Shabboom! Weekly Announcements

Dear Community Members:

We hope you are having a wonderful start to the summer. We are following up on the message from the board that was shared with the community on April 20, 2018.

After an extensive due diligence process, review by the shul's Building Committee, and approval by the shul's Board of Directors, we are happy to announce that our kitchens modernization / safety upgrade project will be commencing.  This project is necessary to ensure the shul's insurability. On-site construction will begin on Monday, July 9th. The scope of this project includes new cooking equipment, fire safety hoods, new exhaust fans, and other necessary electrical upgrades.

We expect the project to last approximately six weeks. During this time, the kitchens will be closed, and access to certain downstairs areas near the kitchens (e.g. hallway/apartment) will be restricted. Additionally, there will be some construction in the Chadar Tikvah.

While we will unfortunately not be able to provide our normal Shabbat kiddush due to these restrictions, the shul plans to offer a small kiddush from July 14 through August 11 after Shabbat davening. We intend to resume our normal kiddushes after Labor Day. We are blessed to have five simchas before the chagim and we are working closely with each family and caterer to provide additional support through their events to make sure that their celebrations are not impacted in any noticeable way.

For people looking for meal accommodations, the shul will help facilitate meal hosting. Please email info@ostns.org at least 72 hours in advance of Shabbat, and we will do our best to place you with a Shabbat afternoon meal. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to open your homes to those in need of a Shabbat meal. We are trying to find at least one family every Shabbat that will have room at their table for 4 extra guests. During Shabbat announcements, we'll introduce the host for the week and connect guests to the hosts. If you would like to volunteer to be a summer host, please email info@ostns.org.

If you have any questions, please contact the Building Committee at BuildingCommittee@ostns.org or Sarah Shapiro at Sarah.Shapiro@ostns.org / 202-882-7225 x103.

Kudos to our Building Committee (Efraim Schwartz, Lea Mendelsohn, Danielle Frum, Nina Tarley, Baruch Spier and Harris Cohen) for their terrific work.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and patience. We look forward to improved kitchen facilities later this summer!

Sincerely,

Daniel Silverberg
President