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Coronavirus Update for Families: March 12

Despite fear and uncertainty, we still have an obligation to teach our children. The most important lesson to teach today is that the preservation of human life takes precedence over all other commandments in Judaism. The mitzvah of pikkuah nefesh, saving a life, comes first.

As events unfold, we are continually working to provide meaningful opportunities for your families. As you’ll see, we have begun testing virtual modalities to bring Jewish education, services, and programs into your homes. Last night, our teens had their first successful virtual session on navigating hard conversations. I also want to recognize the amazing work of our Family Life and Learning team, who have been working around the clock to experiment with different virtual platforms.

While we have made the difficult decision to not hold Kadima@BJ classes in person for the next two weeks, we are excited about the virtual possibilities that lay ahead.

We are developing a remote learning plan for children who are enrolled in Kadima@BJ. First, if you are enrolled in Hebrew Homepage, please make sure you continue with your regularly scheduled sessions. If you have any questions about HHP, please contact our Hebrew Coordinator, Alex Hamilton, at hebrew@bj.org.

With the support of our educators and Family Life and Learning staff, we are working on making our classes available through Zoom online conferencing. On Tuesday, March 17, there will be no Kadima@BJ (in person or online). We will be taking that time to hold professional development with our teachers to work on Zoom classes, music opportunities, story time, tefillah, and more.

Please stay tuned for your remote learning schedule and instructions for how to access your child’s learning and singing in the coming week.

We also know how important BJ is as a spiritual home for our families. While some classes are being suspended or moved to livestream only, we invite your family to take part in both the Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday at 6:15PM and Shabbat morning services on Saturday at 9:30AM via livestream. We believe there is a value to come together, even virtually.

Upcoming

  • On Friday morning at 10:15AM, join us  for Bim Bam Online via the BJ livestream at www.bj.org/live. The class will move to a virtual platform instead of in person.
  • Family Shabbat Dinner will be canceled this Friday. Family Shabbat Services will be livestreamed on Saturday morning at 11:15AM here.
  • Wednesday night teen programming will continue via Zoom. If you are not currently registered for any of our Wednesday night programs, email lschultze@bj.org for more information.

Resources

  • To learn more about the structure of services, click here.
  • Check out this video to better understand how and why we do Shabbat.
  • For ideas and fun ways to stay busy at home, check out these resources from PJ Library here.
  • Click here for our latest community-wide coronavirus updates.

Latest Coronavirus Updates

Find the latest information about the impact of COVID-19 on our community, including potential changes to programs and services and links to related resources.