COVID Safety Protocols
Updated March 6, 2023
In seeking to balance the values of pikuah nefesh (preservation of life), embrace of science, and community needs, our current protocols are:
As of Monday, March 6, 2023, SAJ’s sanctuary will be mask optional. This will make the sanctuary consistent with the lobby, social hall, elevator, Kaplan lounge, classrooms, and hallways. To be clear, mask wearing is welcome in the entire building and at any time at SAJ; now however it will no longer be mandated in the sanctuary space. We ask that everyone support each other’s individual choices in this matter.
As a reminder, we have invested in many air purifiers throughout the room and we benefit from a large and tall space which promotes good circulation. In addition, SAJ affirms our commitment to vaccination, requiring that everyone who spends time inside our building be as vaccinated and boosted as possible.
This decision was made in consultation with SAJ’s Covid Medical Task Force, which has advised us wisely along so many decisions in the past three years. This decision is consistent with local and national practices in houses of worship, schools, and many other places. Covid is now a reality of life– it will be with us for the long haul, and each of us will navigate how we manage risk and potential exposure.
In addition, we ask that anyone who has been exposed to Covid follow the CDC guidelines for isolating, masking and testing. And to keep our whole community safe, please stay home if you have any symptoms.
We recognize that for some of you, this email comes with a sigh of relief. For others, there may be feelings of trepidation. For those who have ongoing concerns, we encourage you to wear a KN95 mask for protection. Thankfully, we also have wonderful multi-access capabilities which enable anyone to participate in our services and the majority of our programs. Thank you to our A/V staff and to our Tish tech team for all they do to make it possible for our community to gather.
Lastly, if at any point our medical team feels it is necessary for our sanctuary attendees to be required to mask for the safety of the community, we will let everyone know. Of course, we hope this will not be the case and that we will continue to be safe as a community, as we have been at each stage of the pandemic so far.