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Quote from: RavYisroelReisman
It is very crucial that people go with an Ayin Tov. Many of us are nervous. We have been in cabin fever for two months and we are not in our normal spirit of joy. I am so afraid that people are going to come to Shul and see someone else may be standing too close or with a mask that is not properly worn or without a mask. That such people are going to end up being involved in a Machlokes. Chas V’shalom, Machlokes is far more dangerous than any virus in the world. Machlokes between Yidden especially if people are going to have a Machlokes in Shul. Please, when we go back to Shul do it with an Ayin Tov. Bring Beracha to everyone around you. It should be with a great joy and a great Hatzlacha.

meanwhile:

Rabbi Reisman's shul is my shul the Rav was coordinating all the minyanim since Thursday between the main shul, ezras nashim, and simcha hall.
I've seen him at almost every minyan so far and everyone is keeping to all his guidelines. Everyone at every minyan was wearing a mask.
Rabbi Reisman is doing an amazing job!

« Last edited by YitzyS on May 24, 2020, 05:06:38 PM »

Author Topic: So How Was Your Shul This Week?  (Read 62138 times)

Offline Something Fishy

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So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« on: May 23, 2020, 09:54:21 PM »
Location: Monsey

Friday night: suprisingly, the olam was behaving. Tables were set up in such a way that there was around 8 feet between people front to back, and, so long as people only sat at either end of the table, just around 6 feet side by side. Sure, some people were a bit closer to others, but overall it was pretty successful and it felt lovely to be back at shul.

Shabbos morning: came to shul early to stake out the spot that worked so great for me yesterday, only to find the shul pretty packed with most people sitting wherever they wanted. Walked right out and davened at home.

Shabbos afternoon: again, came a few minutes early only to find that they moved up the regular davening time and I missed it by an hour. The others who came at this time went all wise-men-of-Chelm and decided to go daven in someone's house instead of staying in the large shul. I davened at home once more.

At all times, I was the absolutely only person wearing a mask. Had me doubt if I'm the crazy one.
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Offline Yard sale

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2020, 10:06:57 PM »
Lakewood. Most of the local yard minyanim are done. 3 local shuls had 35 to well over 60, some with a bit of spacing some with not much. Probably exacerbated by the heavy rain which caused many of the few remaining yard minyanim to go indoors. One minyan was somewhat spaced until a nearby yard minyan came in and doubled up. Assuming by Shavuos we will be back to regularly scheduled programming barring any interference by authorities.

Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2020, 10:07:13 PM »
Lakewood:
Davened with my regular backyard minyan Friday night. There was heavy rain Shabbos morning, so a decision was made to move indoors to a room in the shul for leining and the rest of davening. Needless to say, most people were much closer than 6 feet apart, though I managed to stay a bit away from everyone and was next to an open window.

Said shul was holding a bunch of minchas, so I went to the earliest one. Again, although I personally was far enough away from everyone, other people were much closer together.

Motzaei Shabbos was back in the backyard.

Side note: this shul was planning on enforcing 15 people per minyan, but the 7 am Shacharis had close to 40 people with kids!
Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. –J. Paul Getty

Offline moko

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2020, 10:10:16 PM »
BOS- sign up required. Multiple minyanim to accommodate everyone. Strict mask and SD protocols enforced (not that they had to- everyone followed protocol)

Offline Iz

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2020, 10:13:15 PM »
I wonder if we could've guessed everyone's locations based on their reports.  ;)

Offline mme

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2020, 10:17:02 PM »
bp- chasidish minyen
need to say more? :)

Offline Shmulie

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2020, 10:17:44 PM »
Flatbush - many minyanim which they had a spreadsheet to sign up for (with 10 spots per minyan), most minyanim had between 12-14 people, everyone was very far apart and everyone wore masks

Offline Yard sale

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2020, 10:20:33 PM »
Flatbush - many minyanim which they had a spreadsheet to sign up for (with 10 spots per minyan), most minyanim had between 12-14 people, everyone was very far apart and everyone wore masks

I should mention I saw a couple hundred people over shabbos and not one mask. Oh, and a small kiddush for a Simcha in shul.

Offline Yard sale

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2020, 10:21:25 PM »
I should mention I saw scores of people over shabbos and not one mask. Oh, and a small kiddush for a Simcha in shul.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2020, 10:31:07 PM by Yard sale »

Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Offline yesitsme

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2020, 10:35:33 PM »
Lakewood - 14 people max in shul + 14 in ezras noshim x3 for each tefillah, masks + sanitize required upon entry

Offline ExGingi

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2020, 10:41:20 PM »
770 sent out a notice before Shabbos that only 10 people would be allowed in. This was to be an experiment at crowd control, and if no one would attempt to push themselves or smuggle in, it would continue.

As I was putting up extra tarp on my back porch in anticipation of the rain, and a neighbor suggesting that maybe they move the sefer torah to my house, as my deck had the most rain protection, I had a brainstorm of suggesting that the minyan move indoors. I brought over some extra siddurim and folding chairs to my neighbor's house (house is currently unoccupied, as he moved with his family across the street in preparation of house renovation).

Friday night everyone stayed on their own property, and it was announced that if it will be raining Davening will move indoors. Since I needed an aliya on Shabbos, I went to the neighbor who had the sefer Torah for the entire Davening. While it wasn't raining at the time, as a precaution we did laining in his garage which was the most spacious covered place. Garage door was kept open, so people from around were able to hear. After Davening kiddush/farbrengen indoors.

For mincha I went to 770 and stood outside the doors, which were opened for krias hatorah so we could hear, and were kept open until after mincha. While it's almost impossible not to keeps social distancing in 770 when the entire crowd is less than 15 people, outside the doors, it was unheard of.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2020, 11:01:42 PM by ExGingi »
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Offline YitzyS

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2020, 10:49:27 PM »
Mask rate Friday night: 85%. Shabbos morning: 40%. Mincha 10%.

Social distancing was in place, with 6 feet between mispalelim for the most part.

I wore a mask throughout. I only kept my cool because I had read Rav Yisroel Reisman's perspective before, thanks to @Yehudaa.

Divrei Torah that I've uploaded for Parshas Bamidbar.

Have a good shabbos!

Quote from: RavReisman
Klal Yisroel is beginning to step out of our homes. We’ve been saying Tehillim as a group every nine am and two pm with feeling. It started when one our good friends was taken to the hospital, it must be ten weeks ago. It was about the last week of Adar. He was critical, on a ventilator for a long time with a tracheotomy. Baruch Hashem today he is in rehab. We said Tehillim for him every day, twice a day, and we said Kapital 20, 121, 130, and 142.

142 ends (הוֹצִיאָה מִמַּסְגֵּר, נַפְשִׁי-- לְהוֹדוֹת אֶת-שְׁמֶךָ). Hashem take us out of lockup, out of being Sagur, out of being locked up. Lehodos Es Shemecha. To transition from (מַּסְגֵּר) from being locked up (לְהוֹדוֹת אֶת-שְׁמֶךָ) to come out and do things with a feeling and a sense of Hodaa of thanks to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

What’s it like to transition? It’s not easy. Rav Shimon Bar Yochai left the Kever after twelve years, he had an Ayin Ra, he looked at people working and caused damage. He had to go back into the Me’ara because it’s very hard to go from a situation where you’re focused on your Derech in Avodas Hashem and you see others who have other ways. Who’s greater than Rav Shimon Bar Yochai and we can say it.

When the Kohen Gadol left the Kodesh Hakadashim, and when he went out Motzei Yom Kippur, it says Yom Tov Hayu L’kohen Gadol B’tzeiso Shalom Min Hakodesh. He went out with a Yom Tov, he went out with a Simcha, he went out with a joy. Always, that was his job. The Kohen Gadol transitioned one to the other and in doing that transition he brought himself to a higher level.

It says that when you go and sit down and learn you are like the Kohen Gadol who went Lifnai V’lifnim. The attitude of someone who is learning and steps out and looks at others has to be with a certain beauty and a certain Ayin Tov, with a certain positive feeling.

We come together in Shul starting today once again, it is very crucial that people go with an Ayin Tov. Many of us are nervous. We have been in cabin fever for two months and we are not in our normal spirit of joy. I am so afraid that people are going to come to Shul and see someone else may be standing too close or with a mask that is not properly worn or without a mask. That such people are going to end up being involved in a Machlokes. Chas V’shalom, Machlokes is far more dangerous than any virus in the world. Machlokes between Yidden especially if people are going to have a Machlokes in Shul.

Please, when we go back to Shul do it with an Ayin Tov. Bring Beracha to everyone around you. It should be with a great joy and a great Hatzlacha.


Offline skyguy918

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #13 on: May 23, 2020, 10:50:37 PM »
KGH. The backyard minyan I am part of was making shabbos regular time, and I would have a hard time with that, so I joined a minyan in my shared driveway/alleyway. Probably 15-20 people, no one was weaing masks except me, but most people (families) were 10, 15, 20 feet away from each other. For shachris I went back to the minyan I'm officially part of. 15 people, all wearing masks and 6-8 ft from each other. The baal habayis bought a bunch of tents, some were clearly set up better than others, because once it started pouring, some of them weren't shedding the rain properly and had little pools forming. When we came back for mincha 2 of the tents were gonners. Still had enough space though as there were some no shows. Same for maariv.

There were apparently 2 minyanim in my shared driveway/alleyway for shachris. One of them somehow davened from 9:15-10:15, and finished just before the rain, while the other was by a bunch of houses with fully covered spaces - though I imagine it got a little crowded if everyone was in those spaces together.

There were several shuls that were totally open in KGH. Most YI's told their congregants that they're still not having any minyanim yet, indoors or outdoors.

Offline Shmulie

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #14 on: May 23, 2020, 11:24:24 PM »
Mask rate Friday night: 85%. Shabbos morning: 40%. Mincha 10%.

Social distancing was in place, with 6 feet between mispalelim for the most part.

I wore a mask throughout. I only kept my cool because I had read Rav Yisroel Reisman's perspective before, thanks to @Yehudaa.

Rabbi Reisman's shul is my shul the Rav was coordinating all the minyanim since Thursday between the main shul, ezras nashim, and simcha hall.
I've seen him at almost every minyan so far and everyone is keeping to all his guidelines. Everyone at every minyan was wearing a mask.
Rabbi Reisman is doing an amazing job!

Offline ari3

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #15 on: May 23, 2020, 11:57:36 PM »
My shul in lakewood was pretty good with the distancing during davening, after davening not so,
Aliyos only to those who had corona

Offline shaulyaakov

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #16 on: May 24, 2020, 12:03:07 AM »
Bergen county, NJ- Shul closed, outdoor minyanim offically still banned, Psak Halacha universally that minyanim are still assur.

I expect outdoor to start around 6/1, with heavy restrictions.

Offline Sam Finkelstein

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #17 on: May 24, 2020, 12:07:14 AM »
Local NYPD source claimed that if everything went well on Shabbos, limits will be raised to 20-30 for Shavuos.
Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil. –J. Paul Getty

Offline cozmohoot

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #18 on: May 24, 2020, 12:09:08 AM »
Flatbush - many minyanim which they had a spreadsheet to sign up for (with 10 spots per minyan), most minyanim had between 12-14 people, everyone was very far apart and everyone wore masks
Plus 1. My rov is close to R Reisman

Offline S209

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Re: So How Was Your Shul This Week?
« Reply #19 on: May 24, 2020, 12:39:57 AM »
Are you sure? Look again...
Personally I davened outdoors but many of the shuls in the neighborhood had a bunch of restrictions in place
Quote from: YitzyS
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