At first, Rabbi Moses Glitski had a hard time understanding exactly how the Zoom meetings worked. When he stared directly at the little rectangle on the screen that showed the face of his friend, Irv Broomstein, Rabbi Glitski mistakenly assumed that Irv was looking directly back at him and him alone. Accordingly, Rabbi Glitski was irritated when Irv didn’t react to the faces Glitski made during Rabbi Lavine’s Bible class. At one point during the presentation, Rabbi Glitski interrupted and corrected something Rabbi Lavine had said, but Lavine kept talking and didn’t even acknowledge the comment. Irv explained later that Rabbi Lavine had muted everyone during the call and no one had been able to hear Rabbi Glitski’s observation.
The muting infuriated Rabbi Glitski, but Irv persuaded him that it was good that no one had heard his comment. Rabbi Lavine had officiated at the synagogue for only a few months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he was still in his honeymoon period — that was the way Irv had characterized it. “You don’t point out the defects of your wife on your honeymoon, do you?” Irv had asked.
“But the stuff he says is not only stupid; half the time it’s just plain wrong!” protested Rabbi Glitski.
“Nevertheless,” Irv had replied. “Besides, it would look like sour grapes — the retired rabbi of the congregation trying to undermine his successor. Just grit your teeth and bear it.”
“This is what happens when flesh and blood human beings are reduced to just pixies on a screen!” Rabbi Glitski...
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