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Rabbi Weinberg Reflects on Pre- and Post-Pandemic Experiences

After more than a year of Zoom, enough already. It’s time to be together again.
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June 17, 2021
Rabbi Norbert Weinberg

There’s no question when it comes to whether the pandemic has challenged our ability to be creative. There is only so much that can be accomplished on Zoom, but Rabbi Norbert Weinberg of Hollywood Temple Beth El has found a way to see the experience in a positive light.

In a conversation we had at a café on Robertson Boulevard, Weinberg recalled the days leading up to the pandemic.

“My wife Ofra and I were in Shanghai on a tour the last week of October 2019, two weeks before the first official reported case of COVID,” he said.

Since COVID was not in anyone’s vocabulary at the time, “we were on the crowded subways and in the markets there. Although Wuhan [the alleged source of the virus] was far away, it is a busy and major city.

“All it would have taken,” said Weinberg, “was for one infected lab worker to have been on our subway—by chance. You get what I mean?

“We dodged a bullet,” he said, before noting that “it was a fascinating trip. And we did receive a beautiful reception at the Shanghai Ghetto Museum.”

Almost 20 months later, Weinberg is in the eighth year of his second term at Temple Beth El, and his focus is on North Crescent Heights Boulevard, West Hollywood, home of the Conservative synagogue.

Hollywood Temple Beth El may be one of the smaller, older synagogues (approaching 100 members) in this sprawling community, but it is also a pacesetter.

Under Weinberg’s leadership, it was one of the early sites to offer in-person services. Was the decision to reopen last month a tough call? “We were anxious, very anxious,” the rabbi said.

In this final month of spring, he has concluded, “People are Zoomed out. They’re worn out from watching screens, little screens, big screens. People are hungry to see each other.

“People are Zoomed out. They’re worn out from watching screens, little screens, big screens. People are hungry to see each other.”

“All during the year, people were saying, ‘The numbers are going down. We’ll be going back soon.’ But just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water–as they said in ‘Jaws’…”

Last February and March, Weinberg, the synagogue board and regular attendees realized that soon they would be able to go back inside. It finally happened last month, the weekend of the two-day holiday of Shavuot.

“For a startup, it has worked very well with a truncated service, a little shorter and more quickly than normal.”

When the rabbi reflected on the start of Zoom life, it didn’t sound that bad. “We went into lockdown a year ago March, when almost everyone else did. Then we established an online presence. This took trial-and-error ‘til we got a formula that worked.”

Even though he, like everyone else, was entering largely unexplored territory, “it was a nice experience. I could play back hazzanim [cantorial renditions] and musical versions of different kinds. We did a series with guest speakers. It was easy online because they didn’t have to schlep their way up to the synagogue. We have people from Poland, people from Jamaica. We did themes on Jewish communities around the world.”

But all new experiences have a shelf life.

“We did a series on Hasidism. It’s hard to explain Hasidism, though,” said Weinberg, “when you can’t hear the music.”

In other words, all of that was nice—but after more than a year of Zoom, enough already. It’s time to be together again.

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