I will never forget my first Yom Kippur in that sanctuary. It was a daunting task at times: Serving the thousands of post-Soviet Jews coming to shul, most of whom had no knowledge of Hebrew and therefore could not follow the prayers and couldn’t pray. As a result, people came in for a short time to meditate quietly, independent of the communal prayer, and then strike up a conversation with a neighbor or just read a book or newspaper. I would pause the prayers at certain intervals to explain the liturgy, and then read the prayer word by word. As...