For Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, synagogues see the largest turnouts of the year of congregants to services. Some see up to a thousand attendees in one service, likely over five times the average Shabbat service, depending on the synagogue.
“We’re preparing right after the High Holy Days for the next time,” Rabbi Jill Maderer, senior rabbi at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, said. “We’re evaluating how it goes and then putting into place new thinking. We look at everything from space needs to security needs to, most of all, how can we bring them into a community experience that will feel sacred.”
Maderer said this year, they expect about 1,000 congregants to be in attendance. For the congregation, a typical weekly Shabbat service makes up roughly 200 congregants, but space is not the main issue.
“We have a very large sanctuary, and for some services we do double services to make sure we can fit everybody,” said Maderer. “Mostly, we have more staff present to help the traffic flow so that people know exactly where to go. That’s the biggest difference.”
Another Philly synagogue, Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, anticipates seeing around 800 congregants at this year’s High Holiday services, according to Executive Director Brian Rissinger. A change over the years, however, is the number of congregants who watch the services online, which Rissinger said is significant in relation to those attending in person.
“In the cycle of the Jewish holidays, we’re used to this [type] of increase, but it involves additional security and using multiple sections of the building for services,” said Rissinger.
“Oftentimes, we’re able to have Shabbat in our chapel, which seats 125, while High Holy Day services don’t fit in there, so we need to be in the sanctuary, which requires additional seating.”
While Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel moves the location of its services, Congregation Mikveh Israel, which sees anywhere between 100 and 300 attendees at any given service, according to its president, Eli Gabay, already has the capacity to seat up to 300 people.
“For many people, it’s also the time of year when they attend the services with the highest level of intent in reverence, given the serious nature of these days,” said Gabay. “People are a little bit more free-spirited and not as stern in their demeanor during regular Shabbat [services].”
Other typical preparations for some synagogues include ensuring the sound system works and more frequent communications with congregants in the months leading up to High Holiday services.
“What does change based on the influx of people is trying to properly assign different roles for the services,” added Gabay. “Any given Shabbat, I could — on the spot — decide so-and-so is going to open the ark for us, so-and-so is going to take out the Torah for us, this person is going to get called up for this aliyah, but for Rosh Hashanah, it’s not like that. It has to be decided in advance.”
Another change at Congregation Mikveh Israel is extending the time of the services to start earlier to ensure that it does not run late into the day. Gabay said, instead of starting services at 9 a.m. like on Shabbat morning, they start at 8 a.m.
An additional major undertaking for many area synagogues is preparing security measures.
“I think congregants are much more aware of proper safety practices, so they’re not propping doors open and they’re not putting others at risk,” said Rissinger. “People these days are much more aware of being safe and [of] their environment.”
Some synagogues also enlist the local police department to be on-site during services and increase the congregation’s own security team; however, Maderer said they are very intentional about the resources they use.
“We work with a consultant, and we work very intentionally to make sure that we are using security resources and tools that help people feel safe,” said Maderer.
