Yardley Synagogue One of Many Local Centers That Hosted Religious Services Outdoors During the Pandemic
A Bucks County synagogue was one of several Philadelphia-area religious centers to make the best of the limits they had during the pandemic. Jarred Saffron wrote about the local religious center for the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.
During the pandemic, Congregation Kol Emet, located at 1360 Oxford Valley Road in Yardley, utilized their outdoor area to promote social distancing.
One ceremony they took part in was throwing pebbles into a nearby lake, a symbolic casting off of their sins. With the outdoor area in use, this part of the service became a mainstay during the pandemic.
“We also ate,” said Boswell-Levy. “There was a potluck lunch after the Rosh Hashanah service.”
Synagogues in PennValley and King of Prussia followed suit, using nearby outdoor spaces as places of worship, where congregates could worship safely.
“They say humans spend 90% of their time indoors,” said Geoff Goll, one of Kol Emet’s congregates for the last decade. “When you think about that, it’s kind of sad.”
Read more about the Yardley synagogue at the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.
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