Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen knows her words will carry a little extra weight this year during Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

This past year could’ve been one to forget for many, a time of isolation created by the coronavirus crisis, or a painful one for those who experienced profound loss caused by the pandemic. The beginning of the High Holy Days is a chance to remember and reset.

That reality weighs on Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg as he prepares to deliver three sermons to his congregants at the Beth Am Synagogue in Northwest Baltimore. In some respects, delivering the right message this year will be more challenging than last, he said.

In Reservoir Hill, Beth Am is hosting indoor, outdoor and virtual services this year. Burg said they’re requiring vaccination for all attendees 12 and older and masking at all times. The synagogue is capping attendance for services at 50%.

Come time to deliver his sermons, Burg said he’ll focus on a passage that translates to: “From the narrowness I cry out to God, and God responds from the expanse.”

“I’m talking about the narrowness and the ways we’ve felt constricted throughout the last year and a half and I’m talking about the expanse: What does it mean to move toward a sense of openness and normality, while also recognizing that while we do that, even if it’s a little more slowly and more iterative than any of us expected at this point, that we still bring a lot of trauma with us,” he said.

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