A couple of weeks ago, my elderly parents (both in their upper eighties) went to their Reform temple (they do not call it a synagogue) for Friday evening services. My parents are devoted and involved members of the Reform movement. My dad was President of the temple and my mother served on numerous committees, including Temple Services. They were, in healthier days, regular attendees of activities and religious services. Last Friday their Reform temple was offering "A unique Shabbat Experience - in a variety of flavors and forms!" My Mom explained to me that this was a new Friday night event that Reform temples all over the United States were adopting to improve attendance and attract members to their services. It even has a name. It is SYNAPLEX; Choices, Connections, Community. You know, like your friendly neighborhood CINAPLEX, where you get to choose which of a number of movies you can see. At SYNAPLEX, the temple experience, you get to choose how you want to bring in Shabbos. Here are the choices that my parents had: ...
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