Services this year will take place at Circuit Jardins - L'école buissonnière.
L'école buissonnière is a semi-enclosed garden space. There is a wooden boardwalk that allows for access to much of the space. The part of the space farther from the entrance is unpaved ground. There are some tables and benches built into the space. There will be grip-tape along the boardwalk to help mitigate any slipperiness.
Seating:
seating will be mostly the benches in the garden space and folding chairs. We are planning to have at least a few "camping chair" style chairs available for those who may need.
Transit:
Closest metro is Berri-UQAM, exit C (de Maisonneuve). Wheelchair-accessible exit is exit D (St-Denis).
2-way metro/bus tickets available, feel free to ask one of the organizers or the greeter at the service.
Bathroom access:
via a wheelchair-accessible home on the ground floor about 300 feet from the location. Barrier-free access from backyard is through kitchen door (31” wide). Bathroom door is 28" wide.
There is also an accessible bathroom in the nearby Super C
Masking and viral harm reduction:
While we don't require masking outdoors, we do ask that folks bring a N95 or KN95 mask with them if possible, so that we are prepared to honour the variety of practices around outdoor mask-wearing within the kehilla.
Masking is required indoors and when handling communal food.
As in previous years, we will have a designated "masked section" during outdoor services.
We will also have some "identification badges" for people who want a way to signal to others that they need people to be masked when interacting with them outdoors.
In the past years we have asked that people do a COVID rapid test before arriving at services. We understand that is increasingly difficult given that rapid tests are no longer available free-of-cost (with the exception of 2 locations). You're encouraged to rapid test if possible, but/and we understand this may not be possible for many. As always, this is based on the honour / care system (we're not going to be going around checking if you've rapid tested).
If you are experiencing symptoms that are associated with transmissible viruses - such as coughing, sneezing, fever, sore throat - PLEASE RAPID TEST. This is a time of year where it's hard to tell between allergies, a cold, and COVID. If you are unsure as to whether you are ill, as much as we will miss you, please stay home.
Kehilla House always has extra masks and COVID tests on-hand.
Please let's all work together to keep each other safer! Holding our services outdoors and with some of these harm reduction practices is what allows some of our community to have anywhere to go for the high holy days
Meals:
Kehilla House and backyard will be available during mealtimes, in addition to the Circuit Jardins space
We ask that people label the food they bring with all ingredients, especially common allergens such as gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, peanuts
There are a variety of relationships to kosher food practices in this kehilla. Please be aware of this and please feel free to ask questions if you need more information regarding kashruth. We do ask that everyone refrain from bringing dishes which contain both meat and dairy together, and also refrain from bringing any shellfish or pork.