Corona/COVID-19 Virus Update

3/17 UPDATE: Community Yom HaShoah Service and Program has been postponed and will be rescheduled as soon as we are able.

3/15 UPDATE: Gan HaYeled Preschool will be closed beginning March 16 through April 17. Please email gan@jewishmadison.org​ with any questions.


Dear Friends:
Like you, we are distressed by the expanding outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Our first concern is always for the health and safety of our community and participants in the programs and services the Jewish Federation of Madison provides. We want to reassure you that we are in constant touch with health and disease experts representing a wide range of backgrounds and institutions.

We hope to keep our offices and programs open for as long as possible and will continue to assess as the situation evolves and new guidelines are recommended. At this time, GAN HAYELED will remain open until the experts advise that we should close our offices [Updated 3/15: Gan HaYeled will be closed March 16-April 17]. As of now, CAMP SHALOM will open as planned this summer. MIDRASHA will be suspending all activities until April 19 since it relies on space at other institutions (who are deploying their operations policies) and teachers who are often UW-Madison students (the university has asked students living in the residence halls to continue their coursework remotely and not return to Madison after Spring Break).

Larger community-wide events like the YOM HASHOAH Service and Program and the YOM HAATZMAUT Celebration remain scheduled for now, and we will cancel closer to their actual date should that be advisable.

Please check our website frequently for the latest updates.

We ask you to please stay home to rest if you are exhibiting signs of illness or are not feeling well in any way, and consult your health care provider. Please consider that even if you are well, you could unknowingly be a carrier of the virus and impact others. We encourage you to follow recommendations for limiting non-essential in-person meetings, practicing physical social distancing to protect more vulnerable populations, and good hygiene.

The current situation is developing very quickly. We will continue to monitor closely, listen to our experts' advice, assess, and do our very best to make well-informed decisions that best serve our community. Should in-person programs and events be further suspended, we will explore other ways to connect. These are anxious times...Take good care of yourself and let's make sure to support each other and our community.

Deborah Minkoff
President

Alan Klugman
Executive Director