A Shabbat-friendly daily health assessment

The daily health assessment for students observing Shabbat.

Brandeis students and community members observing Shabbat can now complete a daily health assessment and receive a Campus Passport, which enables them to take part in public campus activities, while fully observing Jewish law and tradition.

The Shabbat Alternative Campus Passport is a printed card with the “Shabbat Health Assessment” on one side, asking a yes/no question in each corner that correlates to the Brandeis Daily Health Assessment.  

The front of the card is green and each corner is printed red; it identifies the date, participant and date of their last COVID-19 test. It is designed so that respondents do not need to tear, write or use an electronic device to meet the health and safety requirements on Shabbat. Assistant provost for strategic initiatives Morgen Bergman and Brandeis Hillel executive director and director of Spiritual Life Rabbi Seth Winberg developed the modified passport.

Upon waking on Shabbat morning, respondents are instructed to consider their health status and answer four questions to complete their health assessment.

To answer “yes” to a question, respondents will fold the red corner on the front over the question on the back. If the response is “no,” the paper remains unfolded, and a respondent should stay home and not engage in campus activities, as they may pose a risk of COVID-19 infection or spread.  

Four folded corners turn the passport green, and the respondent is welcome to participate in campus activities that day. They can show their green Campus Passport wherever it’s asked for on campus during Shabbat.  

Each week, a unique Shabbat card will be made available for students to pick up at the testing sites, so the cards are not replicable or reusable. 

Community members who choose to use the Shabbat Alternative Campus Passport can indicate this preference under the “Settings” menu in the online Campus Passport Portal.  

They’ll only need to make this selection once for the semester, as the selection will automatically apply to all Shabbats, high holy days, and days when where Jews are instructed to refrain from work throughout the semester.