High Holydays Accessibility

As we move into the High Holydays, we are focused on creating an experience that is both meaningful and safe for all members of our community, with the guiding principle of protecting the most vulnerable among us. First and foremost, we are a community and we take care of each other.

We are conscious of both the desire and spiritual need to reconnect in person, as well as the ways in which the pandemic continues to evolve. We hope that following these guidelines will allow is to be together safely, as a community. 
 

Location

All of our services will be held at Gann Academy. This year, our main services will be located in the dining hall, which has excellent ventilation, doors that can be opened to provide cross ventilation, and high ceilings. Childcare and our shorashim (roots) services will be held in classrooms, and children's services will be held in the Beit Midrash.
 

Accessibility

All of our High Holyday programming at Gann Academy* is wheelchair accessible, and all livestreamed services will be live captioned. Please let us know if you have any food restrictions or accessibility needs (e.g. assisted listening device, mobility assistance, etc.) on the reservation form. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Inclusion Director Jess Green at inclusion@dorsheitzedek.org. 

In the event that the live captioning function on YouTube malfunctions, please click here for our (plan B) back-up live captioning.

*The Yom Kippur guided nature walk takes place on conservation land adjacent to Gann Academy and is only partially wheelchair accessible.
There is a wheelchair accessible path into the conservation land that you may continue down if you choose, but the rest of the guided walk is through the woods.

COVID Protocols

We strongly encourage those attending our services and programs to be fully vaccinated, and we are "mask friendly." Masks are not required, but all should feel comfortable wearing a mask at our programs; we will continue to have masks available, and there will be a mask-only section reserved in our prayer space at Gann Academy (if you are interested in seating in our mask-only section, please indicate so when registering to ensure that we have enough designated seats available). We ask that anyone exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 please refrain from attending, even if testing negative, and that CDC guidelines be followed for those who have tested positive in recent days. Our complete current COVID policy can be found here.
 

We are Fragrance-Free

For the health of our community, we also ask that all those attending programs in person refrain from wearing fragrances, including perfume, hair and body sprays, and other scented products. These cause illness for some of our members, and we appreciate all of our members’ and guests’ efforts to keep our space fragrance-free. 
 

Food and Allergens

Because of kashrut and COVID concerns, absolutely no food can be brought into Gann Academy. Snacks and lunch will be provided outdoors following children's services and at Rosh Hashanah kiddush respectively. All ingredients will be listed on the packaging. 
 

Greetings

We are a diverse and inclusive community, with members who have a variety of relationships to eating, drinking, and fasting on Yom Kippur. We ask that you please keep this in mind before wishing someone an easy fast. For a guide to greeting one another, please see our "Welcoming One Another" document.