High Holy Day Logistics Q&A

Congregational email sent February 6, 2025

On behalf of the Religious Practices Committee, thank you to everyone who shared thoughts on High Holy Days 2025. The feedback is very valuable. There were positive comments and excitement about coming home to Temple Sinai, and there were comments that expressed concerns and reservations about the move.

There were also some strong feelings about the feedback process, with some congregants expressing that they should have been made aware of discussions around moving sooner, and that their point of view was not taken into adequate consideration. We realize that there were some missed opportunities on our part to keep the entire congregation in the loop while we discussed moving High Holy Days services back to Temple Sinai. We sincerely apologize for missing a step along the way and also for making anyone feel their voice was not valued. Our intention is quite the opposite: we need all voices in our community to make the High Holy Days a success. We also acknowledge that High Holy Day observance has changed over many years since Temple Sinai was founded, and your feedback helps us incorporate lessons from what has been done in the past, highlight the observances that members hold dear, and improve the experience.

Background on how we arrived at the decision to move High Holiday services to Temple Sinai for Fall:

For the past three years the Religious Practices Committee has been carefully evaluating a potential move to Temple Sinai and decided that 2025 was the right time to do so. Much thought went into specific logistics around the High Holy Days. Below we have provided a Q&A with those details. You can also find this Q&A on the website HERE. As details are finalized, we will add to the page dedicated to providing information about the High Holy Days planning and notify the congregation when updates are made.

There are three main reasons for the move:

First, Temple Sinai is our spiritual home, a place to which many feel a deep connection.  Coming home to Temple at the High Holy Days strengthens our identity as a viable and growing community and helps to develop a sense of pride for our unique and beautiful campus.

Second, our High Holy Days in-person attendance in recent years has been affected by the increase of attendees streaming services since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of in-person attendees has not justified the rental of a larger facility. With efficient usage of our social hall, youth lounge, and other available spaces, our campus can comfortably and safely accommodate our current numbers, and that would still be the case even in anticipation of 20-30% growth in future years.

Third, we all have a fiduciary duty at Temple Sinai to use our funds wisely. The rental fee for the JCC has increased significantly over the past 5 years. We believe it would be wise to invest this amount in annual improvements to our own campus’ safety, accessibility, and general maintenance, which would enable us to host large events not only during the High Holy Days but also year-round. 

The Religious Practices Committee confirmed that Temple Sinai has ample space to accommodate seating. The dimensions of the Social Hall at Temple Sinai are nearly identical to the dimensions of the space in which we held the traditional services at the JCC in 2024. The Fire Marshal visited Temple Sinai to observe our proposed seating setup and acknowledged that our plan does not exceed our building’s capacity and is in compliance with the fire code.

Mary Mansfield spoke with the Chief Fire Marshal and requested that he visit to review our fire lane plans, and she also spoke with Cpt. Caraballo at the Brighton Police Department to request their support with traffic control. Both the Chief Fire Marshal and Cpt. Caraballo accepted the requests for their respective involvement.

Viable options for parking have been identified for consideration, and there is a plan to reserve spaces at Temple Sinai to accommodate congregants and guests with mobility challenges and/or young children requiring travel in car seats.

Q: How many different services will be held during High Holy Days 2025?
A: That is still being evaluated. Will share more details as they evolve. We will continue to keep different audiences at the forefront of our minds: seniors, adults, children, teens, etc.  We will also evaluate which schedule best fits our spaces and the needs and wants of the congregation.

Q: Will there be appropriate visibility?
A: The current thinking is to move the bimah to the back of the social hall and set up chairs filling the social hall, with the sanctuary behind or to the side of the congregation. We are planning for screens high on stands to help with visibility as well.  No one, however, will have an obstructed view seat.

Q: Will the sound be of good quality?
A: We plan to hire the sound company we have used at the JCC to manage sound quality.

Q: Can services still be accessed online?
A: Yes, we plan to stream services throughout the High Holy Days.
 
Q: How many people do we expect at a service?
A: We have counted the total number of people at our services over the past 3 years and we had a maximum attendance well under 500 people at once (adding all of our service attendance together when they have run simultaneously). 
 
Q: Can Temple Sinai hold the number of attendees for High Holy Days?
A: Our social hall is permitted to hold up to 585 seats according to the fire code ("loose seating" in fire code parlance). We tested this by setting up 500 chairs in the social hall and inviting the fire marshal to come to Temple Sinai to view the setup. The fire marshal had no concerns.
 
Q: Is the building accessible for people with differing abilities? Can the building be exited safely for those who have mobility challenges?
A: Yes, there are four ramp exits: the sanctuary entrance, school/administrative entrance, emergency exit out of the Social Hall, and the exit at the end of the hallway by the Youth Lounge.  
 
Q: Can the heating and air conditioning system at Temple Sinai handle the anticipated number of attendees?
A: Yes.  We have recently upgraded the HVAC system. It is fully functional and up-to-date and maintaining temperature control will not be a problem.
 
Q: Where will people park?
A: There are 129 parking spots at Temple Sinai and viable options for overflow parking have been identified for consideration. There is a plan to reserve spaces at Temple Sinai to accommodate congregants and guests with mobility challenges and/or young children requiring travel in car seats. We are planning for continuous shuttles to ensure congregants can easily access their vehicles throughout services. There will also be police assistance with traffic control. 
 
Q: Can we properly secure the building for this large gathering?
A: Our security consultant for the High Holy Days assures us that Temple Sinai is less challenging to secure than the JCC. There are fewer entrances/exits and there will not be other gatherings in the building at the same time as there are at the JCC. Similar protocols will be put in place including visible Brighton Police presence, professional security guards, wand scans, and bag checks at the entrance.
 
Q: Are there enough opportunities to exit the building in case of an emergency?
A: Yes, there are three emergency exits from the social hall: the sanctuary doors, the emergency door at the back, and the exit to the Joel Bloom garden. There is an additional exit available from the kitchen.  There are also exits by the youth lounge and office, both of which include ramps.
 
Q: Are there protocols in place in case of fire?
A: Yes, we have plans for gathering outside in case of fire. There have been practice fire drills during school hours. Will consider practicing fire drills during other times prior to Fall 2025.
 
Q: Is having one vehicle exit from the parking lot enough?
A: The JCC only has one vehicle exit from their parking lot. Our security consultant does not have concerns.
 
Q: Are there enough restrooms?
A: The ladies’ room at the JCC has the same number of stalls as Temple Sinai. There are adequate restrooms for all attendees in the building.  We have additional stalls available in the building for use as needed.
  
Q: How would this move impact food at services?
A: At Temple Sinai we have access to supplies and equipment as well as support staff to provide food as needed.