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To Our Kol Ami Community,

We are so proud the way the Kol Ami community has come together to support one another during these difficult times.  While we are maintaining physical distancing, we are continuing our social, emotional and spiritual connections to each other.  On March 20, 2020, Governor Cuomo issued the “New York State on PAUSE” Executive Order.  Although this Order permits houses of worship to remain open, we are abiding by its social distancing recommendations and other directives.  In furtherance of the Governor’s mandate, all public gatherings and in-person programming at Kol Ami are cancelled until further notice.  Although we cannot join together in person, we will continue to connect in so many ways.  Going forward:

· We will continue to Zoom our Shabbat in the Woods service on Friday at 5:30 PM with Rabbi Shira.

·  We will continue to stream our Friday Kabbalat Shabbat service at 6:15 PM and our Shabbat morning service at 11:00 AM.

·  Even though our Early Childhood Program (ECP) and Religious School (RS) will remain closed until further notice, under the leadership of Nan Blank and Pam Pass, we will continue to provide virtual learning opportunities and other ways for our children and families to remain connected.

·  While the building remains closed to congregants, many of our staff are working remotely and will be able to respond to emails or voicemails left at their phone extensions.

At this time of challenge and uncertainty, we recognize the importance of maintaining strong bonds.  We will continue to develop creative ideas for nurturing these connections with you virtually.  This Week at Kol Ami will continue to serve as our main vehicle to share information regarding worship, upcoming programs and events, and we urge you to read it in its entirety each Thursday.

Like you, we are acclimating to the new norms of social distancing and remote working, learning, and gathering.  Also like you, and others around the world, we are trying to process the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on our health and safety and that of our families and our community, not to mention its impact on our economy and social fabric.  In times like this, it is most comforting to be part of a thoughtful, creative and resourceful community.  We will get through this together.

Quickly the Kol Ami community has banded together to take care of one another and to make significant changes in how we learn, gather, and worship together.  Dedicated congregants, including our college youth now unexpectedly at home, have delivered meals to congregants, delivered food bags from our pantry to those most vulnerable throughout Westchester County, shopped for groceries, and called congregants to check in to see if any assistance is needed.  More calls are forthcoming as more than ever we recognize the importance of staying in contact.

If anyone is in need of support, even just a friendly voice on the other end of a phone, please let us know by calling, emailing or CLICKING HERE.  Adults may also CLICK HERE to volunteer to assist congregants in need.  We are confident that our Kol Ami community – full of caring hearts and helping hands – will continue to be at the ready to help anyone in need.

Thank you for partnering with us and prioritizing the health and well-being of our sacred community.  We will continue to provide updates as events unfold and we have additional information to share with you. In the meantime, we look forward to learning, worshipping and celebrating together as a community, albeit virtually. We welcome your ideas and thoughts for additional programming or other ways we could help.

L’shalom,

To Our Kol Ami Community,

In these trying times, we are grateful for our Kol Ami community. Since the coronavirus outbreak, we have been guided in our decisions by two central Jewish principles:

First, the importance of Kol Ami to the spiritual well-being of our community. At all times, and especially during challenging ones, being part of a community can play a critical role in providing a safe haven from fear and anxiety.

Second, it is our responsibility to act consistently with the goals of protecting and promoting the health and well-being of our congregants as well as our friends and neighbors.

As you all know, this has been a very fluid situation changing day to day and even hour to hour. Lay leadership, our clergy, our Executive Director and our senior staff have been in constant contact with each other, with health officials and with other Jewish institutions. While we are not aware of anyone in the Kol Ami community who has tested positive for COVID-19, we believe the health and safety of our congregants and the broader community compel us to implement more significant measures in addition to those we announced on March 11th. In particular, we are keeping our schools closed through March 29, and possibly longer. Please see below the notices sent to our Early Childhood Program and Religious School families. Please consult our website and future communications for additional updates as to other programming and life-cycle events. The office will remain open, but we ask that you do not come to the building unless necessary, and please call in advance.

While we may not be together as much in person, we still intend to remain connected as a community. We are going to take advantage of technology to continue programming and connectivity during these times. One such program will be daily Zoom conferences by our Clergy called “Zoom Gali Gali.” The name comes from traditional Hebrew song “Zum Gali Gali” relating to the formation of the State of Israel, originating sometime around its creation in 1948. The pioneers referred to in the song were the Jewish settlers who built the new Israel. Years ago, this chant was sung by people while working together. We will all be working together during these challenging times. The schedule and details of our first program are below. We have also created a committee of dedicated congregants who will be reaching out to assist those in need and to help keep us connected. We look forward to being in touch with additional ideas and details, and we would also love to hear from you.

Shabbat Shalom.

We continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our community and are closely tracking and following the decisions of local schools and Jewish institutions in our area. We are writing to share with you how Kol Ami is responding and to invite you to partner with us in mitigating the spread of the illness while we continue our sacred work under modified conditions. Please keep in mind that we are making decisions in the midst of rapidly-changing and sometimes conflicting information and, be assured, in consultation with medical professionals and government officials. Of course, we will continue to monitor the rapidly changing situations in our communities, and if warranted by changed circumstances, will modify our plans and let you know promptly.

There is a lot of information contained in this email, and we urge you to read the entire message.

First, as we have mentioned previously, we are closed this week to allow a professional cleaning service to clean and sanitize all of the rooms and buildings on our campus today and tomorrow. The company will not only clean, but also train our custodial staff in their techniques. With care and caution, our custodians will continue to deep clean our building, including disinfecting high-touch surfaces and bathrooms.

Second, we wanted to inform you that we learned last night that one of the attendees at a baby naming that took place at Kol Ami on Sunday, March 1 tested positive for COVID-19. Rabbi Milgrom, Rabbi Weiner, and Executive Director Jess Lorden were in attendance. The event was hosted by someone outside of Kol Ami. The attendee, who is not a Kol Ami member, had no symptoms at the time and only attended the event for about 10 minutes. The attendee did not have direct interaction with anyone from Kol Ami. We have confirmed with the State and County Health Departments and with an infectious disease specialist that our building is safe and that there are no restrictions placed on Kol Ami or on our Rabbis or Jess, all three of whom are symptom free.

Third, we have decided to avoid large group gatherings and, as a result, are making changes to our worship and other programming, as noted below, which will make more use of streaming and Zoom technology. We are in the process of installing new, upgraded streaming devices. If the technology is ready for Kabbalat Shabbat and Saturday morning worship services, we will provide an updated link. The streaming and Zoom technology will allow us to be together as one community even when we cannot physically be with one another. As we begin to use new and different streaming services, we ask that you be understanding if you or we experience technical difficulties.

Services

Friday, March 13

Shabbat in the Woods. We will not be gathering in person for Shabbat in the Woods. Rabbi Shira will lead our young families using Zoom technology. Rabbi Shira will open the call at 5:25pm. CLICK HERE to participate. Please note: our Meeting ID is 838 796 741 and the Password is 719002.

Kabbalat Shabbat. We will not be gathering in person for Friday evening services. These services will only be available by livestream starting at our usual time of 6:15 pm. To access the service, please go to our website, or CLICK HERE.

Saturday, March 14

Torah Study and the Lift Service. We have cancelled this week’s Torah study and Lift service. Anyone interested in participating in a Saturday morning worship service may join the b’nai mitzvah service only via live stream by CLICKING HERE. Only close family invited by the Mitzvah families are permitted to attend in person (see below).

Life Cycle Events, including B’nai Mitzvah and Funerals

We will continue to hold such life cycle events at Kol Ami, with the following modifications:

ECP/Religious School/B’nai Mitzvah Tutoring

For continued good practices, please notify either Nan or Pam, as appropriate, if your child will be absent from school, and state the reason. Any student with a fever must remain at home until he or she has been fever-free without fever-reducing medication for at least 24 hours from the time the fever ended.

Adult Education/Synaplex/Torah Project

Staying Connected

We Are All Connected!

Rabbi Shira is inviting us to join together in a blog. Shira’s introduction follows: Isolation works against our spiritual and emotional health. This blog is meant as a way for us to stay connected (we sure know that we are all connected – in so many ways 😬😌😍 !!!). It is NOT to share information (there are plenty of other sites for that.) It is for us to share our feelings, our reflections, our thoughts, our worries, our support. It is a way for us to stay spiritually and emotionally connected. I look forward to sharing our feelings – without judgment. Just a safe place to be present for one another. To join this blog, go to www.NYKolAmi.org/WeAreAllConnected

Caring for Our Community

We understand that we are living through a challenging time and that each new day may bring concern, stress, uncertainty, and isolation. Please know that we are here for you and your loved ones. Let’s continue to look out for and care for one other. If anyone is in need of support, even just a friendly voice on the other end of a phone, please let us know. We have no doubt that, together, this incredible Kol Ami community will reach calmer days ahead.

L’shalom,

As we monitor the continued impact of COVID-19 and the recent detection of the virus in our neighboring communities, and in consultation with the Westchester County Department of Health and medical experts, we are voluntarily closing the Early Childhood Program, the Religious School, the Kodomono Kuni School, all adult education classes, and all outside activities which take place at Kol Ami through noon on Friday, March 13.

As we have mentioned previously, we are not aware of any cases of the COVID-19 virus within the Kol Ami community. Nevertheless, many people in our community are vulnerable to the effects of the illness. Therefore, in an abundance of caution, we have decided upon these closings and cancellations to allow for deep cleaning of all of our buildings.

Please be assured that we will continue to monitor this rapidly changing situation and will provide you with updates as developments arise.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for partnering with us and prioritizing the health and well-being of our sacred community.

L’shalom,