Text Only

Does this time of the year feel different than it normally does, or different than it should? If so, give some examples of what feels different.

This is the time of the Jewish holidays. The time of long hours in synagogue. The time of certain songs and tunes that, at least for me, make up the day. The time of gathering with friends and family. The time of communal rituals, and even dancing. And all that is not allowed. I can't get a ticket to shul - and even if I did, the service is shortened; there is not singing; there is not mingling. I sit and pray on my own. And due to the rules, I can't even have more than 5 people sit with me in my garden. I heard the shofar in the backyard. I won't get to dance with a Torah on Simchat Torah. I won't march with others for Hoshanot throughout Sukkot. I won't sit in the sukkah with friends. There are not group meals. Yom Kippur I will be fasting and being on my own. Somehow I am to make a Yizkor service three times, for no more than 5 people at a time. Create that sense of communal mourning as we are not really a number of a community. It is Tishrei. It is the time of all the holidays. Just everything feels likes it's in the individual instead of the community.