Editor’s note: Together, 26 yeshiva high school principals released the following guidelines regarding the upcoming chagim and their expectations of their talmidim and talmidot.

As schools have reopened, we have all been invigorated by the sense of community and meaning that they provide. While many schools successfully pivoted to remote learning, we know that in-person education provides so much more than we can deliver through Zoom. The casual conversations in a hallway with a teacher or a classmate, the ideas discussed over lunch, the laughs shared together and the vibrancy of Torah learning as we sit together in a beit midrash are sacred and valuable. By maintaining vigilant care for our health and safety, we aim to ensure that we keep our schools open. It is therefore critical that we do not become complacent and let our guard down as the yamim tovim approach. There are aspects of the pandemic that are not in our control but there is much that is in our control. Together, our schools, students and families can mitigate the spread of the virus and help promote our good health.

Yeshiva high schools across North America will be sharing the information below with their communities over the coming days. Together we urge all community members to adhere to the following directives:

• Students may not host friends for sleepovers.

• When students gather together they must always be socially distanced, masked and outdoors and never in large groups. Parents must provide constant supervision. We have seen that although it is not natural for students to socially distance, when reminded to do so, they comply.

• Students must remain in their home communities throughout the yamim tovim, including Simchat Torah. There will be no communal gatherings for high school students on Simchat Torah.

• Anyone under quarantine, even precautionary, may not leave the home, may not get together with friends, and the family may not host social gatherings, even outdoors. Meals that include guests from other families must only be held outdoors and socially distanced.

• These guidelines apply for all community members, even those who have developed antibodies.

We are grateful for your partnership as we work together to ensure a safe and vibrant environment of learning for our children. With wishes for a טובה וחתימה כתיבה, a year of good health and blessing for all.

Sincerely,

Maury Grebenau, Principal, Akiba-Yavneh Academies * Shlomo Stochel, Head of Ramaz Upper School * Shimmy Trencher, Principal, Upper School, Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy * Tully Harczstark & Jonathan Kroll, Principals, SAR High School * Seth Grauer, Rosh Yeshiva, Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto * Eliezer E. Rubin, Head of School, Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School * Bracha Rutner, Head of School, Central/Yeshiva University High School for Girls * Ari Segal, Head of School, Shalhevet High School * Yisroel Kaminetsky, Menahel, DRS Yeshiva High School for Boys * Bluma Drebin & Elisheva Kaminetsky, Principals, SKA * Naomi Lippman, Principal, HAFTR High School * Tikvah Wiener, Head of School, The Idea School * Eli Slomnicki, Menahel/Principal, HANC * Shlomo Adelman, Head of School, Torah Academy of Bergen County * Leonard Matanky, Dean, Ida Crown Jewish Academy * Jeffrey Beer, Head of School, Westchester Hebrew High School * Gil Perl, Head of School, Kohelet Yeshiva * Raymond Harari & Joseph Beyda, Head of School and Principal, Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School * CB Neugroschl, Head of School, Ma’ayanot Yeshiva HS * Joshua Kahn, Head of School, Yeshiva University High School for Boys * Yaakov Jaffe, Dean of Judaic Studies, Maimonides School * Eli Ciner Principal, Yeshivat Frisch * Deena Kobre Head of School, Naaleh High School for Girls * Aryeh Sufrin, Head of School, YULA Boys High School * Daniel Vitow Headmaster, North Shore Hebrew Academy High School * Pinchas Hecht, Interim Head of School, YULA Girls High School