CMI and Coronavirus - Temporarily suspending in-person events

Dear CMI Community,

As we continue to confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus, we have been following the recommendations from the CDC, state and local governments. With that in mind we have made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend our CMI activities at this time. Effective immediately in-person worship, religious school, classes and our nursery school are suspended. Our offices will remain open at this time.

The Jewish value pikuach nefesh, to save a life, supersedes all other commandments and teaches us that nothing is more important than the health and safety of our community. In addition, the Jewish value of kehillah, community, and chesed, loving kindness, will continue to connect us as best we can while we protect both ourselves and the most vulnerable in our midst. As the situation unfolds we will do our best to connect with each other and to CMI virtually via our livestream and online learning. We have included some opportunities below and encourage you to visit our newly designed website for the latest schedule of activities. We will send regular updates and hope that to resume normal actives as soon as it is safe to do so..

Caring Community:

We know that this is painful for many in our community who call CMI home and we hope that we can all continue to work together to take care of one-another. Rabbi Immerman is compiling a list of people to be part of our Chesed Team – a group of congregants who are ready and able to take care of others via phone calls, video-calls, and with help delivering food and other basic necessities. If you are interested, please use our online form to sign-up for this important work.  If you are in isolation or quarantine please let us know if there is anything that you need from us. Rabbi Immerman is always available for emergencies and pastoral counseling. And as mentioned above, our office will remain open at this time. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

To help those who are food insecure and will be hit hardest during this time, Jewish Family services is conducting an emergency food drive and is asking all of the area synagogues to bring a different staple. Please help us collect 200 or more cans of Chef-boy-AR-dee Pasta by Monday, March 16th. You can drop off the cans and other non-perishables at the synagogue on Friday or Monday between 9am-4pm. You can also contribute directly to Jewish Family Services or to the CMI hunger fund.

Learning:

Religious school, both Sundays and Tuesdays, is temporarily suspended through March 24th and we will update you regularly as to when we will resume. In its place, we will hold an all-ages online school from 10:00am-11:00am on Sunday mornings with Michelle and Rabbi Immerman. We’ll have a half-hour of stories and learning for the entire family and then a brief family-friendly service. All are welcome to join via the livestream. Michelle will be sending out more information, additional activities and ways to continue Hebrew learning to our families tomorrow.

Rabbi Immerman will continue to lead an interactive Torah study on Shabbat mornings using Zoom. No download is required, simply join via a computer, phone or tablet at this link: https://zoom.us/j/368631193

We plan to add other classes and activities throughout the week, so please check our website regularly.

Worship:

Tomorrow night from 6-7pm we will still proceed online-only with our family service, online only. Join Rabbi Immerman, Cantor Giglio and members of the Oy Street band on the CMI Livestream for our spirited worship. Rabbi Immerman will deliver a d’var Torah and we will have an opportunity to say the mi shebeirach, read the kaddish list, and recite the mourner’s kaddish.

Again, it is our obligation to take care of our community’s health and well-being, and please reach out to us if there is anything that we can do to help you or even just to say hello.

Wishing you a shabbat shalom, and may we all pass through this together, healthy, and as a united community. We’ll “see” you tomorrow night!

L’shalom,
Rabbi Brian Immerman
Sarah Greenblatt, President
Merav Canaan, Temple Administrator