From Beth Jacob’s Rabbis & Presidents: An important Covid policies update
To our Beloved Beth Jacob Community,
Due to concerns rising from the rapidly evolving Omicron COVID-19 outbreak in the Twin Cities, the reopening committee and the executive committee have made the difficult decision to suspend in-person kiddush lunch for the month of January. We will be providing simple menus for to-go boxes for lunch. The kitchen crews will be very small and will work with the vent hood on for maximum ventilation. Beth Jacob lay leadership and staff are closely monitoring the situation and will keep you informed of any further changes. We hope that we will be able to safely resume in-person kiddush lunch as soon as possible.
At this time, we plan to hold Shabbat morning services as scheduled, and morning minyan as well. If you wish, you can view the Shabbat Live Stream here, and you can join morning minyan via Zoom here.
To see the updated policies and information regarding our youth education programming, click here.
We know that the current situation is difficult for many in our community; more members of our community are getting exposed or sick and are worried about their health and the health of others. We also know that many of us are experiencing isolation and disconnection as the pandemic drags on through the winter. Please reach out to the shul if there is any support we can provide. In addition, the staff is working on developing a series of community building activities and we welcome any programming ideas that you may have. Stay tuned for more information on our engagement efforts!
Here are other new safety measures we are implementing:
• We are requiring that to enter the building, if you are eligible to receive a Covid-19 booster shot you must do so by January 15th. This means everyone aged 16 years or older. Children ages 5-15 need to have received 2 doses of the Covid vaccine. We have re-opened the form for submitting proof of vaccination and we ask that you upload a photo or scan of your vaccine card with the booster shot showing up there. Please use this link to do this.
• We are now providing KN-95 masks in the lobby. We ask that if you don’t bring your own KN-95 or other high quality filtration mask that you use one we provide. We will no longer offer the surgical masks we have been using.
May the day come, speedily and soon, when it is no longer necessary to send out updates on Covid policies…and when the most distressing worry we face is what to wear for Purim!
