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Coronavirus Health and Safety Updates

Health and Safety Updates

The safety and well-being of Beth Sholom members, as well as the local community, is our top priority. We are closely watching the situation with Coronavirus (Covid-19) and will continue to share information as it becomes available. 

Please check here for updates regarding CBS programs and services, as well as provisions you and your family can take to remain healthy.

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March 24, 2020
28 Adar 5780

A note from the Hesed Committee

The Hesed Committee is here for you!

Especially now, when Governor Murphy has called for us to remain at home, there are a number of things I want to share with our CBS community.

First, while we are separated, please know that the Hesed Committee is only a phone call, or email, away. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me at suesuebird@aol.com. 

Second, there are a number of resources I want to share with you:

  • Adopt-A-Senior/Teaneck Fire Department Daily Call Program

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​A simple call can go a long way in making a difference, particularly when so many may be experiencing isolation. Teaneck firefighters have been placing “Good morning Wake-Up Calls” to residents for over thirty years. The calls are made daily, between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. They happen every day. If this is something you would like, or if you know someone who would benefit from this program, call the fire department at 201-837-2085. Ask to speak to Lieutenant Barrett or Captain Burchell.

  • Simple Errands around Teaneck

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We have a number of college-age young adults who are home due to campus closures. They are ready to help. I am happy to connect you with one of them, should you need a fast errand or a bit of shopping done. They will contact you directly; decisions about how payment will be handled can be worked out, and they are there to assist you. (We also have a number of other members who can help out as well!)

  • Jewish Family and Children’s Services is here to help.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Regardless of your age, there is a wide range of assistance available, including Meals on Wheels for Seniors, Food Pantry to offset financial distress, and access to licensed clinical social workers by phone.

The direct intake number is (201) 837-9090. You may need to leave a message, as all staff is working remotely, but you will hear back from someone. 

Third, there are always volunteer opportunities! 

You can make the difference in one of our members’ lives (and in your own!). If you have a few minutes to make a call and check in with an isolated member, I am happy to set you up! A few minutes, a few days a week, can brighten someone’s day!

And as always, your contact with me is confidential. I won’t reach out to make connections without your authorization. 

B’Shalom
Carol Weinstein
Chair, Hesed Committee

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26 Adar 5780
March 22, 2020

Dear Beth Sholom community,

One of the hallmarks of our community is our daily minyan, meeting each and every morning and evening. We usually gather together in the Berger Beit Midrash and pray together, hear the Torah read, and gain support from the social structure that is present before, during and after each and every prayer service. One of the most challenging aspects of the COVID-19 virus is not found in the virus itself, but instead in our reaction to it. In our desire to remain healthy and to support the entire community, we practice ‘social distancing’ and are forced to not gather together in groups of any size.

This ‘social distancing’ has a cost associated with it (social isolation), and we are doing our best to lower that cost for everyone by creating online programming, classes and minyanim. Over the last week, we have begun implementing programming during the week and before and after Shabbat. To see complete list of programs available, click here.

Concerning our daily minyan-we began last week with an abbreviated minyan (leaving out the prayers that actually need a minyan), and ended the week with two days of a full minyan, including reciting Barchu, Mourner’s Kaddish, and other prayers that require a minimum of ten adult Jews. The change in our minyan came about because of a decision by the co-chairs of the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS), Rabbis Elliot Dorff and Pamela Barmash, that in our COVID-19 situation, where physically being in one room is not possible, a virtual minyan should count as a full minyan in every way possible.

I look forward to teaching a class (virtual or in person!) about the details of their decision and to share the texts with you (for those who would like to see the CJLS letter, click here.

For the moment, suffice it to say that we are moving forward with the virtual minyan with the following schedule:

Ma’ariv
Sunday-Thursday evening at 8 pm

Shaharit
Sunday morning at 9 am
Monday-Friday morning at 8 am

Two important details about our minyan starting tomorrow morning

(Monday, 3/23, 8 am):

The link for ALL weekday minyanim (not including Friday afternoon or Saturday night programs) can be found in two places on our website.​​​​​​​

a. On the homepage, click on the ‘Virtual Programs’ page and you will find ‘Minyanim’.
b. On the homepage, click on the ‘Pray’ tab and then click on ‘Services.'​​​​​​​

2. We’ve had nice size groups at all of our daily minyanim, and I hope to see even more of you this week.  Many of us crave social interaction and want to be connected to others, especially during this challenging time. In addition, we have several people who are reciting Mourner’s Kaddish at this time and we want to make sure that our community continues to take its obligations toward those in mourning seriously.  Please join us and be a part of our davening community. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me rabbi@cbsteaneck.org or call me at 201-833-2620.

With all of my best wishes,
Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky​​​​​​​
 

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21 Adar 5780
March 17, 2020 

Dear Beth Sholom community,

We hope this email finds you and your family well. We recognize that e-mail communications are no substitute for in-person conversations, but we are proud to have so much information to share with you that largely focuses on opportunities to build and sustain our CBS community. Please know we are thinking of you all as the COVID-19 situation becomes more and more intense throughout the country.  Many of us are living under a ‘voluntary quarantine’ at the moment imposed by the civil authorities, and we are doing our best to manage family, work and our own mental and physical health during this unusual time. We hope that you will participate in some or all of the following programming opportunities, and welcome your suggestions for how we might build on them. 


Beth Sholom programming
We are doing our best to provide programming while many of us are home or away from our normal activities, and while we are not able to gather in-person. Some of this programming had already been planned – we are simply moving from in-person opportunities to the Zoom online platform. And some of the programming has been developed especially for these circumstances. Here is a link to a listing of all of the programming we have planned so far.

Children and Teens
Our Director of Youth and Family Programming, Whitney Blom, and Yoni Shear, our Youth Engagement Coordinator, are planning engaging and creative programming for all of our children (infant through high school). Click here for a link to their latest email, which details much of what they are planning. 

Minyanim
We are experimenting with various ways we can stay connected to each other even when we are not able to gather in one room.  One of the most meaningful ways we typically gather together is for minyan (daily prayer services). Since we are not able to actually be together in one space, we are not able to constitute a halachic (Jewish legal) minyan at this time, but we can still come together to pray and study. We also want to provide opportunities to remember our loved ones either because we are in a period of mourning or to mark their yahrtzeit (anniversary of their death). 

Starting tonight, we are going to gather together on the nights listed below at 8 pm for an abridged Ma’ariv (evening) service, which will be followed by the teaching of one Mishnah, a traditional response to the death of a loved one. Please join us, on Zoom, at this link at 8 pm . We will conclude around 8:20 pm by asking those who would recite the Mourner’s Kaddish if we were together in a minyan to say the name of the person they are remembering out loud in Hebrew or English, so that the entire community can honor this person and remember them. In addition, click here for an alternative to the Mourner's Kaddish. 

Virtual Ma’ariv -  8 pm
Tuesday, 3/17
Wednesday, 3/18
Thursday, 3/19
Sunday, 3/22
Here is the link for tonight’s service.

We will also come together on the following mornings at 8 am, for an abbreviated Shaharit (morning) service. 
Wednesday, 3/18
Thursday, 3/19
Friday 3/20
Please join us on Sunday, 3/22, at 9 am.
Here is the link for the morning services. 

Adult Education classes
I will be teaching the following classes over the next few days:

Thursday, 3/19, 10-11 am
Please join me at my regular weekly class entitled “Parents and Children in the Jewish Tradition”. You will be able to log on via Zoom with this link. No previous attendance at the class is necessary and texts will be provided. If you would like to participate in the class via telephone, email Abby Finkel at abby@cbsteaneck.org. 

Thursday, 3/19, 8:30-9:45 pm
MiniU-Please join me for the second class of my MiniU course, “Power, War and Morality on the Battlefield: Issues in Jewish Thought”. You do NOT need to have attended the first class in order to participate in the second class.  Interesting and complicated issues of morality and war will be discussed, as we delve into what Judaism has to say about these issues.  Here is the link for the class. Texts will be provided. If you would like to participate in this class via telephone, email Abby Finkel at abby@cbsteaneck.org. 

Shabbat, 3/20-3/21
You will receive more details later in the week, but please be prepared to celebrate Shabbat with us in the following ways – more details to follow:

Friday, 3/20
4-4:30 pm-Shabbat Songs and Stories for Kids 
4:30-5:15 pm-Bat Mitzvah of Tova Roth (We hope you will join us for this very special event!)
5:15-6 pm-Kabbalat Shabbat program

Saturday, 3/21
8 pm-Havdalah service

General Information
For those seeking the latest information about the disease from the CDC, click here.
For those who need information about local closures and quarantines, click here.  

Keeping in Touch with Congregation Beth Sholom
We want to make sure that all of you are able to keep in touch with the professional leadership of the synagogue. We are sending out periodic email updates (like this one), and plan on Friday morning telephone calls as well. 

You can always reach Rabbi Pitkowsky at rabbi@cbsteaneck.org or any of the other staff at our email addresses, which are found at https://www.cbsteaneck.org/contact-us.html. In addition, you can call us at the main office number (201-833-2620). We look forward to being in touch. 

Also, many thanks to the Board of Trustees for calling each and every member of CBS this past week to check in. If you didn’t receive a call from us, please be in touch with Abby Rosen Finkel so that we may update our rosters and be able to connect with you when we make a next round of calls.

Social Distancing and Social Isolation
Leading medical experts have told us that we need to commit to ‘Social Distancing’, staying physically separate from other people so that we can slow the spread of COVID-19.  It is essential that we follow their advice to the best of our ability. Though it is truly a challenge to remain physically separate from other people, it is incumbent upon each one of us to do our best to follow this prudent and wise advice. 

However, human beings are social creatures, and most of us prefer interacting with other people on a regular basis.  The idea of being socially isolated from others adds stress on to a difficult situation (the virus itself) instead of helping it!  That is where our community can step in and provide support and assistance. In addition to shul sponsored programming, each one of us can take on the responsibility of being ‘present’ for other people, even when it is difficult or complicated to do so. 

It would be natural for us at this time to focus on ourselves and our loved ones, and of course we should do that.  Self care is vital during a crisis, and we should absolutely take care of our loved ones. But as Hillel taught in Pirke Avot, if we ONLY focus on ourselves, what kind of people are we?  Please take this COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to reach out to other people and lend support and assistance however possible.  Phone calls, emails, assistance with shopping or errands when necessary-these are all ways that we can reduce the social isolation so many of us want to avoid. Thank you for checking in on each other, and for offering whatever help you can.

During these challenging times, we ask everyone to keep in mind these well known words from the Talmud, Kol Yisrael Areivim Zebaze… All of Israel is responsible one for the other. Make sure to take of yourself and those close to you, and thank you for opening your hearts to the members of our community.

With our deepest respect and best wishes for continued good health,

Devorah Silverman, President
Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky

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March 17, 2020

Dear Beth Sholom Families,

I hope you are all doing well and getting adjusted to the new temporary “normal.”  I know for many of us, school started or is starting, which will hopefully add some structure to all of our days.  

The staff of Beth Sholom is planning a variety of online programming to help us all stay connected to each other.  I would like to highlight some of the programming that may be of interest to families with kids and teens at home. Please note these programs are open to anyone, so feel free to share these links with your friends.

Mondays

Wednesdays

Thursdays

Fridays

Saturday 

You can also check the Beth Sholom website for more virtual classes, minyan links, and other programs.

Additionally there are many resources online with ideas for how to engage/entertain your children at home.  Some of the following links contain great information:

We will be creating WhatsApp groups to be able to share information about new events and programs as they come up in addition to sending out Zoom links to Beth Sholom programs.  Please email whitney@cbsteaneck.org if you would like to be a part of these Whatsapp groups and be sure to include all cell phone numbers you would like included.  

I look forward to seeing you all virtually sometime soon!  As always, please reach out with any questions.

Whitney

 

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March 13, 2020

Dear Beth Sholom Families,

I hope this note finds you well.  As you have learned from Rabbi Pitkowsky and Devorah Silverman, President of  our synagogue, the Beth Sholom building will be closed until further notice. We know that for many of you, bringing your children to shul on Shabbat is an important experience and something that we don’t take lightly.

We are doing our best to plan many online group activities so we can all be connected during this difficult time.  Today, Friday, at 5pm we will be having a virtual Kabbalat Shabbat over Zoom. We hope many of you will join us as we convene as a community in the safest way possible.  You can join us by clicking here.

Additionally, we know that for many of you Shabbat at home with younger children can be more stressful than relaxing.  We want to offer some suggestions of activities you can do with your family to pass the time:

1. Play a family game or do a family puzzle.  Something that everyone can participate in can often relieve some of the stress of being in the same place for an extended period of time.

2. Have a contest, building with blocks, legos, plastic cups, pillows, recyclables, whatever you have in your home.  Creativity is key here!  

3. Create a scavenger hunt for the kids.  It can include things from outside and inside the house.  

4. Balloon volleyball and balloon soccer can be great in the house!

5. Look through old family scrapbooks and photo albums, nostalgia is great.

6. Read books, as a family or individually, books are a great way to decompress when things get tough.

7. Go out in the yard and play a family game of football or soccer.  Fresh air always helps when you are feeling cooped up. The weather is supposed to be nice on Saturday so take advantage of it!

Since there will be no shul on Shabbat morning, think about doing some learning with your family related to this week’s parsha.  You can find information on Ki Tisa here.

We would all prefer to be together this Shabbat, but for the sake of keeping our community safe, the Beth Sholom leadership has made the decision to close.  In the coming days/weeks we will have many opportunities for you and your children to connect to programming at Beth Sholom virtually. We will have exercise classes, cooking classes, story times and more.  If you are interested in “hosting” something like this for our community please reach out to me anytime.

I am here for you and the shul is here for you in any way we can help in the coming weeks.  Please be in contact for help or just to say hi!  

Shabbat Shalom,

Whitney

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March 12, 2020
16 Adar 5780
 
Dear Beth Sholom community,
 
Although the local and state health departments have not (yet) mandated that we close the Beth Sholom building, we have decided that it is in the best interest of the entire synagogue community to do so. In making this decision, we are joined by the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County (RCBC), who sent out a notice this morning that starting tomorrow all synagogues and schools within the RCBC organization will be closed until further notice. Leading medical professionals have expressed concern about the spread of COVID-19 and have asked that people distance themselves from others as much as possible for the foreseeable future. We will reevaluate our decision to close, next week.
 
This closure will take effect tomorrow morning, March 13, at 11 am.  We are closing the building because we understand that one way we can help ourselves stay healthy and we can provide assistance to our medical professionals is by avoiding physical contact with other people. This ‘social distancing’ should help slow the progress of COVID-19 and save lives in the process. If you would like to pick up your Talit and Tefilin before the building closure, please do so today, March 12, before 5 pm or tomorrow, March 13, from 9-11 am.
 
Our staff has been planning for this possibility for well over a week, and we look forward to sharing more details with you later today about how we are going to keep the Beth Sholom community strong and vibrant during this challenging time.  If you have access to a computer, tablet or smartphone, please download the program/app Zoom (on a computer the address is zoom.us/download or click here) so that you will be able to take part in the many programs we have planned to facilitate by video in the coming days.  
 
We will provide detailed contact information before Shabbat, but in the meantime, if you have questions or concerns, please be directly in touch with Rabbi Pitkowsky at rabbi@cbsteaneck.org or 201-833-2620 or Devorah at rdzdm296@gmail.com .
 
We know that closing our building and not meeting for in-person minyanim and regular Shabbat celebrations is a major change for our community.  We want you to know that our shul community is still present for each one of you, and we will do our best to continue to provide the communal support and assistance that are hallmarks of CBS.  
 
May we all take the steps necessary to keep ourselves, our families and our community healthy and safe.
 
Thank you,
Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky
Devorah Silverman

Thu, April 25 2024 17 Nisan 5784