The Keilim Policy Toolkit guides Jewish organizations to develop policies and procedures that create safer, more respectful, and more equitable environments for those who work at or access your organization.

‘Keilim’ is Hebrew for tools or vessels.

Over the course of the year, CSI Nyack has been one of ten congregations working with Sacred Spaces Keilim | A Policy Toolkit by Sacred Spaces and the USCJ to clarify our values, learn about our community, and enact policies to prevent and handle abuses of power.

Our main focus has been to protect our community from abuses of power by creating and implementing policies and pieces of training for our community. Through this process, we have learned a lot about our community from the survey we sent out and through thinking deeply about our synagogue culture and values.

Our Keillim cohort is a work in progress as we evolve and grow.

The CSI Nyack Keillim Cohort has identified the following values as paramount to our communal vision.

B’tzelem Elohim - in the image of God - seeing the Divinity within each one of us
Omek - depth - eager to grow and learn from the diversity
Sokranut - curiosity - approaching the community from a place of curiosity
Ohel Moed - Open Tent - practicing audacious hospitality by embracing multi-racial Jews, LGBTQ+ members, non-Jewish community members, differently-abled members, people of all ages, and neurodiversity
Midot - Values - everyone is inherently a value, and their participation is a gift
Hemish - family-like - an intimate community where you are seen and heard
L’Dor V’Dor - from generation to generation - the synagogue community as an intergenerational hub
Masorti - Tradition - tradition, and change, honoring our past while creating new dreams for our future
Chesed - grace - conscious acts of kindness for our community members and beyond
B’emtza - centered - bringing marginalized peoples into the center of our community
Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World - using Jewish values as a motivating force to work towards equality and justice

Contact Information

CSI Nyack welcomes your questions or comments regarding Keilim Policy Toolkit.

Please contact CSI Nyack at:

Congregation Sons of Israel Nyack

300 North Broadway, Upper Nyack, New York 10960

Email Address: Rabbi Russo (Rabbirusso@csinyack.org) or the Main Office (Office@csinyack.org)

Office: 845-358-3767

Effective as of November 17, 2022