Dear Shir Chadash Community,
This week, Gov. John Bel Edwards eased some statewide pandemic restrictions and Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced new Covid guidelines for the city. Events are moving quickly as vaccines become more widely available. With this in mind, we want to inform you of the next steps in the gradual re-opening of Shir Chadash.
The Shir Chadash Health Committee provided updated guidance to the synagogue Board at its April meeting. Among the key issues discussed were whether to differentiate our policies and practices based on vaccination status (i.e., vaccinated vs. non-vaccinated). It was decided not to make such a distinction. All policies will apply equally to everyone, including wearing face masks and social distancing. Vaccination is strongly encouraged to keep our community healthy and safe. Shir Chadash will increase the number of people in the sanctuary/social hall for Shabbat morning services from 36 to 72 effective immediately. We plan to streamline the registration process for Shabbat morning services and eliminate the temperature check for religious service attendees. Contact tracing remains necessary. Although Kiddush is still not an option, we are being creative about providing bagged snacks. Plans can be made for in-person Shul school this fall.
Evan Dvorin, who has chaired the Health Committee since its formation in March 2020, is stepping down. However, he will stay on the committee. We thank Evan for his superb leadership and dedicated service this past year. Julie Finger will become the committee chair. We are grateful that she is willing to take on this important responsibility. Julie recently convened a virtual meeting of synagogue staff and lay leaders, who will serve as our re-opening working group, to discuss the Health Committee’s recommendations and expanded measures to continue the gradual re-opening of Shir Chadash. They will help us determine guidelines, policies, and procedures related to various synagogue functions and activities such as religious service registration, ritual (services and holidays), building operations and food service, children and family programming, adult education, religious school, and life cycle events. As you might expect, the re-opening working group has quite a bit to do. We will provide you with timely communication on their progress as it becomes available.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to navigate the complexity of this transition period. We all are looking forward to when we can return to more “normal” times as a community. In the meantime, let’s keep reaching out to each other, checking on each other, and helping each other through this unprecedented experience.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ken Klein
President
Rabbi Deborah Silver
Ricardo Totah
Executive Director
