To download this statement in PDF format, click here.

Dear Friends

With the spread of the COVID-19 coronavir­us around the world, including Australia, and the statement by the World Health Organ­isa­tion that it con­sti­tutes a pandemic, we are deeply concerned that it is having a sig­ni­fic­ant impact on many Jewish organ­isa­tions and members of our community, which will probably continue for some time before the spread of the virus abates.

This is a very difficult time for all of us, including the Jewish community lead­er­ship, as we grapple with questions about holding and par­ti­cip­at­ing in communal events, adjusting our work routines, attending synagogue services, and sending our children to school.

At the ECAJ we have taken steps to reduce the risk of infection for our Coun­cil­lors and staff by, to the extent prac­tic­able, post­pon­ing or can­cel­ling air travel and use of public transport, con­duct­ing meetings remotely rather than in person, ordering staff who feel even mildly unwell to remain at home, rotating key staff attend­ance times in the office and avoiding attend­ances at large public events.

We stress that these are steps which the ECAJ has taken, and they may or may not be appro­pri­ate to your organ­isa­tion. The situation is changing day by day, and gov­ern­ment guidelines and recom­mend­a­tions are also regularly being updated.  You might find it useful to consult the Federal gov­ern­ment website Coronavir­us (COVID-19) health alert, and the further links on that website.

Further inform­a­tion can be obtained from your State or Territory Health Depart­ment.

In terms of synagogue attend­ance, we refer you to the guidance issued by the Rab­bin­ic­al Council of Australia and New Zealand, and the statement from the Union for Pro­gress­ive Judaism, which can be accessed below.

If there is anything that we can do to be of assist­ance to your organ­isa­tion in these times, please be assured that we are there to help you to alleviate any dif­fi­culties that you are exper­i­en­cing. We are aware that organ­isa­tions in the community which are tasked with coordin­at­ing and managing security issues and other difficult situ­ations are putting in place plans to assist the community to the extent they can. No doubt, more will become public in due course.

Our highest priority is the health and wellbeing of members of our community. Both indi­vidu­als and organ­isa­tions in the community have a shared respons­ib­il­ity to exercise reas­on­able caution. Any outbreak or suspected outbreak of COVID-19 within any Jewish organ­isa­tion should be reported imme­di­ately to the Federal Depart­ment of Health and the relevant State or Territory Health Depart­ment, and managed by them with your full co-operation.  It would also be in the best interests of the community if your local CSG were kept fully informed. In the absence of a CSG in your region, please keep your local roof body fully informed.

In addition, Jewish organ­isa­tions which are generally well-placed to handle a crisis, need to be mindful of those in our community who are highly vul­ner­able, including those who are elderly or infirm and live inde­pend­ently, including hundreds in public housing.  Our service-providing organ­isa­tions may need to consider further measures they can take to assist those people with shopping, accessing services, advice and social company.

We, and all of the ECAJ staff, are thinking of you in these trying cir­cum­stances.

Please, as always, take care of yourselves and those around you.   Zeit Gezund – Be Well!

DOWNLOAD THE RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND STATEMENT HERE

DOWNLOAD THE UNION FOR PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM STATEMENT HERE

Contact
Peter Wertheim | Co-CEO
ph: 02 8353 8505 | m: 0408 160 904 | fax 02 9361 588
e: [email protected]| www.ecaj.org.au