September 10, 2020
Dear Community, To begin, we'd like to thank the over 1,500 donors that participated in our successful Charidy campaign last week. Your vital support enables us to provide our full-array of community services, and to fulfill our commitment to do even more in the future. Please be aware that there is still a concerning rise and spread of COVID-19 cases in our community. Please continue to exercise caution by wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing in all public places. This will help prevent potential danger and ensure that our children can stay in school without interruption. As communicated last week, travel should be avoided when possible, and when necessary to travel, one should be extra vigilant with all the guidelines. With elections approaching, it's important to note that you can vote from the safety of your home but the deadline to order a ballot is less than two weeks away. With Rosh Hashana ahead of us, there is much to reflect upon, and even more to think about moving forward. This year pushed each of us individually, and Agudah as an organization, to our limits. We are proud of the strength and resilience that our community has displayed throughout this process. In a time of uncertainty, one constant is your Agudah. It has been our honor to do our part and accept this sacred mission, and we are poised to be there for you into the New Year and beyond. We are very sorry for those that suffered the loss of family members and close friends, experienced serious illness, or sustained financial hardship as a result of this pandemic. We hope and daven that 5781 will be a year of healing and brachos for each of you and for all of Klal Yisroel. Sincerely,
| | SUCCESSFUL VITAL CAMPAIGN | | Thank you to all of our matchers, donors, team leaders and volunteers who helped make "VITAL" campaign such a success! It is only with partners such as you that we can continue serving the needs of the community. Be it administering food or tuition relief programs, providing financial aid, supporting our schools, shuls and mosdos, or addressing the constantly evolving individual and communal needs wrought upon us by a global pandemic, we need a strong Agudah. And a strong Agudah needs you!
| | As noted above, there is a concerning rise of COVID-19 cases in the Chicago Orthodox community. Zip code 60659 saw a slight spike over the last month and 60645 has seen a moderate increase over the last 3 weeks. There have also been a number of hospitalizations this week in our community. Ongoing vigilance is very important at this juncture. | | Chicago Travel Order Updates: Yesterday, the City announced that Kentucky will be added to Illinois's quarantine list while California and Puerto Rico are being taken off the quarantine list. Those traveling back from those states will not need to quarantine upon return. Please see the map below which includes all states currently covered by the travel order . | |
While the Presidential election will be taking place on November 3, millions of Americans will vote by mail. Elected officials look at the voter turnout in our precincts when considering the needs of our community. Our political influence is directly related to our strength in numbers and the voter turnout percentage in our precincts. As such, your participation in the electoral process is imperative. We must Get Out The Vote!
For registered voters in the Chicago area, voting by mail has never been easier.
To order your ballot online, if you live in Chicago, click here.
If you live in Suburban Cook County (e.g. Skokie, Lincolnwood), click here.
Residents of Illinois can also register online to vote if not already registered by clicking here. If you have questions or need any assistance, you can call our office at 773-279-8400 or email TSpielman@AgudahIL.org | | This month, Agudath Israel of Illinois in conjunction with Agudath Israel of America, is proud to present an additional incentive for census participation. Each household that completes the census will be entered into a raffle to win $2,500. Simply send a screenshot that you completed the census to census@agudah.org and your family will be included in the pot. If you have already completed the census - no worries! Just complete the form on www.Agudah.org/census and you will be included as well.
The census can be completed at my2020census.gov or by calling 773-279-8400, extension 261.
| | New Covid-19 Tracking & Tracing for the Orthodox Jewish Community of Greater Chicago
In order to ensure that we can keep or schools and shuls open, and to keep communal life as functional as possible, we also need to know what threats we may be facing and how to best address them. If we know where the positive Covid-19 cases are, what venues it may have been transmitted through, and who may have been exposed, we can respond appropriately. Having real-time accurate information to act swiftly and with surgical precision is critical to keeping our schools, shuls, and other mosdos open and operating, while keeping the community safe. To do so, a platform has been created that tracks Covid-19 cases in the community, and even helps identify through which venues the virus is being transmitted. In addition to partnering with schools, physicians, healthcare providers and other community organizations, the platform relies on individuals to self-report. They can remain anonymous and all information will be kept strictly confidential. This will be supplemented with a volunteer contact tracing initiative for the Orthodox Jewish community under the auspices of Refuah311. They will be sharing updates with rabbonim on a weekly basis, or if/when an urgent update is called for. If, chas v'shalom, you are experiencing Covid-19 symptoms or tested positive, we encourage you to please visit Cojent.org | | Click here for a list of government financial programs. call (773) 279-8400 ext. 261, | | If you did not receive this email directly and would like to receive it in the future, please click here.
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