list coordinator. Then the leyning coordinator signs up people to chant all the readings, the davening coordinator signs up people to lead all the services, give the divrei Torah and blow shofar, and the task list coordinator recruits volunteers to do everything else.
There’s also a sukkah coordinator (guess what that person does!), a childcare coordinator, an accessibility coordinator, an usher coordinator and a Zoom coordinator.
Once the coordinator slots are filled, the task list coordinator gets people to volunteer for everything else. What is everything else, you wonder? Ahead of the holidays: cleaning tasks, including hiring a paid cleaner, and also getting members to wash the curtains, floor pillow covers, etc; stocking supplies including kids snacks and apples for the Rosh Hashanah break; setting up the physical space including renting tents, bringing the chairs down from the attic, setting up the outdoor lighting and microphone and tech for Zooming, changing the Torah and Aron covers from their everyday ones to their holiday ones, rolling the Torah scrolls to the right spots, etc; and communications tasks like writing and mailing out the fall newsletter (our one remaining paper newsletter a year) and fall fundraising letter, letting the police and parking department know services dates, etc.
During the holidays in addition to leaders and leyners, each service needs set-up and clean-up folks, ushers, and a time keeper. Torah services need someone to give out aliyot. Holiday meals need meal coordinators, someone to bring challah, their own set-up and clean-up, etc.
And finally, after the holidays everything has to be put away, including taking down the sukkah, putting the extra chairs back in the attic, etc.
With only 31 members, some juggling is involved. The person leading Rosh Hashanah shachrit on the First Day, for example, can’t be the person who leads the children’s Rosh Hashanah service and also can’t be an usher for that service. So, usually we sign up the people leading services first and then have them fill in their other volunteer tasks.
All of this work is truly a labor of love. Being a member of Havurat Shalom means committing to do this work, and all the other work needed throughout the year. (Folks who want to be affiliated with Havurat Shalom without a work commitment are associate members.) I’ve been attending High Holiday services at Havurat Shalom since the late 1980s, and when all is said and done, this system of volunteer labor by dedicated members has led to magical davening every year. We hope you’ll join us!
Heidi Friedman is a long-time member of Havurat Shalom.
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