#Rabbi Angela Buchdahl

[gaelic-symphony]

My friends, I share with you Rabbi Angela Buchdahl's sermon from Erev Rosh Hashanah this year, which I found incredibly moving and helped me process a lot of my grief from the past year. I hope it can help some of you who are struggling to find comfort and clarity in your mourning as well.

[unlikelyfanhairdoalmond]

Shine A Light Debuts "Break Bread" Social Media Campaign Featuring Hannah Bronfman, Téa Leoni, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Elon Gold to Help Navigate Difficult Conversations About Antisemitis

December 7, 2023 9:00 AM

The 2023 Chanukah campaign brings individuals from different communities and backgrounds together in solidarity to engage in thoughtful discussion that promotes positive change in an unprecedented time

Jake Cohen, culinary influencer and The New York Times bestselling author, has also partnered with Shine A Light to further elevate its message of coming together to "Break Bread"

NEW YORK, Dec. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shine A Light, an award-winning, purpose-driven convening platform for organizations, companies, institutions and individuals to unite in shining a light on antisemitism in all its modern forms, launches its 2023 campaign – "Break Bread." Beginning on the first day of Chanukah, this social first initiative was created to help navigate difficult conversations about antisemitism and hate, and features influential spokespeople coming together to engage in thoughtful dialogue. Moderated by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, the conversation includes influencer, activist and creator Hannah Bronfman, actress Téa Leoni and comedian Elon Gold, who "Break Bread" together and share their experiences.

To learn more about Shine A Light, please visit https://shinealighton.com/BreakBread. "Break Bread" can be found on social using #BreakBread and #ShineALight.

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing Rabbi Angela Buchdahl’s sermon. It reduced me to tears and I just released the build up of everything I have been feeling this week. There are no words but hers hit my heart in a way I desperately needed.

Thank you

You are so welcome. Her powerful words of wisdom were what I needed to hear today too. 🫂 Hang in there; you're definitely not alone in feeling like this.

[pargolettasworld]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFvcHqKL1M8

In the video description, Cantor Azi Schwartz prefaces this song with “With love and concern I think about Israel and the challenges it faces.“  He’s Israeli-American, and especially in this collaboration with Rabbi Cantor Angela Buchdahl, that sentiment sums up what I think a lot of American Jews generally feel about the state of Israel.

I suspect that I’m hardly alone in generally being in favor of the concept of the state of Israel, and also not terribly fond of the actual reality.  It’s a country that does not have a constitution and thus does not guarantee the free exercise of religion; Orthodox Judaism is privileged by the government over any other form of Judaism as well as other religions, and civil laws about marriage and citizenship end up unbalanced because of that. It’s a country that claims to have a universal draft and then exempts the Hasidim.  It’s a country that cannot find a way to open the Western Wall to all Jews, and cannot seem to prevent assaults on the Women of the Wall.  It’s a country that keeps electing an authoritarian strongman who is currently engaged in trying to gut the oversight of the Supreme Court.  And that’s even before you get into the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, a controversy from which no one is emerging with the moral high ground.  There’s a lot about Israel that’s interesting and cool, and a lot that’s deeply unpleasant.

But still, it’s a Jewish state in the historical homeland of the Jewish people, much as France is a French state in the historical homeland of the French people.  There’s a Shabbat blessing for the country that most Diaspora synagogues say along with a blessing for their own country, and I generally agree with the sentiment -- both Israel and [insert your country here] should have Divine blessing to be the best, most just, and wisest places they can be, because we all know how much these countries need those wishes.  They need all the help they can get to be the places that their people want and need them to be.

[mariacallous]

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of New York’s Reform Central Synagogue also urged solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of protesters in Israel who have taken to the streets in opposition to their government’s judicial reform plans:

If you care about democratic rights — help preserve the only functional democracy in the Middle East. If you care about the vulnerable — safeguard the sole sanctuary for Jewish refugees in need. If you value Jewish Peoplehood, hear the cries of the other half of our Jewish family and remember: the destiny of Am Yisrael is bound, one to the other. 

This young, messy, miraculous Jewish state is the most important, sovereign democratic project of the Jewish people of the last 2000 years.

We cannot walk away. While the task can feel at times, overwhelming, exhausting, Pirke Avot teaches:Iit is not our duty to complete it, only not to abandon it. 

In his Rosh Hashanah morning sermon, Rabbi Joshua Davidson of New York’s Reform Congregation Emanu-El reported on his visit to Israel with a group of local rabbis and their conversation with politician Simcha Rothman:

When my turn came to speak, I asked him how he intended to protect the rights of those who don’t align with his politics, Israelis who are not haredi or from the Religious Zionist camp.  He responded dismissively: “If you Reformim want to secure your rights, more of you should move to Israel.” Stunningly unaware he was addressing a delegation of Conservative and Orthodox rabbis, too, this chair of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee made painfully clear that his view of law and justice was purely majoritarian. Minority rights be damned.

It was a shattering encounter. One that revealed this coalition cares nothing for me, my Judaism, or my Jewish community. Don’t they know my congregation’s tireless efforts to strengthen American Jewry’s commitment to Israel? Don’t they know we lovingly display Israel’s flag on our bimah? And here my colleagues and I had travelled across an ocean only to get stiff-armed! Oy. Even in Israel, shver tsu zayn a Yid, sometimes it’s hard to be a Jew!

Rabbi Jeffrey Saxe of the Reform Temple Rodeph Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia, addressed congregants who may be reluctant to criticize Israel despite disagreeing with its government’s plans to weaken the power of the country’s judiciary. He took a lesson from the Book of Jonah, read on Yom Kippur:

God teaches us the most important lesson of the Book of Jonah: that criticism must be given as a blessing and not a curse. Especially when a harsh word of warning is needed to bring one back from the edge, it must be offered as a lifeline and not a threat. …. This text challenges us both to recognize when this is needed, and to remember that the commandment in Leviticus to rebuke your neighbor comes just one verse before, paired inextricably, with the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. Criticism and disagreement must be conducted with love. By fostering and deepening our relationship with Israel, we take a place in the conversation that comes from caring. By acknowledging all sides and their humanity, we model the sensitivity that is needed to raise the level of the discussion. By being part of one of the countless efforts and organizations to help Palestinians, help Jews, build something, and be part of a positive vision, we earn the credibility to say our piece. 

[sbahour]

I had the pleasure to meet up for lunch and a chat today in Ramallah with a group of 15 interfaith clergy visiting from Manhattan, led by my friend, the amazing Senior Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue in New York City.

[progressivejudaism]

It’s not every day that one of the coolest rabbis in the world gets a shout out on Jeopardy!

[phoukanamedpookie]

Interesting tidbit: the rabbi from NYC the gunman wanted to get on the phone? Rabbi Angela Buchdahl. In case you didn't know, Buchdahl is Korean-American.

In this situation, the face of nefarious Jewish power was a woman of color.

we need to have a serious talk about antisemitism in America. yesterday, there was a hostage situation in a synagogue in Texas, where a gunman took for people including a rabbi hostage. he wanted to have some guy released from prison. I forget who, but he was charged with 80 something years back in 2010. so what do you think this gunman does? does he contact the police or the president and demand the prisoner be released?

no. he tells the rabbi to call another rabbi in New York, and to have that rabbi release the prisoner. now, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that his plan was completely stupid. the rabbi in New York had no relation to with prisoner, the prison he was in, or even the justice system at all. so why did the gunman think that the new york rabbi would have the authority to release a random prisoner who was sentenced 12 years ago? one word. antisemitism

most antisemites have the insane belief that all Jews are secretly controlling the world, or the government, or the banks, or natural disasters, or… you get it. its entirely based on fake and antisemitic conspiracy theories, and it literally gets people killed. this gunman thought that a rabbi in New York had the authority and power and ability to release a prisoner who I’m pretty sure isn’t even imprisoned in the state of New York (don’t quote me on that though).

antisemitic conspiracy theories, even as jokes, literally get us Jews hurt or killed. those are your “lizard people”. your “space lasers”. your “new world order”. your “George Soros money”. all those insane baseless conspiracy theories, even as a joke, cause severe damage to Jews. because people will believe it.

I haven’t seen any non-Jews talk about what happened yesterday. that’s not surprising. very rarely will goyim care about Jews unless one of their close friends is Jewish. but it’s still upsetting. there is still so much antisemitism and hate towards Jewish people in the world today.

[plitnick]

A Different Antisemitic Attack

A Different Antisemitic Attack

At this writing, it’s one full day after the horrific hostage crisis at a synagogue in Texas ended. A lot of information is being withheld from the public, and many questions still remain. But we already know enough that we should recognize two things: this was indeed an antisemitic attack and it was one that was very different in nature, as well as outcome, from others in recent memory.  In a…

[wearyewe]

“We do not pull up the ladder behind us.” - Rabbi Angela Buchdahl

[writingwithcolor]

Jewish dryad character: non-human Jewish characters

writingthrowaway asked:

Is it ever acceptable to write a non human Jewish character as a goyim? I am writing an urban fantasy story with a mostly non human cast, and there Is going to be a discussion of religion at one point and one of the characters (a part human, part dryad) is explaining that being non human and having magic doesn’t give any answers, just different questions. His character feels very Jewish to me, but I am wary of creating a non human Jewish character due to the history of anti semitic portrayals of Jewish people as non human. I would avoid things like horns, green skin, etc, but am still worried.

At risk of being redundant, a grammatical note: “-im” is a plural ending in Hebrew and Yiddish. Seraphim, Nephilim, lechayim, and yes, goyim, are all plural. The singular is goy. It’s also not necessary or particularly more respectful to express that you’re not Jewish by saying “I’m a goy” than by saying “I’m not Jewish.” It’s not disrespectful, it’s just not necessary. If something feels meaningful to you about saying “I’m a goy,” “I’m a gaijin,” “I’m a gringo,” etc, you do you, and now you’re able to do it less incorrectly. 

As to your actual question, I think it’s lovely to show non-human, non-villainous characters practicing Judaism. Although we don’t proselytize, we do accept converts, and there’s a lot to play with in questions about how someone with different biological and potentially social needs would practice Judaism, although that would require a significant amount of research to write from the outside. Having that person be linked with trees is especially interesting, since Judaism has a lot to say about trees in a lot of contexts. If the character is half human and half dryad, that might open the door for you to learn more about the experiences of multiracial and mixed Jews, as their experiences might mirror those. I might point you to Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, who has written publicly about her experience as a mixed-race Jewish child and public figure, as a possible inspiration. 

You listed a few tropes of non-human character attributes to avoid, and you’re right about them. I encourage you to consider also the negative tropes attached to Jewish human characters. In a previous ask I listed some negative stereotypes of Jewish masculinity, and noted that many of them are only negative if the context is set up to frame them that way. You could choose either to avoid giving your Jewish, half-human man any of those attributes, or to include some of those attributes but frame them as positive or endearing, particularly the ones about  a character’s looks or intellect, but for instance I would avoid demonstrating his Jewishness through tropes like having poor boundaries with his mother or being unusually cowardly. I don’t think you’re headed in that direction but it was worth saying. 

Honestly I love the idea of non-human Jewish characters, it sounds like you’re conscious of the tropes involved, and I think you’re on the right track for creating this character sensitively and well.

-Meir

Since we have an actual Jewish tree holiday and your character is part tree creature I'd love to watch a character like that celebrate Tu Bishvat 💚

I agree with Meir that yes non human Jewish characters! But I disagree about gentiles/outsiders/etc. using “goyim” for themselves just because it’s a word in another language that you don’t actually need. It means “nations” and to me it has an “everyone else” connotation. But I’m just one person so feel free to listen to either one of us on this. I think the reason it strikes me as off is the use of a random word in a language you aren't using for anything else but that specific word, when there is a word in your language. Like it has the same vibe to me as saying you want the atmosphere in your reading nook in your apartment to evoke "shalom" rather than just saying you wanted it to evoke peace, if you're an English speaker. But yeah my response is mostly the "everyone else around us" connotation I'm used to associating with the word. Again, please don't take either me or Meir as law, we're just demonstrating the two Jews three opinions phenomenon. 

—Shira

[hagafen]

Mentally ill people can still be raging antisemites. Just an FYI that someone can be clearly mentally ill and harmful to themselves and others, but that harm can also be specifically inclined due to preexisting beliefs about Jews.

The man who committed the Monsey stabbings during Hannukah in 2019 was deemed not fit to stand trial and was permanently hospitalized and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenics. I happen to know a few people with schizophrenia who do not happen to be raging antisemites who keep journals about how much hitler was right about the Jews, or perpetuating some strange conspiracy about Ashkenazim being "not real Jews" even if the Khazar theory has no historical basis. But Grafton Thomas, the shooter, did. Regardless of his family asking people to get that he was a Black man our mental health system failed, which it did, it doesn't minimize the harm this man has committed by being an antisemite. One rabbi dead, 4 critically hurt, stabbed during a holiday party. The family argued that it was the schizophrenia that caused the stabbings, not Antisemitism, but that begs the question why he sought out Ashkenazi synagogues specifically (googling 'German synagogues') and why people are so quick to say that there is never any antisemitism in their homes, their communities.

Why is there such high rates of antisemitism in the US if no one is antisemitic, pray tell? And now Malik Faisal Akram, who was clearly in distress, homeless, and ill. But he sought out a Tarrant county synagogue, found CBI, and took people hostage, including a Rabbi he then told to call a prominent reform Rabbi like Angela Buchdahl.

Our mental health system (and Britain's) is a travesty, yes, but the idea that antisemitism isn't global, that it doesn't feature in communities both European and in the Ummah, is fundamentally bullshit. There's antisemitism everywhere, regardless of where it comes from. Anyone excusing actions that cause harm with things like mental illness simply do not want to challenge how accepted and normalized antisemitism is in the world around them.

[jewishtwig]

I remember when I followed you a while back I was binging Jewish blogs, especially by people converting like me. I ended up digging all the way down to the Pesakh memes on some blogs, but most I'd only run through a few pages before following and returning to my dash, but stumbling upon yours I just couldn't pull myself away until the app decided to refresh I think over a day later. I remember thinking about telling you that, but I don't think I ever did (because I felt really awkward) but here it is and I hope that can brighten your inbox a bit. Love your blog, have a lovely day <3

I’ve been trying to find the words to tell you how much I appreciate this ask but I can’t find any good enough so I’m just going to go with a classic: thank you.

Thank you. Your ask honestly made my week and I didn’t take it as awkward at all. But that worry of being awkward reminded me of a Yom Kippur service by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl that I highly recommend everyone watch.

She talks about how kindness is the foundation of the world and the number one reason that people do not do acts of kindness is that they’re afraid their kindness will be rejected or misinterpreted.

Thank you for pushing past your initial fear of awkwardness to share this ask with me. I really can’t express how much it means to me.

I hope you’ll all watch the service. It’s really changed the way I interact with people.

“Go to the shiva.

Make the call.

Get the cup of coffee.

Don’t overthink it.

The Sussex study shows that 99% of recipients of kindness

not only appreciate it, they’re changed by it.

Remember: Acts of Kindness are a replacement for sacrifices.

We might endure some awkwardness, or inconvenience,

even rejection.

But that’s the sacrifice.” - Rabbi Buchdahl

[beardedmrbean]

Two teenagers detained in the United Kingdom in connection to investigations into a British man who died at the scene after allegedly taking Jewish worshippers at a Texas synagogue hostage were released Wednesday without any criminal charges, according to British law enforcement.

In providing an update Wednesday, Greater Manchester Police announced that the two teenagers arrested Sunday in South Manchester by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West had been released without charge after spending three nights in custody.

The nearly 11-hour-standoff at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas – about 15 miles northeast of Fort Worth – ended Saturday night with the 44-year-old alleged gunman, Malik Faisal Akram, dead. While no hostages were killed, Akram was heard demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national in prison for trying to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan who was dubbed "Lady Al Qaeda."

TEXAS SYNAGOGUE HOSTAGE SUSPECT TIMELINE: MALIK FAISAL AKRAM'S CRIMINAL RECORD AND WHEN HE ENTERED US

Several reports say the teens taken into custody were Akram’s sons, but police have not confirmed those reports.

Terrorism police also searched an address in North Manchester as part of their investigation.

"CTP North West is continuing to assist with the investigation which is being led by US authorities. Overnight, constrictive meetings with colleagues from the United States have taken place," Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Dominic Scally said in a statement. "As part of our enquiries, we’re also working with colleagues in other forces and Lancashire Police are working with communities in the Blackburn area to put measures in place to provide reassurance."

"Communities Defeat Terrorism, and the help and support we get from the public is a vital part of that," Scally continued. "So we would urge everyone to remain vigilant, and if you do see anything suspicious then please report it, in confidence, to police via the Anti-terrorist hotline or gov.uk/ACT. It won’t ruin lives, but it may well save them."

Investigators continue to determine how Akram reportedly managed to fly to New York’s JFK Airport and enter the U.S. undetected despite him having a criminal record stretching back decades and previously being entered on the U.K.’s terrorist watch list.

At the same time, the incident in the Texas synagogue has shown renewed light on the radicalization of members of Muslim communities in the U.K., as well as the dangers of antisemitic rhetoric spreading online through social media.

During the Texas standoff, Akram reached out to New York City-based Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, who runs Reform Judaism. The rabbi told her congregation she had no prior connection to the gunman, who wanted her to use her influence to persuade authorities to release Siddiqui from prison in Fort Worth.

TEXAS SYNAGOGUE HOSTAGE SUSPECT'S ‘EXTREME’ VIEWS SURFACED AT JAILHOUSE MOSQUE AFTER 2012 THEFT CONVICTION 

The call itself reveals Akram’s deep-rooted antisemitic beliefs, Alan Mendoza, co-founder and executive director of U.K.-based think tank The Henry Jackson Society, explained to Fox News Digital.

"This guy goes from the U.K. to the U.S. to try to free an al Qaeda terrorist, and he takes a synagogue hostage, and how does he think he’s going to achieve the release of her? He calls some rabbis," Medoza said Tuesday. "Why is he calling these rabbis? It’s because he believes in the ancient conspiracy theory that there is a world Jewish conspiracy and that a rabbi in New York can somehow cause the U.S. government to release this terrorist. That tells you how pernicious these theories are and how their spread is so dangerous. So, you have to drive this stuff off the internet and very quickly do so."

Radicalization can spread online through social media or in person in the community if there is someone spreading disinformation or radical interpretations of Islam, Mendoza told Fox News Digital.

He pointed to how numerous Islamist groups in the U.K. have been calling for the release of Siddiqui for the past decade, and Akram could have been radicalized to take matters into his own hands.

"Here’s a specific example of how campaigning of this nature," Mendoza explained, "may well have radicalized people themselves to go free a supposedly innocent woman that we know is a dangerous terrorist. But if you have been fed lies on the subject for 10 years you might think very differently."

"They claim it was Islamophobia that led to her jailing, that she is an innocent victim, and clearly the drift effect of that may well as persuaded him that he needed to do something dramatic to secure [the] release of an innocent woman being jailed by evil Americans and because she’s a Muslim" Medoza said.

Akram’s brother, Gulbar Akram, has revealed that his parents emigrated from Pakistan in the 1960s and raised six sons in Blackburn, an industrial town in Lancashire, England. During the 1960s, the town attracted many immigrants from Pakistan and India for its manufacturing jobs, which have now dissipated.

Mendoza pointed to a 2016 report called The Casey Review, a study which found that the area of Britain with the biggest problem of integration was Blackburn. He argued that the U.K. government must play a role in stamping out radicalization by forcing the desegregation of these poorer minority neighborhoods.

"This is not a new immigrant family. These parents have these roots. And by all accounts, the rest of the family condemned this incident and don’t agree with what their brother did," Mendoza said. "The reality is there are 40,000 people on the terrorist watch list. Now to monitor all those people 24/7 would cost an extreme amount of money. So, it’s just not practical to monitor that number of people in the way."

"The reality is, for the government to get to the root of this, the government must go into some of the things it failed to do so far," he continued, "which is breaking up and desegregating ghettoized communities, ending no-go zones in cities where people fear to tread with the risk that British law may not go as far as we think it will go. There’s a line in making sure women are not second-class citizens."

[progressivejudaism]

Last week at Central Synagogue, the clergy sang a version of Mi Chamocha to the tune of Rise & Shine in honor of Parshat Noach!

[flowerfan2]

All Vows

A/N:  Given that this is the second year in a row I’ve been inspired (compelled?) to write a Good Omens fic on Yom Kippur, I’m inclined to think there’s something to it.  But who knows.

See below for more info and author’s notes.  L’shana tova, everyone.

All Vows, A03

It's Yom Kippur again, and Crowley can't stop watching you tube videos of the Kol Nidrei service.  It's hard to know where he fits, but Aziraphale is there to help.

Crowley hit pause on the video he was watching and shifted on the couch, pulling out his earbuds when it became clear that Aziraphale was talking to him (he could hear him either way, of course, but Aziraphale said it was rude to keep them in during a conversation).

“Are you still listening to Kol Nidrei services?”  Aziraphale asked.  “I don’t think you’re actually required to do it multiple times.”  There was a soft smile tugging at his face, but Crowley didn’t mind the gentle teasing.  He knew he was being a little, well, obsessive.

“I’m not required to do it at all,” he reminded Aziraphale.  Demons didn’t need to go to temple.  Crowley was aiming for a casual tone, but he kind of ruined it by swiping at his eyes, which were leaking rather annoyingly. Traitors.

“Being able to remotely watch Yom Kippur services from all over the world is a silver-”

“Do not say that again, Aziraphale,” Crowley grumbled, returning to more familiar territory. Aziraphale continued to find the “silver lining” in the COVID disaster in everything from less crowded roads to the months and months he’d had to try out different variations on his macaron recipe (Crowley had drawn the line at lobster maracons with buttercream and crabmeat filling), and every time, it grated on his nerves.  No “rain bow” was going to make up for this disaster.

 “I’m sorry, dear,” Aziraphale said, sliding over and taking Crowley’s hand.  “I don’t mean to downplay your concern.  But it is long past sundown here, and presumably in…”  Aziraphale craned his neck to see what Crowley had been watching on his tablet, “New York City, and I think you can take a break now.”

 Crowley let out a long breath, and laid his head on Aziraphale’s shoulder.  “Kol Nidrei means ‘all vows’ in Aramaic,” he said.

 “Hmm, yes,” Aziraphale agreed.

 “Do you remember, then – when it got started… medieval times, all those persecuted Jews, forced to convert to other religions, wanted to return to their own community.”  …”

 “But they were worried that the oath they had sworn to God to follow another religion would get in the way. So the congregations developed the Kol Nidrei prayer to absolve them of the oaths they had made.”

 Crowley digs his chin into Aziraphale’s warm shoulder, and Aziraphale gives his hand a squeeze.  Of course Aziraphale knows all about it, they were both there, bearing witness to the many ways humans have wronged each other year after year in the name of religion.  But something about this particular religious ritual, a legal formula recited every fall to address each person’s own relationship with their god, has hit him hard tonight.

 “D’ya think it worksss for me?” Crowley asked quietly, his voice rebelling against him as surely as his eyes had earlier.  “Can I be forgiven, for the vows I sssshouldn’t have made? Or does it not work, since She threw me out in the first place?”  Was it still a vow against God if God pretty much forced him into it?

 “Oh, Crowley,” Aziraphale said, unclasping his hand from Crowley’s and enveloping him in a tight hug instead.  “It works for everyone.  Vah-yoe-mare Adonai, sah-lach-tee kid’vorecha.”

 “And Adonai said, ‘I have pardoned them as you have asked,’” Crowley repeated, roughly translating the end of the prayer he had heard so many times.

 They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Aziraphale adjusting his hold on Crowley to something more comfortable. Crowley snuggled against Aziraphale’s chest, rubbing his cheek along the worn velvet of Aziraphale’s waistcoat, a feeling of safety and warmth spreading through his body.

 “So, which one was your favorite?” Aziraphale asked after a while, shifting so that he could reclaim his tea from where he had abandoned it at the other end of the couch.  It was still at the perfect temperature, of course, despite the fact that he hadn’t taken a sip of it for quite a while.

 “My favorite…?”

 “Your favorite service.  You must have watched a dozen of them tonight.”

 It had been more than that, actually, if you counted all of the ones Crowley just checked out on you tube for a few minutes and then noped out of if it wasn’t particularly interesting.

 “I always found that fancy congregation in Manhattan a bit too stuffy,” Aziraphale said, referring to the last one Crowley had viewed, and Crowley huffed out a laugh.  Anything too stuffy for Aziraphale was, let’s say, more than a bit behind the times.

 “Newt and Anathema had a good service in their backyard, actually,” Crowley said, grabbing his phone and swiping around until he found what he was looking for, then playing a snippet of the recording for Aziraphale.  There were less traditional instruments playing along with the traditional prayers, and Aziraphale smiled as they heard what sounded like a ukulele.

 “Anathema will really do anything for Newt, won’t she?” Aziraphale murmured approvingly.  Anathema wasn’t Jewish, at least not by birth.

 “Well, she thinks the cantor might be under some sort of spell, given how long she can hold out those high notes without breathing, so she’s taking a professional interest.”

 Crowley showed Aziraphale a few pictures Anathema had sent him that afternoon, of Newt and Anathema’s yard, set up for a small group of neighbors with chairs spread out at least six feet apart.  Their guests were all bringing their own prayer books, or using their phones to access the texts.  Even some communities who usually wouldn’t allow the use of technology on the holidays had made exceptions for a variety of practices given the need to stay safe during the pandemic, although Crowley was pretty sure Newt and Anathema weren’t so conservative in their observance anyway.  

 “Things really are different this year,” Aziraphale said.

 Crowley nodded.  “Yup.  Tomorrow someone is coming by to play the shofar for them.  Apparently the guy is just going to go from house to house, if you want him to come play it for you, you just have to let him know and he’ll stop by.  Home-delivery shofar blowing.  But,” Crowley broke off, swiping until he found another photograph, and then turning his phone so Aziraphale could see the image of the long, curved ram’s horn with a mask somehow attached to the end,  “it has to wear a mask too.  It could be a super-spreader.”

 Aziraphale stared at the photo of the shofar with a mask on it and started to giggle.  Crowley harrumphed, but then Aziraphale did that little wiggle that meant he was truly endeared, and Crowley started giggling too.

 “Humans are endlessly creative,” Aziraphale said into Crowley’s neck, when the giggles had subsided and they were once more curled up around each other.  “They will rise to this challenge, as they have before.”

 “Do you really think so, angel?” Crowley asked.  

 “I do, Crowley. I really do. And we’ll be here to watch them.”

 “Together,” Crowley said shyly, hiding his blush in the soft fluff of Aziraphale’s hair.  Because no matter what vows Crowley had made, no matter what heaven or hell had required of him, somehow, Aziraphale was still here.

 “Yes, of course, dear boy,” Aziraphale replied, nuzzling a delicate kiss into the spot just behind Crowley’s ear, fond and steady and true.  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

_____

Note:  Here I am again, for some crazy reason, writing another Yom Kippur fic.  Yom Kippur is the traditional Jewish day of atonement, and the Kol Nidrei prayer is thought to have originated as a result of Jews being forced to convert to Christianity or Islam upon pain of death.  Afterwards, many of the forced converts wanted to return to Judaism, but this was complicated by the fact that they had been forced to swear vows to another religion.  The Kol Nidrei legal formula was developed to enable them to return, and is recited each year at the beginning of Yom Kippur to absolve them of their vows to God made under duress.  The melody of the Kol Nidrei prayer, which became standardized in the 1800’s, is particularly haunting.  To hear and see the Kol Nidrei sung by Cantor Angela Buchdahl, the first Asian-American to be ordained as a rabbi and cantor and an amazing person, go here.

 Jewish communities around the world, large and small, have been conducting remotely accessible services this year, and finding numerous ways to allow people to come together for high holiday observance in one form or another while still following social distancing guidelines and keeping each other safe.  As just one of many examples, Temple Emanu-El of New York has made its high holiday services available online to everyone; you can find the Kol Nidrei service here.  (As described on Wikipedia,Temple Emanu-El is the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City and, because of its size and prominence, has served as a flagship congregation in the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845. Its landmark Romanesque Revival building on Fifth Avenue is one of the largest synagogues in the world. I was there once for a wedding - it blew me away, and honestly, most Jewish synagogues don’t look anything like it, but it is a very lovely place to have visited).