‘IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO FIND A BALANCE’

PINNER Synagogue chair Lisa Olins said formulating plans that could make all members confident about returning had been a challenge.

“For us, it is difficult in that we don’t have a huge amount of space. We have some members who are still really cautious and we want to do as much as we can to make them feel comfortable,” she told the JC.

The 800-member shul has decided to maintain its request that masks be worn around the building, although they can be removed when congregants are seated.

“We feel that is a balance that works for us and it seems fair. We have also arranged our seating one metre apart and in groups of two, three, or four.

“If people from different households want to sit together, they can. But people who want that distance can still have it.”

Ms Olins said many regular attenders were urging the shul to relax its mask policy.

“I was surprised by how many people were keen to get rid of it. And it is not something that we’ve found is down to age. We have had some older members really keen to get back to normal as much as possible.”

In contrast, Ms Olins received emails from members “who say they don’t feel like they can come back yet and things don’t feel safe enough for them. We have people still shielding and it is important to find a balance for them. But the nature of shul business is that you can’t please everyone at the same time.”

For the moment, kiddushim are being held in the main hall, which has more space.

“As a community we want to move forward,” she added.

“One of the terrible things about the pandemic at its peak was not having our members and our young families in. Now they are coming back and we are really encouraging that.”