By submitting the above, I agree to the JTA. org Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Prominent speakers from around the world participated in a series of systems at the Barcelona-Madrid mashup.
(JTA) — Before the coronavirus crisis, Fridays were busy at the house of Yael Cobano, the founder and president of the Reform Jewish Community of Madrid.
He displayed the names of members who could simply light candles for Friday night services, chose someone to say kiddush and hamotzi, and prepared his own dish to participate in the Shabbat potluck after Kabbalah, which drew 10 to 20 people. the network of around 65 people.
Today, preparation and taking a position online – and in coordination with Bet Shalom of Barcelona, the sister congregation in Madrid.
When the immediate spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain forced a national lockdown, the country’s two largest Reformed congregations came together to create something they had never imagined: a large, active virtual community.
“I didn’t think it possible to live your Jewish life only online,” Cobano said. “For me Judaism is face to face, the word ‘knesset’ means gathering – physical and not from behind the computer. However, through our joining together I was able to see the bonds, the good that a virtual community could offer during this pandemic.”
Jewish religious life in Spain is governed by classical Orthodox communities, and the Cóbano network only dates back to 2014. While many other people in the Orthodox world combine faith and technology, Reformed groups have adopted it.
Through a virtual convention platform, the two reform communities first joined forces for Purim. Then they began celebrating Shabbat together. They now have a physically powerful weekly program including lectures, workshops and discussions led by beyond and existing members of the network and foreign friends. , adding prominent rabbis, professors and many more.
The symptoms of COVID-19 in Cóbano had already started on Purim in early March. She felt exhausted, in pain, unable to sleep and starting to have trouble breathing.
“It’s very difficult,” said Cóbano, a 38-year-old civil servant. But with Jai Anguita, president of Bet Shalom of Barcelona, they continued.
“Community leadership is commitment,” said Anguita, a 59-year-old lawyer. “In difficult times, we will have to move forward and lead with optimism and solidarity. »
Three other members of the Madrid network have had serious cases of COVID-19, adding an emergency doctor. Many others, like Cóbano, are in poor health and are recovering at home. The Madrid congregation has a special WhatsApp organization committed to praying twice a day for the sick and for medical personnel. On Saturday night, the two communities gather for the Havdalah prayer that marks the end of Shabbat.
“We did this to mark the time,” Anguita said. “[To be] the Jewish people, [to be] together.”
Running systems online and in combination is not an absolutely foreign concept to any of the communities. Before the pandemic began, they had already hosted Israel-focused systems and a virtual e-book club in combination. But their efforts are now much greater.
“At night we spend our Jewish time,” Cóbano said. “We study, we sing, we exercise – whatever – and we see others. “
They organized debates on the history of anti-Semitism, presented concerts of Jewish music, and taught Jai Yoga classes. Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, discussed how intimacy is presented in Jewish observation to address the preference many might feel for human contact during isolation.
The centuries-old question of “Why is God doing this to me?” was the focus of the discussion led by Rabbi Ariel Edery, a faculty member of the Iberoamerican Institute for Reform Rabbinical Formation and the rabbi at the Beth Shalom congregation of Wake County, North Carolina.
“These presentations help people confront and accept the situation they’re living,” Cobano said. “Accepting helps empower [them] for the future.”
This long term is still uncertain.
Spain has the second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths and infections in Europe after Italy and recently tightened its national lockdown, ordering all non-essential staff to stay home for at least two more weeks. Array Anguita and Cobano are making plans with this grim truth in mind: They expect their online programming to ramp up in June and be welcomed by the wider Jewish network.
“If someone out there can offer some kind of presentation or a mini-concert or a workshop, our doors and windows are open,” Anguita said.
For members of both congregations, the online activities spearheaded by Anguita and Cobano have been a relief.
“[They] make us feel close even though we’re distanced,” Sarah I. Gonzales of the Madrid community said in an email. “They [help] generate a place of unity and compassion so that the loneliness [is] more bearable and they give our children life and happiness.”
Edith Gladis Dueñas, from the Barcelona community, agrees, adding that she has found it helpful to fill her calendar with Jewish-themed events.
“Cóbano and Anguita’s efforts are extraordinary, [full of] ingenuity and imagination,” he said. “They I spend my days with friends. ”
For Passover, either congregation typically held giant seders throughout the community. This week, however, members will come together to help others celebrate alone. Cóbano gave a presentation on how to lead a seder; María Manzanares filmed a video on how to make homemade matzo; Romina Reisin, a singer living in Israel, taught Passover-themed songs at a music workshop; and Sara Gardner, who edited “The Rosh Hashanah Seder Cookbook: Stories and Recipes from Madrid’s Reform Jewish Community,” shared Passover recipes.
Although efforts to keep the virtual congregation active go beyond borders and deadlines, the communities of Madrid and Barcelona also remain active at the local level. Members have joined relief efforts in their cities and towns, delivering food to other homebound people, volunteering to sign up with seniors living alone, and contributing to a fund set up for those who have lost their jobs. .
A crisis management organization was organized through the Jewish community in Madrid in general, with the participation of intellectual fitness professionals.
“There has been brotherhood regardless of the denomination,” Cóbano said. “This makes my center happy, this is Klal Israel, we are one. ”
Until the scenario changes and communities can once again gather in their respective places of worship, the thing to do is connect.
“We started [the session] with ‘Was it good?’ “As you carry it, we come into contact with others,” Cóbano said, “and it’s like that kiss or hug you give someone at the door of the synagogue.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
By submitting the foregoing, I agree to JTA. org’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
I accept the policy.