High Holiday 2020 Seating

We are currently planning to offer a limited number of seats for in-person services this High Holidays. Strict adherence to New York State's mandatory guidelines on religious services will significantly reduce our seating to a small percentage of our usual capacity. We will be using both the Bellmore and Merrick facilities to maximize the number of people we can accommodate.  Our goal is to try and accommodate as many member families as possible.  All services will be live-streamed for those who prefer not to attend in person.

We plan on having a traditional service in the Bellmore facility and  intergenerational services in the Merrick facility for both days of Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur.  Kol Nidre and Neillah will be in the Bellmore facility only. Rabbi Bernstein and Cantor Kowitz will be at Bellmore on the First Day of Rosh Hashanna and in Merrick on the Second Day. We plan on hiring alternative clergy to lead the other services.

Based on current health and safety guidelines, we strongly discourage members from attending services in person if they are at increased risk for severe illness. The CDC has determined that older adults (age 65 and up) are at the highest risk, as are those with underlying medical conditions. We strongly recommend these members join services via live-stream only.

All seating will be 12’ feet social distancing between family groups and will be pre-assigned. Tickets will be required for all family members and there will be no charge for additional seats. In addition to telling us if you will be attending in-person, we would like you to designate which service you would like to attend in preference order.  We will be implementing a lottery system to make sure that we allocate tickets and seats fairly. We want to make sure that every family that wants to come to services will be able to attend at least one service. Because all seats will be pre-assigned by lottery, we will not be able to place anyone in their "usual seats."

For our Intergenerational service, we are allowing extended family of members.  For our traditional services at Bellmore a Family is defined as immediate family only. Remember every person (adult and children) must wear a mask at all times.  Children must be seated with their parents at all times. 

Please fill out and submit no later than August 25. Please submit only one form per member family.
 

Please be advised that the ability to open the Synagogue for the High Holidays is subject to change due to circumstances beyond our control.

We are grateful for your patience and understanding during these very trying times and look forward to a spiritually engaging set of services despite the extraordinary challenges.

We realize that many families do not know what the situation will look like in September.  If you currently are practicing a “stay at home” philosophy, please do not ask for tickets with the assumption that things will change.  Space is very limited and we hope that people who request tickets have a good chance of attending.  If you change your mind at a later date and wish to attend in-person, please notify us and if there is room we will attempt to find a seat for you.

KINDLY COMPLETE THIS FORM WHETHER YOU ARE REQUESTING SEATS IN THE SANCTUARY OR PLAN TO VIEW THE LIVE-STREAM OF SERVICES FROM HOME.