Covid-19

Kehilat Sukkat Shalom Covid- 19 Protocols
August 2021

KSS is committed to promoting the health and well-being of our community. As such, we are committed to balancing ongoing risks related to COVID-19 with resuming certain communal activities. This approach recognizes that different events may have different risk profiles, and that different individuals may have different risk considerations and preferences.  We have attempted to accommodate both in the following commitments and protocols.  By offering different options, we hope to meet most people’s needs as we navigate through the ongoing pandemic.  

NOTE: As new information becomes available about the virus and its variants, these protocols may change.  

Brit Briyut – Covenant for Well-Being
(with thanks for inspiration from Congregation Beit Haverim – Atlanta, GA)

This covenant is a sacred and solemn mutual agreement based the Jewish values: 

  • Pikuah Nefesh/ Preserving Life
  • Kol Yisrael Aravim Zeh Lah Zeh/ Mutual Responsibility
  • Shivyon/ Equity
  • Shalom Bayit/ Communal Harmony

We affirm our obligation to:

  • Protect one another by promoting public health policy and encouraging vaccination for all who are able to obtain it;
  • Act responsibly for our own well-being and that of our fellow members and guests;
  • Ensure that connection and participation are accessible to members of our community who are not able to join in-person.

We commit to:

  1. Continually solicit expert advice on measures to protect life and minimize risk to the health of our community.
  2. Implement that advice through congregational protocols that will be updated as needed in response to changing health conditions and scientific understanding. These protocols will be accessible on the KSS website.
  3. Do what is necessary to make our physical spaces safe, and to facilitate multi-access experiences in which members can participate fully either on-site or online.

As a congregant, I shall: 

  1. Keep myself and others safe by following KSS Health and Well-Being Protocols.
  2. Hold myself and others accountable for following Health and Well-Being Protocols.
  3. Strive to maintain positive attitudes and speech regarding KSS’s Health and Well-being Protocols, even when they pose an inconvenience.
  4. Voluntarily assume all risks related to potential exposure to COVID-19 at KSS, holding the congregation harmless.

Overarching COVID-19 Protocols

All participants in KSS activities, including children and non-member guests, are expected to abide by these protocols. 

Administrative Protocols

  1. To the greatest extent possible, KSS will provide multi-access experiences for the congregation—with online options when gatherings are held on-site. 
  2. KSS will make maximal use of outdoor spaces to allow for greater flexibility regarding in-person participation when feasible and appropriate. 
  3. In the interest of inclusion and equity, KSS will not require proof of vaccination for in-person attendance. 
  4. At least initially, the serving of food and beverages will be limited to “bring your own.” 

Individual Protocols

  1. KSS members and guests are obligated to refrain from participation in in-person events when experiencing symptoms of respiratory or infectious disease, especially fever or chills, cough, muscle or body aches, new loss of taste and/or smell, sore throat, nasal congestion or runny nose, vomiting, or diarrhea.  
  2. KSS supports the use of masks and physical distancing when preferred by an individual, and when required by specific KSS protocols.  Masks are always permitted, and an individual’s decision to wear a mask should not be questioned.

Protocol for Outdoor Events, Gatherings and Services

Scientific evidence to date indicates that outdoor settings are safer because transmission rates of the virus are lower. We will not require masks for outdoor events at which physical distance (at least an arm’s length apart) can be maintained. We will require masks when people are singing together outdoors.

Protocol for Indoor Events, Gatherings and Services

Masks will be required for indoor gatherings for anyone over the age of 2. Those leading services may remove masks when socially distanced. Those singing, including leaders, must remain masked. 

We will follow both local public health guidelines and those established by our host institution, First Unitarian Universalist Church about when and how we are able to meet in person. This will include monitoring infection rates and documenting those who attend our events in order to conduct contact tracing, if necessary.