CSI Nyack Community, this is an ongoing situation, and as we find out more information, we will keep you updated via email, Facebook or by adding events to our events page.

COVID task force Updates for March 25, 2022

The COVID task force is using the CDC’s risk stratification algorithm to help us determine which COVID restrictions to implement at CSI.  COVID-19 Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.  It is updated weekly by the CDC.  

Rockland County is currently at LOW community risk.  For this reason, we will be closing the barrier between the social hall and the sanctuary at times when it is determined to benefit the event taking place.  We will continue to open windows as much as possible for additional ventilation.  We will also be returning the children’s play corner to the sanctuary for the benefit of our young families.  Additional cushions will be added to the pews on the left side of the sanctuary so that larger groups can sit together if they wish.  The right side of the sanctuary will continue to have fewer cushions for people who choose to remain seated at a distance.     

Even though our community risk is considered LOW, we will continue requiring masking in the synagogue, except when eating during Kiddush.  Since masking mandates have ended in most areas of the county, there has been a small increase in COVID cases.  We will be following this trend and reassessing the mask mandate later in spring.  We want to provide a safe and comfortable spiritual home for all to be able to come to services and we appreciate your continued understanding as we cautiously move forward. 

CSI COVID task force

 - Ami Bonawitz-Dodi (chair)

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COVID Task Force Update: February 23, 2022

As the COVID-19 pandemic is likely turning into an endemic, possibly seasonal infectious disease, we are looking to find a way forward, seeking a balance between the health and safety of our community and fostering Jewish congregational life. We are continuing to watch case and hospitalization rates and are loosening or tightening restrictions when certain thresholds are met. As hospitalizations in Rockland County are now under 20, the COVID task force has decided to loosen the following restrictions:

1. We welcome back our Hebrew School children to return to the Bimah to participate in the end of services. HaMotzi and Kiddush will follow services in the social hall. Parents and caretakers are asked to come in through the main lobby to pick up their children.

2. The Torah processional up and down the stairs and aisle of the sanctuary during services can occur at the discretion of the person carrying the Torah. People who prefer to remain on the Bimah holding the Torah may continue to do that.

3. Vaccinated people who are reading longer passages from the Torah or Haftorah, davening or giving a D’var Torah may remove their mask from the upper bimah only if they choose to for their comfort. They are kindly requested to inform the Gabbai in advance if they plan on removing their mask.

4. Unvaccinated, masked people are welcomed back into the sanctuary, including during services.

   • We will continue to require general masking while in the building and recommend that those masks are KN95, N95 or close-fitting surgical masks.

   • We are closing monitoring cases and hospitalizations in the county and may need to reinstate any or all of these restrictions if those numbers rise.

Please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns.

CSI COVID task force

Chair: Ami Bonawitz-Dodi

_____________________________________________________________________

Below find an email that was sent by Rabbi Russo on 3/16/20.

CSI Community,

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov wrote words that for the second time this year I keep returning to, “kol haolam kulo gesher tzar meod, v haikar lo lefached klal” translated as “the whole world is a very narrow bridge and the essence is not to fear.”  Our interconnectivity and sense of communal gatherings is one way in which we strengthen each other. Now, it is also related to the fear of spreading the virus.  

Please check your email for information about when we will reopen the building.  In the meantime, we are closed until we have more information about the virus and how we can do our part to flatten the curve.  I am aware of how new restrictions are affecting us physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially.  As this is new, I am exploring how to stay connected spiritually and emotionally. I have drawn a lot of inspiration from a reverend who shared the following poem: 

Pandemic
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love--
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
– Lynn Ungar, 3/11/20

Here are some initiatives we are implementing to reach out with love:

Caring Community Phone Calls: 

Volunteers and our staff and clergy now have groups of congregants that we are calling to check-in.  If you do not wish to receive more calls, you can let the caller know. If you have concrete needs like groceries, you will be directed to the chesed committee and we will do our best to find support for you.  We want to stay in communication because whether we live alone or are stuck without childcare or miss physical gatherings or are struggling financially, isolation can be challenging. We are here to listen.  If you wish to talk to Rabbi Russo, please always feel free to email me.  I will do my best to call you back before the end of the evening.  
 

Facebook Group:

Join our Facebook group which is only for congregants and separate from our Facebook page.  Cantor Rubin has already been uploading spiritual videos there. You will need a Facebook account to join. 

You can access it here.

Zoom: 

We now have a zoom account.  Zoom is a video conferencing platform where up to 100 people can gather at once.  Cantor Rubin and I are hoping to host a few sessions each week so that we can gather for an early Shabbat service and make Havdalah together.  I will also hold my weekly Torah with Rashi class on Wednesday at 11 am which everyone is invited to join. I will share the links and offerings soon.  You can access Zoom from your computers or phones with the link. For your phones, you will need to download the free app. Zoom enables us to have online meetings.  Suzanne, our Director of Family Learning, has been in touch with our families with links and ways to stay involved Jewishly at home.  Cantor Rubin and I are hoping to have parts of our Women’s Seder on Zoom as well. We are all learning as we go and appreciate your patience as we find the best ways to stay connected.  Your suggestions are welcome.  

The medieval rabbis came up with a term for when things are upside down, sha’at d’hkak, where we can modify communal standards and take leniences due to an emergency.  Ideally, we would say kaddish in a communal gathering. In the meantime, we will find ways to connect through prayer with Zoom and other online gatherings. Phone calls, texts, and emails go a long way as well.  

In the Torah this week, Moses speaks to the Israelites and asks them to make contributions from their heart to build the community.  Each person gave using their unique talents and thus strengthened all of Israel. We may be on a narrow bridge right now and we can strengthen our community by helping each other during these trying times.  

LeBriut - to health both physical and mental,

Rabbi Ariel Russo