Covid19

Dear CBO Family,

As a Jewish community we continue to build strength and resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the Israelites in the desert, we have wandered through these uncertain times searching for ways to ground ourselves. CBO, our clergy and leadership team, have been here for us offering prayer services, religious school classes, programs and events. We have arranged for able members to shop for those who could not get groceries and continued to feed the hungry through our food pantry with food packages.

I would like to thank everyone for the strength and courage you have demonstrated. We pray for a safe and healthy future. Our prayers and hearts go out to all the medical professionals for their perseverance to protect, heal, and take care of us. We are overwhelmed by their valor and courageousness. We also grieve alongside all of those who have lost loved-ones, family and friends.

We have met the metrics outlined by the Governor and received permission to begin the re-engagement process, albeit, with strict adherence to healthy and life safety protocols. This weekend religious organizations were given the approval to offer prayer services with no more than 25% capacity present while maintaining social distance guidelines.

To that end, we have assembled a formidable taskforce to begin recommending policies, procedures and the protocols that will allow our community to again become the warm, welcoming and safe place for all. The working group is made up of 13 professionals including: our clergy, lay leaders, lawyers and medical professionals. Please be assured that safeguarding human life, health and wellbeing of our congregants and employees is paramount.

The working group will be studying how we conduct prayer services, religious school, events and programs and suggesting new policies, procedures and protocols for the foreseeable future. We will strictly adhere to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) policies, New York State and local health organization requirements and guidelines. There will be no exceptions.

It is also important to hear from our congregants. Shortly, you will be receiving a survey, possibly multiple surveys in the weeks and months to come. This new landscape that we are navigating changes daily and what may be appropriate today, may not be appropriate tomorrow. So please make every effort possible to complete the survey and any future surveys that we may request.

In the coming weeks we will be informing the congregation of these new protocols. Our intent is to provide a safe and secure experience for everyone. This is not one size fits all. If you have any concerns, or if you have underlying medical issues or are not ready, feel free to take any additional precautions that you feel appropriate. There will be no exceptions to the protocols that CBO will put in place.

We have set June 20th as our first test service. We have selected 10 congregants including clergy to participate in this service. We will be taking the utmost care in providing the safest possible experience. A few of the protocols will require all participants to wear protective facemasks; we will be taking temperatures of  those entering the facility and cleaning the facility, etc. (These are just a few of the protocols to attend services, there will be more.) Moving forward various arrangements will be made on a rotating basis for anyone who would like to attend services.

B’shalom (with peace),
Dahlia Bernstein, Rabbi
Bruce Nelson, President