Young Israel of Midwood, Brooklyn, Lays Out Guidelines for Gradual Reopening

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Dear friends,           

We are now prepared, beginning this Friday morning, to start Phase I of a gradual re-opening of the shul.

This will be a cautious and limited beginning. The coronavirus has not gone away. Please read the following guidelines carefully:

Age and medical limits:

a)      If you are 70 or over, please do not come to shul just yet. If you are between the ages of 60 and 70, or if you have a medical condition, please consult with your doctor regarding whether it is advisable for you to come to shul.
b)      Anyone with a cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat or new loss of taste or smell must stay home and not endanger his fellow mispallelim.
c)      Likewise if anyone in your household exhibits those symptoms, please stay home.
d)      If you think you may have had recent contact with someone with COVID-19, please stay home.

Social distancing:

a)      Masks must always be worn.
b)      Distancing of 10 feet should be maintained. In general, sit as far apart as possible. (People who live in the same household can sit together.)
c)      Bring your own siddur and chumash. For Shabbos, bring them on Friday and leave them in your cubby or in a bag on your table.
d)      Consider using a restroom at home, prior to coming to shul.

Registering:

a)      You must register in advance to attend a minyan. No more than 12 people can register for a minyan.

We have created two Google Docs, one for weekdays and one for Shabbos, where you can register.

If you find this difficult, please contact me directly ([email protected]). You can also text or call me at 718-614-3380.

b)      Please understand that registering for a given minyan means you are committing to davening with that minyan. Since only 12 people can register for a minyan, your minyan relies on you to be there daily and on time.

c)      You must also register in order to attend a Shabbos minyan.

d)      At this point we are only registering adult men who can count towards a minyan. The only exception is Shabbos morning, when the upstairs minyan will allow 6 women, as well as 12 men.

Davening:

a)      Each minyan must appoint a gabbai to see to it that only those who are registered are in attendance. No one else can enter during davening, including משולחים.
b)      The baal korei should be the only one to touch the sefer torah, except for the גולל. They should both wear gloves when handling the sefer torah.
c)      The baal korei should perform הוצאה and הכנסה, and he receives all of the aliyos, including maftir. (It doesn’t matter of there is a kohen in shul.) No מי שבירךs.
d)      Davening must start on time! If there isn’t a minyan by ברכו then proceed ביחידות.

I realize that these are somewhat onerous guidelines. We hope that we will be able to relax them further in the near future. But it is important not to allow our impatience to overrun our prudence.

Looking forward to seeing all of you in the near or at least not too far future.

All the best,

Eli Baruch Shulman

{Matzav.com}


5 COMMENTS

  1. Please try to refrain from talking during davening and turn off
    cell phones as well in order for the numbers to go down significantly!
    It will also be a zechus for the soul of Rabbi Gissinger zatzal!

  2. That’s nice for that Shul. They don’t represent all Shuls. Every Rav will paskin for his own kehilla.

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