Dear Friends,
Last night our Board of Trustees met to discuss the latest recommendations from our COVID Task Force and to approve a plan to return to in-person worship in our sanctuary. This partnership between lay leaders, clergy, and staff has been an essential part of our ability to make difficult decisions over the past year. We know that there are those who wish we were moving faster, and others who are concerned that until positive cases drop further, and herd immunity is reached, we should refrain from all in-person programming indoors. We feel that our current plan balances the safety of our clergy, staff, members, and guests while acknowledging the amazing advances that have been made.
None of these steps forward would be possible without the modern-day miracle of the COVID-19 vaccines. We fully support vaccination as a tool to manage the further spread of COVID-19 and encourage everyone to get the vaccine as soon as they are eligible, continue social distancing, frequent handwashing, and wearing face coverings in public. Our clergy and senior staff will all be fully vaccinated by the middle of April, and we hope that all of our community members are doing the same as soon as they are eligible. We believe that the more people in our community who are vaccinated, the safer it will be to hold more in-person events moving forward.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a website that is a great resource to learn about the latest developments and recommendations with regard to COVID-19. According to the CDC, COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing COVID-19 disease, especially severe illness and death. However, the CDC is still learning how vaccines affect the spread of COVID-19. Early data show that the vaccines may help keep people from spreading COVID-19, but the CDC is learning more as more people get vaccinated. The CDC has also recently updated its guidance, which now provides that fully vaccinated people can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask. It also provides that fully vaccinated people can gather with unvaccinated people from one other household without masks unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. CDC guidelines still provide that fully vaccinated people should avoid medium or large-sized gatherings.
We know that the pandemic is not over, we continue to see COVID-19 cases in the congregation and beyond, and we want to continue to be a part of the ongoing solution. We also want to continue increasing our ability to be there for our congregants. In light of the recommendations of our COVID Task Force and updated guidance from the CDC, the Board of Trustees has updated our policies as outlined below.
Our Friday night services will remain outdoors through the month of April, moving back into our sanctuary in May. Whether inside or outside, all service attendees must be masked and will be seated in pods by family or small groups of vaccinated adults, following CDC guidelines. We are expanding our seating, and while registration will be required, we are optimistic that we should be able to accommodate all those who want to worship in-person with us. We are also committed to maintaining a quality video stream of our service which will continue to be broadcast on all of our platforms, including Tampa Bay Community Network.
While we have been holding B’nai Mitzvah services and other lifecycle events in the sanctuary since the Fall, we will be increasing the number of attendees allowed and allowing the bar/bat mitzvah student to lead the service without a mask beginning in mid-April. Our b’nai mitzvah families will be receiving more information soon.
Some in-person temple programming will also slowly begin to return, following the same guidelines described above, as our online program continues as well. We are extremely grateful to our staff who have worked so hard to ensure creative and engaging programming over the past year.
Again, we cannot thank the members of our COVID Task Force and Board of Trustees enough for the thoughtful care and concern they have given to these conversations. We will continue to monitor developments in the fight against COVID-19 and re-assess our policies in light of those developments.
We hope you all have a wonderful rest of your Passover,
