Relief for shul leaders as collective worship resumes next week

In tier one, worshippers can socialise in groups of up to six people. But in tiers two and three, they may attend only with members of their own household or someone in their support bubble.

Wedding receptions for up to 15 people will be allowed again in England from Wednesday — except in the highest of the three tiers of social restrictions. Manchester and Leeds are among tier three areas.

In all three tiers, up to 15 people will continue to be able to attend wedding ceremonies, 30 can be at funerals and 15 at commemorative events such as stone-settings.

In Scotland, where there are five tiers, the number of worshippers has been capped at 50, except in the highest tier, where the limit is 20.

Rabbi Yehudah Osher Steiner, senior rabbi of the Manchester Beth Din, was “delighted that the government has decided that places of worship can reopen and we are grateful to all those involved in reaching this decision”.

The lack of daily services had been “extremely hard for us”, he said.

“Communal prayer is our lifeline and is pivotal to our wellbeing. We not only pray on a personal level but also pray for our communities and the wellbeing of all society.

“Having to arrange our places of worship to adhere to Covid-safe guidelines has taken much expense and much organisation. Our local synagogues have made tremendous efforts to ensure they are safe for prayer during the pandemic.”

The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations last week wrote to Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick appealing for the restoration of collective worship.

A UOHC spokesman told the JC: “Tefillah betzibur [collective worship] is pivotal to our way of life and religious existence. We are glad this was taken into consideration.”

Jo Grose, United Synagogue communities director, expected services at its shuls to resume “following the same careful restrictions we have had in place for some months, including masks and social distancing.

“We also look forward to resuming other aspects of community life in a Covid-compliant manner and, in particular, we are exploring creative ways in which communities can come together outdoors. Of course, much of the detail depends on the tier level in each area.”

Federation Rov, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Zimmerman, expressed relief that “davening communally, an essential part of our lives, has once again been permitted and pray that the virus continues its recent decline”.

At Alyth in Golders Green, one of the largest Reform communities, Rabbi Josh Levy said the plan was “to resume small-scale physical services, in parallel with our online provision, from the first Shabbat after this lockdown ends”.

A national Reform spokesperson added that the movement “supports the decisions our synagogues take in regard to whether to resume some small in-person services or remain open entirely online. There is a very difficult balancing act to be made between ensuring the mental and physical health of our synagogue members. There are no easy answers.”

Rabbi Charley Baginsky, interim director of Liberal Judaism, said it was waiting to see “what the evidence is and what the guidelines are before giving any definitive answers”.

With all its training and discussion on hybrid services, “all of our communities feel as prepared as possible to carry out a range of hybrid services if and when that is apt”.

On the relaxation of rules over Christmas to allow families to mix, Rabbi Baginsky observed that “Jews felt the massive absence of being without friends and family early in the lockdown period with Pesach — and then later on with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

“The knowledge of this makes me so pleased that our Christian friends will be able to celebrate Christmas this year with their families.”

Meanwhile, the Board of Deputies has reported that eight funerals of Jewish victims of Covid-19 were held in the UK last week. It brings the overall number of communal fatalities to 564.