COVID-19 Guidance for Congregations and Day of Fasting & Prayer
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading across the globe, including reports of at least 3 cases in Israel, 400 in Italy, and over 60 in the United States. Public health and epidemiology experts have projected that COVID-19 is likely to spread further over the next few months.
Join with the wider Messianic Jewish community in a day of fasting and prayer on March 9, 2020.
In the words of our friend Boaz Michael (Founder of First Fruits of Zion),
"Since biblical times, the Jewish community has banded together to face the threat of plague and disease by declaring a day of prayer and fasting. The Talmud tells numerous stories of similar occasions when the Jewish community was faced with threats like infectious diseases. What did the Jewish people do? The leadership came together and agreed to declare a day of fasting. (Joel 2:15-17) We have chosen Monday, March 9 for a designated day of fasting to ask God for mercy on the people of China and the whole world in the name of our Master. We have chosen March 9 because, on the Jewish calendar this year, that's the date for the Fast of Esther. March 9, 2020, is already a scheduled fast day observed in memory of the three-day fast that the Jewish people of Persia undertook before Queen Esther went to appear before the king. This year we are going to combine that traditional fast day with a special focus in prayer asking our Father in Heaven for mercy on his people and on all of his creatures."
As you commit this to fervent prayer, and counsel your congregation to refrain from panic, please review the best practices and guidelines below and consider implementing them in your congregation.
The good news is that most people who are infected experience no symptoms, or very mild symptoms (similar to a common cold or flu). And in even better news, Israeli and American researchers are rapidly approaching a working vaccine.
The bad news is that, as a respiratory infection, it is highly contagious. People over the age of 80 or those with preexisting respiratory or immune conditions are at higher risk, and when infected are more likely to develop pneumonia, requiring hospitalization or intensive care. The mortality rate for infected patients over the age of 80 is 14-18%.
All of us have elderly congregants in our pews, and people with respiratory and immune conditions. As we gather together in shared spaces every Shabbat, consider implementing the following guidelines to protect your congregants from illness:
1. Encourage hand-washing. The best defense against respiratory viruses is frequent hand-washing with soap and water, but studies show that only 5% of people do it properly.
Consider placing signs in your synagogue bathrooms reminding congregants to wash their hands thoroughly after using the toilet.
Do you shake hands with everyone during your Torah procession? Stash a bottle of hand sanitizer under the Torah table, and use it discreetly when you return to the bimah.
Require all Oneg volunteers (or anyone handling food that is served in the synagogue) to wash their hands thoroughly before engaging in meal prep. Follow the same food safety guidelines that are used in commercial kitchens - if you accidentally touch your face, mouth, or nose while preparing food, go back to the sink and wash your hands again.
Instruct nursery workers to wash their hands any time they come in contact with a child's bodily fluids (including nasal discharge and spit up). Have them wash the children's hands when they enter the nursery, before and after eating, and before reuniting with their parents. This doesn't have to be onerous, many nursery programs sing a special hand-washing song. Small children tend to adjust quickly to new routines, and this has positive knock-on benefits at home, where children are likely to repeat the routines they learned in the nursery.
2. Don't go to synagogue when you're sick. During the long cold and flu season, many of us have a tendency to "push through" our symptoms or mask them with medications so that we can show up and serve our communities. Now is not a good time to continue this habit.
Model this principle as a leader and stay home if you have a cough, fever, or any other symptoms of illness. Your absence will surely serve as a disruption to your community, but this principle presents an opportunity to strengthen your wider leadership team so that everything doesn't fall apart just because you unexpectedly miss a Shabbat. Now is the time for serious conversations with your Board members, clergy, and Elders about whether they have the capacity to conduct a service (or manage an event) and provide effective pastoral care to congregants in your absence.
Ask your congregants to stay home when they're sick, to avoid infecting others. Set up a system of back-ups for key volunteer roles.
Screen infants for illness before they enter the nursery. Include a new question on your nursery check-in forms. In addition to gathering information like the child's name, parent's contact information, and any known food allergies, add the following question: "Have you or your child experienced a fever, rash, or vomiting in the last 24 hours?" Anyone who answers yes should be turned away from the nursery and encouraged to go home for the day. The clergy team should follow up with a pastoral phone call as soon as possible.
3. Expand your online and virtual attendance programming. It is possible that your local community may be affected by school closings, travel restrictions, or other mass quarantine measures. Think ahead and prepare for this possibility by improving your congregants' access to the congregation and its leaders through the internet.
Record your weekly sermon and distribute it on your website and on a podcast channel. (While you're considering this, subscribe to the Union's weekly Torah commentaries on Apple Podcasts!)
Create a Secret Facebook group whether the members of your congregation can gather online to share prayer requests, updates, organize watch parties, and even stream live videos. Wondering how to set one up? Click here.
Conduct your mid-week classes and Torah studies over the internet. Zoom offers affordable pricing for virtual conference rooms - several Union leaders have begun experimenting with Zoom for mid-week studies and have found higher involvement and engagement from their congregants who live far away and cannot commute to the synagogue in the middle of the week. Want more ideas? Click here.
Consider live-streaming your weekly service.