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Dear Friends and Congregants, 

The COVID-19 pandemic (including some new virus variants) continues to challenge the Jewish and broader community. Thank G-d, we are beginning to see some promising light at the end of the tunnel with the availability of multiple vaccines and improved treatments. It is critical that all our congregants continue their efforts to practice social distancing, wear masks, limit travel, and maintain proper hand hygiene in accordance with Public Health guidelines. Island Synagogue continues to diligently follow public health protocols in consultation with medical advisors and remains confident in the safety precautions that are in place provided our shul members adhere to them. 

We strongly encourage you to visit the King County Public Health COVID Website to obtain information regarding the availability of COVID-19 Vaccines.  Vaccines are saving lives and are becoming more readily available. 

In light of many synagogue members getting vaccinated, we have updated our "Healthy Community Campaign Guidelines" as newly informed by revised CDC guidelines and our medical advisors for the following folks:

• People who have been fully immunized with a COVID-19 vaccine and at least 2 weeks have passed since their final dose, and
• People who have had symptomatic COVID-19 illness within the previous 3 months, and have recovered, and remain without COVID-19 symptoms (for example, cough, shortness of breath, fever, etc.)

 The update is that these 2 groups of people no longer need to stay home or quarantine:

• if they have been exposed to someone with symptomatic COVID-19; or
• if they are in a high-risk group; or
• if they have traveled out-of-state; or
• if they have socialized indoors outside of their immediate family with not fully-immunized people. 

As we approach Pesach, the question of group seders is on the minds of many.  The new CDC guidelines issued on 3/8/2021 suggest that fully vaccinated people can:

• visit other fully vaccinated people indoors without masks or physical distancing, or
• visit indoors with unvaccinated people from a single household without masks or physical distancing, if the unvaccinated people are at low risk for severe disease. 

Additional updates are expected, as the science of COVID-19 is complex and our understanding of the virus continues to evolve.  

Evidence suggests that the majority of COVID spread in the Seattle Orthodox community results from travel and socializing, not from our Jewish schools and shuls where safeguards are in place. Nonetheless, our ability to continue in-person activities depends on each member of the community doing their part to halt the spread. At the community and individual levels, we need to continue to make pikuach nefesh a sustainable priority and strictly observe public health guidelines. We must protect the health of those who are at high risk of serious complications. G-d Willing, by our shared efforts and a hopeful vaccination success, we should merit the safeguarding of our community's well-being. 

Thank you, 

Jon Newman

Rabbi Yechezkel Kornfeld