COVID-19 Updates

Masks will be optional at Congregation Or Shalom

Our tradition teaches us that kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh, all of the Jewish people are responsible for each other. 

This sense of communal responsibility has been the foundation of our congregation’s response to COVID-19 and by extension, the health and wellness of our Or Shalom community. 

As we prepare to welcome the new Jewish year 5783, a new school year, and the third year of the pandemic, we acknowledge that we are in a very different place from where we were in March 2020. Vaccines are now widely available for ages six months and older, and have proven effective at preventing severe illness and hospitalization. We also have more information about how COVID-19 spreads and access to improved treatment options. In addition, Or Shalom is fortunate to have a strong collaborative partnership with physicians, health care experts and authorities. These partnerships have supported us in refining our protocols moving forward.

Updates to our health & wellness policies moving forward include:

• Masks will be optional at Congregation Or Shalom.
• Recommending staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines is the best protection against serious illness.
• Our commitment to online and streaming of services will continue.
• If you do not feel well, please do not come into the building or attend in-person programming.
• Keeping children home when sick is essential to maintaining a healthy school environment.
• Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must continue to isolate for 5 days and wear a well-fitting mask through day 10. If your child tests positive, please notify our Education Staff.
• Masking guidance may change based on local transmission levels.
• Masks will always be available at our main entrance. 
• We will no longer require social distancing and cohorting based on recent CDC recommendations.

We will monitor the public health situation, remain up-to-date on CDC/IDPH guidance, and consult with our medical advisors to make any necessary adjustments to the above policy and provide updates to our Or Shalom community.

**The High Holy Days offer special opportunities for our community to gather. We will continue to review recommendations from our Health and Wellness Task Force and provide you with updated information closer to the High Holy Days.**

We ask you to join us in ensuring a culture of kindness that supports those who choose to wear a mask and those who choose not to wear a mask. 

Looking forward to a happy, sweet, and healthy new year!

Jeremy Seaver, President

Dr. Susan Sheinkop, Health & Wellness Advisor

Rabbi Ari Margolis 

Dear Or Shalom family, 

We want to share the latest updates from our COVID task force, consisting of medical experts and congregational leaders. Our task force has been renamed the “COVID re-opening task force,” with the goal of guiding our congregation back to gathering together in responsible ways that minimize risks.  

While we know that the State of Illinois is planning to lift its indoor mask mandate and many of our kids’ schools have shifted to a mask-optional policy, we will continue to require masks indoors for communal events, including Shabbat services and our J2 religious school. We have many members of our Or Shalom family of all ages who are immunocompromised, are going through medical treatment, and are caring for family members at risk. Or Shalom is the place that we go to pray for ourselves and our loved ones, a sanctuary for connecting with one another and with God. With compassion in our hearts, we believe this continued policy upholds our Torah’s message of caring for the most vulnerable in our midst.  

While the trends in COVID numbers continue to head in a good direction, our task force is creating guidelines for gatherings that include food in our space, starting with onegs after services. In the coming weeks, we will start with To-gOnegs, in which you can grab your treats to take with you following services. Our task force will continue to monitor and incorporate medical guidance and our local COVID metrics. We will update you through our weekly eblast. You can follow all of our developments on our website: https://www.orshalomlc.org/covid-19-updates.html 

Through this recent rise of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, we pray for everyone's health. We are working hard to find ways to keep us connected while also helping our community remain safe and healthy. Taking into account new recommendations from local and federal health organizations and in consultation with local medical experts, Or Shalom has updated our safety measures at the temple.

In consultation with our experts and the various risk mitigation efforts we have in place, we are still going to hold Shabbat services in-person, as well as online, as we have been doing for a few months now. Additional programs for which we can ensure social distancing, mask wearing, and can be offered virtually at the same time may also continue as planned.

We require the following of all who come into our building:

• Wear a mask. Masks are required for all visitors age 2 and older, and must fully cover your nose, mouth and chin at all times.
• Maintain a safe distance. Keep a distance of 6 feet when interacting with staff or other congregants
• Stay home if you are sick. If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, please stay home and join us virtually, instead.

And we strongly encourage: 

• Please get vaccinated and boosted. Data shows that the risk from the latest variant of COVID is significantly lessened when one has the most up-to-date vaccination protection. We strongly encourage all who come into our building to be vaccinated.

Those upcoming events in which we could not meet all of our current standards have been temporarily delayed. We are working to reschedule them, and we will update you in the future. These events include:

• Chavurah Kick off – January 12th 
• Bowling Event – January 23rd  
• Jew Crew Retreat – February 11-13 
• Jeff Metz Poker Tournament – February 12th 

J2 Families – look out for emails from our team with further information about school. Most of our first two weeks back from break have been moved to virtual settings. We are investing in air-filtration technology that should help us safely return into our in-person learning environment as soon as possible.

Our COVID Task Force will meet again on January 19th to continue evaluation the situation. Please be on the lookout for more updates and other possible changes to meetings or programs.

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Our staff is here for you. We will continue to keep our office open during our normal operating hours, but ask that you please observe the safety precautions listed above when visiting.

• If you do NOT have an appointment, please give us a call before arriving, so we can make sure to be prepared to greet you safely.

If you need anything during these times, please let us know how we can support you.