ShulCloud Privacy Policy

Effective Date: January 1, 2023

Shulcloud, LLC and its affiliates and subsidiaries (“Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of our online visitors. The following privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes the way we handle information learned about you from your visits to all of the websites and mobile applications we operate (collectively, the “Site”).

PLEASE REVIEW THIS PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY. By accessing the Site and/or submitting information to or through the Site, you accept the terms of this Privacy Policy and consent to our collection, use, disclosure and retention of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

We also act as processors or service providers for our customers and maintain, store and/or process the personal information of our customer’s constituents and clients on our customers’ behalf when our customers use our products. Such information above is not subject to this Privacy Policy and is instead subject to the privacy policies of our customers.

If you are a resident of the European Union (“EU”), United Kingdom (“UK”) or Switzerland, you may be afforded additional rights under these laws. Please visit our EU/UK/Switzerland Supplemental Privacy Notice at [URL] for more information on such rights and how to exercise such rights.

If you are a resident of Brazil, you may be afforded additional rights under these laws. Please visit our Brazil Supplemental Privacy Notice at [URL] for more information on such rights and how to exercise such rights.

Personal Information

Company collects personally identifiable information from you, which may include:

Name
Address
Telephone number
Email address
Organization/company name
Organization/company website
Account credentials (i.e., username and password)
Financial information

Additionally, we may collect any personal information you provide us in communications you send or provide when you interact with any communications tools on the Site.

The information described above is collected and stored electronically when you access/visit the Site, purchase our products, use our products, request a demo of our products or sign up for a free trial, create an account with us, sign up to receive our newsletters and/or marketing communications, sign up for our webinars/events/forums or contact us.

Information Collected Automatically

Information about your computer hardware and software may automatically be collected by Company when you use the Site. This information may include:

IP address
Browser type
Type of operating system
Device type
Unique device identifier
Internet service provider
Language preference
Access times and dates
Geographic location
Referring website addresses
Browsing history
Search queries
Other technical information such as protocol status and substatus, bytes sent and received, and server information
Actions you take while visiting the Site

This information is used by us for our business purposes, including without limitation for the operation and improvement of the Site, for technical troubleshooting, to maintain quality of the Site and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Site.

Cookies and Other Information Collection Tools

What are cookies? A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website or use an online service. When you visit the website or use the service again, the cookie allows that website or online service to recognize your browser or device. Cookies may store unique identifiers, user preferences and other information.

Duration of Cookies. We may use “session cookies” or “persistent cookies.” Session cookies are temporary and expire once you close your browser or once your session ends. Persistent cookies remain on your device for much longer or until you or your browser erase them. Persistent cookies have varying durations that are dependent on their expiration date.

What types of cookies do we use? Company uses:

Necessary Cookies. These cookies are necessary for you to browse the Site and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the Site. Without these cookies, certain aspects of the Site may not be available to you.
Preferences Cookies. These cookies collect information about how you have used the Site in the past and allow the Site to remember the choices you have made. These cookies allow us to improve how the Site works for you and tailor the Site to your preferences.
Analytics Cookies. These cookies collect information about how you use the Site, such as which pages you most often visit on the Site, the time you spend on the Site, which links you click on, and any issues encountered. These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with the Site. All information collected is aggregated and do not identify you.

Marketing Cookies. These cookies track your online activity to help deliver advertisements that are relevant to you and your interests and measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaigns. They also limit how many times you see a certain advertisement. We may share the information collected through these cookies with others, such as advertisers.

Why do we use them? Cookies help us improve the Site by providing us with information about which parts of the Site are most popular, what actions are taken by users and what content is viewed, enabling us to analyze technical and navigational information about the Site, and helping us to detect and prevent fraud. We also use cookies and other data collection tools (such as web beacons, pixels and embedded scripts) to help improve your experience with the Site. For example, we use Google Analytics to help analyze how users use the Site. These tools use cookies to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behavior information in an anonymous form. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the Site (including IP address) is transmitted to our data collection tool service providers. This information is then used by us to evaluate visitors’ use of the Site and to compile statistical reports on website activity for Company. If you would like to opt-out from the use of your information by Google analytics, you may use Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on designed for this purpose.

How do I control cookies? Web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to manage and delete cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org. Some web browsers provide settings that allow a user to reject cookies or to alert a user when a cookie is placed on the user’s computer, tablet or mobile device. Most mobile devices also offer settings to reject mobile device identifiers. Although users are not required to accept cookies or mobile device identifiers, blocking or rejecting them may prevent access to some features available through the Site.

Interest Based Advertising

We may collect information about your online activities on our Site to provide you with advertising about products and services tailored to your individual interests. You may see certain ads on other websites because we work with advertising partners (including advertising networks) to engage in remarketing and retargeting activities. Our advertising partners allow us to target our messaging to users through demographic, interest-based and contextual means. These partners may track your online activities over time and across websites, including our Site, by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of third-party cookies and web beacons. The information our advertising partners may collect includes data about your visits to websites that participate in the relevant advertising networks, such as the pages or advertisements you view and the actions you take on the websites. This data collection takes place both on our Site and on third-party websites that participate in the ad networks.

Provided that a digital advertising services company participates in industry-developed programs designed to provide consumers choices about whether to receive targeted advertising, you may opt out of ad network interest-based advertising generally through the Network Advertising Initiative website or by visiting http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ (web-based advertising) or http://www.aboutads.info/appchoices (for mobile advertising). To learn more, please visit the websites operated by the Network Advertising Initiative and Digital Advertising Alliance at www.networkadvertising.org/choices. If we use such digital advertising service providers in our marketing efforts, opting-out using those tools does not mean that you will stop receiving ads from us. It means that you still stop receiving ads from us that have been targeted to you based on your visits and browsing activity across websites over time.

How Information is Used

We may use the information we collect for any of the following purposes:

to provide the Site to you and to improve the Site;
to provide, operate, improve, and personalize the products and services we offer, and to give each user a more consistent and personalized experience when interacting with us;

to register your account;
to determine trends in consumption of our products and determine where our products may be in demand;
to provide you with information about products and services that we may provide that we think may be of interest to you;
to help deliver advertisements that are relevant to you and your interests and measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns;
to provide you with updates about our products and services and with transactional information;

for customer service and/or support, security (including for authentication purposes), to detect fraud or illegal activities, and for archival and backup purposes in connection with the provision of the Site;
for analytics purposes;
to fulfil your requests, such as those related to ordering and payment;
to communicate with you, including through the chat function on the Site;
to enforce our Privacy Policy or other applicable policies;

to comply with applicable laws or respond to a subpoena, regulation, binding order of a data protection agency, legal process, governmental request or other legal or regulatory process;
to enforce our rights, protect our property or protect the rights, property or safety of others;
as needed to support external auditing, compliance and corporate governance functions.

Sharing of Information

With Third Party Service Providers Performing Services on Our Behalf. We may share your personal information with our service providers to perform the functions for which we engage them. For example, we may use third parties to host the Site or assist us in providing functionality on the Site, provide analytics on the Site, provide a chat function on the Site, provide marketing and advertising services for us, to send out emails on our behalf or process payments.
With Our Affiliates and Subsidiaries. We may share your information with our family of brands and corporate affiliates (e.g., parent company, sister companies, subsidiaries, joint ventures or companies under common control) for our internal business purposes. However, if we do so, their use and disclosure of your personal information will be subject to this Privacy Policy.
For Legal Purposes. We also may share information that we collect from users as needed to enforce our rights, protect our property or protect the rights, property or safety of others, or as needed to support external auditing, compliance and corporate governance functions. We will disclose personal information as we deem necessary to respond to a subpoena, regulation, binding order of a data protection agency, legal process, governmental request or other legal or regulatory process. We may also share personal information as required to pursue available remedies or limit damages we may sustain. 
Changes of Control. We reserve the right to transfer or assign the information that we have collected from users in connection with a corporate transaction, such as a divestiture, merger, consolidation, or asset sale, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy.

Company does not share your personal information with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes.

Your Rights and Choices

By providing your phone number and clicking submit online, you agree to our Privacy Policy and authorize us to make or initiate sales calls, text messages and prerecorded voicemails to that phone number using an automated system. Your agreement is not a condition of purchasing any products, goods or services and you may elect to do business with us over the phone. Message & data rates may apply.

You may opt out of receiving promotional e-mails and text messages from us by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in any such messages. Please note that if you opt out of receiving promotional messages from us, this does not impact other transactional and administrative messages which you will continue to receive (such as emails relating to billing and payment information or changes to this Privacy Policy). If you have registered for an account with us, you may delete the account at any time by contacting us at legal@togetherwork.com.

If you have an account with us, you may access or modify some of your information and/or modify your preferences through your account or by contacting us at legal@togetherwork.com

Australia Residents

If you are an Australian resident, you have the rights to request access to and correct your personal information under Australia’s Privacy Act 1988 (“Privacy Act”). You may access or modify your information through your account or by contacting us at legal@togetherwork.com.

If you have reason to believe that we have not complied with our obligations under the Privacy Act in relation to your personal information, please contact us at legal@togetherwork.com. We will investigate all complaints and respond to you as soon as practicable.

We are based in the U.S. If you are accessing the Site or we collect your information in the course of providing our products and services, the information may be transferred to, processed, stored, and used in the U.S. Data protection laws in the U.S. may be different from those of Australia. Your use of the Site or provision of any information therefore constitutes your consent to the transfer to and from, processing, usage, sharing, and storage of information about you in the U.S. and other jurisdictions as set out in this Privacy Policy.

Links to External Websites / Online Services

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites and/or online services. Any access to and use of such third-party websites and/or online services is not governed by this Privacy Policy, but is instead governed by the privacy policies of those third parties, and we are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites and/or online services.

Some aspects of the Site may allow you to interface with social media, such as Facebook or Google Plus. We will attempt to identify these aspects of the Site to you, for example, by identifying them with the applicable third-party logos or trade names. By using these interfaces, you will allow us to access information about you from those other online services, including information and other content that you submit to those online services. If you interface with the Site through your social media account, we may contact you or enable you to share your experience and content via your social media account, which information may be publicly viewed by other users of those services. For a description on how such social media services and other third-party platforms, plug-ins, integrations, and applications handle your information, please refer to their respective privacy policies and terms of use, which may permit you to modify your privacy settings with that service or platform.

Security

Company uses reasonable security measures designed to prevent unauthorized intrusion to the Site and the alteration, acquisition or misuse of personal information. However, the security of information transmitted through the Internet can never be guaranteed. We are not responsible for any interception or interruption of any communications through the Internet or for changes to or losses of data. Users of the Site are responsible for maintaining the security of any password, user ID or other form of authentication involved in obtaining access to password protected or secure areas of any of our Site. In order to protect us, you and your data, we may suspend your use of the Site, without notice if any breach of security is suspected. Access to and use of password protected and/or secure areas of the Site are restricted to authorized users only. Unauthorized access to such areas is prohibited.

Do Not Track

Our Site does not currently take any action when it receives a Do Not Track request. Do Not Track is a privacy preference that you can set in your web browser to indicate that you do not want certain information about your webpage visits collected across websites when you have not interacted with that service on the page. For details, including how to turn on Do Not Track, visit www.donottrack.us.

Children

We do not knowingly collect or maintain personal information from any person under the age of eighteen. No parts of our Site are directed to or designed to attract anyone under the age of eighteen.

Contact Information; Questions and Changes in Information

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or to request changes to your personal information, please contact us at legal@togetherwork.com.

Notification of Changes

Any changes to our Privacy Policy will be posted to this page so users are always aware of the information we collect and how we use it. Accordingly, please refer back to this Privacy Policy frequently as it may change.

Tue, October 3 2023
18 Tishrei 5784

Insight from Rabbi Mansour

During the month of elul we are to prepare ourselves for the period of the High Holidays, which begins with Rosh Hashana, continues with Yom Kippur, and reaches its culmination on Hoshana Rabba, when the final judgment is rendered. It was on Rosh Chodesh elul when Moshe ascended Mount Sinai to beseech the Almighty to forgive Benei Yisrael for the grave sin of the golden calf. Forty days later, on Yom Kippur, God announced His forgiveness. Thus, this forty-day period has traditionally been a time of forgiveness, when God is – if we are allowed to say such a thing – in a "forgiving mood." It behooves us to take advantage of this unique period and do what we can to earn atonement for the wrongs we committed during the year.

It is proper to read works of Musar during the month of elul. One recommended book is "Sha'arei Teshuva," the classic work by Rabbenu Yona (Spain, 1180-1263) describing the process of Teshuva. Other recommended works include Rabbenu Yona's famous letter about repentance known as "Iggeret Ha-Teshuva," and the Rambam's Hilchot Teshuva, which presents the various requirements of Teshuva. Another work, "Orchot Chayim," is divided into thirty sections, which many have the practice of studying on the thirty days of elul. Some also have the practice to read "Tikunei Ha-Zohar," a collection of inspirational passages from the Zohar (the basic text of Kabbala). The Kabbalists taught that the reading of this work has the capacity to cleanse and purify one's soul even if he does not understand the material he reads.

One must be particularly diligent during the month of elul to recite each night "Keri'at Shema Al Ha'mita" before he goes to sleep. He should include the "Ana" prayer, petitioning God for forgiveness for whatever wrongs he may have committed over the course of that day.

One of the Berachot in the Amida service is that of "Hashivenu," in which we ask God to help us perform Teshuva. During the month of elul, it is proper to insert in this blessing the names of people who have strayed from the proper path of observance, before the concluding blessing "Baruch Ata Hashem Ha'rotzeh Be'tshuva."

Many people have the custom to have their Tefillin and Mezuzot checked during the month of elul. According to strict Halacha, a person is required to have his Mezuzot checked only twice in seven years, and Tefillin worn every day do not require checking at all. Nevertheless, there are those who make a point of having their Tefillin and Mezuzot checked during elul.

Although one must ensure to recite Birkat Ha'levana (the blessing over the moon) every month, the Rabbis admonish us to be particularly diligent with regard to Birkat Ha'levana for the month of elul.

In general, one must raise his level of observance during the month of elul in preparation for the High Holidays, and in the merit of our efforts we should be deserving of a year of peace and happiness for ourselves, our families and our community, Amen.
1)It is proper during the month of elul to include in the heading of every personal letter a wish for a good year, such as “Le’shana Toba Tikateb” (“May you be inscribed for a good year”). Today, when people send dozens of emails every day, we might want to consider having such a greeting automatically appear at the top of our email correspondences during the month of elul, in accordance with this Halacha.

There is also a custom among especially righteous Jews to have their Tefillin and Mezuzot checked each year during elul. According to the strict Halacha, Mezuzot must be checked once every three-and-a-half years. Even though the Mezuzot were confirmed valid when they were purchased, and they remained untouched on the doorpost inside a case ever since, they still require checking once every three-and-a-half years. (An advisable way to remember to check the Mezuzot is to check them every leap year.) However, there is a laudable practice on the level of Midat Hasidut (an extra measure of piety) to have the Mezuzot checked each year during the month of elul.

As for Tefillin, one is not required, according to strict Halacha, to have his Tefillin checked at all. Tefillin have a presumed status (“Hazaka”) of validity once they were confirmed valid at the time of purchase, and thus do not require checking. The Tefillin produced today are written on “Gasot,” thick leather, which is far more durable than the thin “Dakot” parchment used long ago. We may therefore presume the validity of our Tefillin even without periodically checking them. The only time one must check his Tefillin according to Halacha is if he treated them negligently, such as if he wore them with wet hair, which could ruin the parchment, or if he left his Tefillin inside his car on a hot day. In such cases, one must have his Tefillin checked to ensure that they were not damaged. Otherwise, Tefillin do not require checking. Nevertheless, there is a custom on the level of Midat Hasidut to have one’s Tefillin checked each year during the month of elul as part of our spiritual preparations for Rosh Hashanah.

Summary: It is proper to include a wish for a good year in the heading of written correspondence (including email) during elul. Strictly speaking, Mezuzot must be checked only once every three-and-a-half years, and Tefillin do not require checking at all (unless they were treated negligently). Nevertheless, there is a laudable practice to have one’s Tefillin and Mezuzot checked each year during elul.

2)Rosh Hashana- Men Dipping In Mikveh On Erev Rosh Hashana

The Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chayim of Baghdad, 1833-1909), in Parashat Nitzavim, discusses the widespread custom that men immerse in a Mikveh on Erev Rosh Hashanah in order to be Tahor (ritually pure) on the Day of Judgment. Immersion before Rosh Hashanah is particularly important for men with Tum'at Keri (the status of ritual impurity that results from a semenal emission). The Ben Ish Chai adds that before immersing in a Mikveh, a man must ensure to comb any knots in his hair and remove all traces of dirt from his entire body, including under the fingernails. In order for the immersion to be effective in eliminating Tum'a, no substance may come in between the body and the water. Just as a woman must untangle the knots in her hair and thoroughly cleanse herself before immersing to rid herself of her Nidda status, so must men undergo this process before immersing on Erev Rosh Hashanah.

However, Chacham Ovadia Yosef, in his work Halichot Olam, claims that the Ben Ish Chai's ruling is overly stringent. Halacha follows the view that one may pray and study Torah in a state of ritual impurity, and it is only a "Midat Chasidut" – an additional level of piety – to immerse before prayer or study. Therefore, since this immersion is altogether on the level of "Midat Chasidut," a man is not required to prepare his body for immersion on Erev Rosh Hashanah as a woman must upon completing her Nidda period. Thus, one need not remove his contact lenses or untangle his knots before immersing on Erev Rosh Hashanah.

What is the deeper meaning behind this practice of immersing on Erev Rosh Hashanah?
A human being originates in the mother's womb, where he is surrounded on all sides by water. (As we know, one of the stages of childbirth is the "breaking of the water," when the water surrounding the fetus exists the woman's body to allow for the child's delivery.) Immersing in a Mikveh likely serves as a reenactment, of sorts, of man's initial emergence into the world. As part of the process of Teshuva (repentance), a person returns to the water, to his origin and source, to the initial state of pristine purity in which he was first created, representing his efforts to spiritually cleanse himself and become pure like he had been at birth.

This symbolism takes on even greater significance on the festival of Rosh Hashanah, which we describe in our liturgy as "Harat Olam" – the day of the world's creation. In truth, the world came into existence one week earlier, on the 25th day of elul. Rosh Hashanah marks the day when man was created, and it is therefore appropriate as part of the commemoration of man's emergence to immerse in a Mikveh, symbolizing our efforts to return to our roots and our initial state of purity through the process of Teshuva.

Summary: It is proper for a man to immerse in a Mikveh on Erev Rosh Hashanah, which symbolizes the emergence of the human being from the womb in a state of pristine purity. Before this immersion, a man is not required to undergo the thorough process of cleaning his body and removing foreign substances such as contact lenses, as is required of a woman who immerses to divest herself of her Nidda status.

3)Earning Atonement Through Repentance

In the opening chapter of his Hilchot Teshuva, the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Maimonides, Spain-Egypt, 1135-1204) establishes the Torah obligation of verbal confession. He writes that anybody who commits a transgression, regardless of its severity and whether he transgressed willfully or unintentionally, must verbally confess his sin as part of the process of Teshuva (repentance). It does not suffice to merely acknowledge in one's mind that he has acted wrongly; he must verbally declare that he has sinned, specify the precise sin he committed, and express his remorse, his feeling of shame, and his resolve never to repeat the given offense.

The Rambam adds that this obligation applies even in contexts where one is required to undertake other measures to rectify the wrong he has committed. In the times of the Bet Ha'mikdash, when sinners in certain situations were required to offer an atonement sacrifice, the sacrifice did not bring atonement in the absence of Teshuva. Only if the individual repented and verbally confessed as he brought the sacrificial offering did the offering have the capacity to earn him atonement. What more, even when the court would administer capital punishment, the sinner's death did not earn him atonement without repentance. Likewise, if a person committed an offense against his fellow that requires monetary compensation, he does not achieve atonement unless he performs sincere Teshuva.

During the times of the Bet Ha'mikdash, the Rambam adds, the Se'ir Ha'mishtale'ah – the goat sent into the wilderness as part of the annual Yom Kippur service – atoned for all of Benei Yisrael's sins. Even if a sinner did not repent, he earns atonement through the Se'ir Ha'mishtale'ah for "minor" transgressions – namely, transgressions that are not punishable by capital punishment of Karet (eternal excision from the Jewish people). For this reason, before the Kohen Gadol would send the goat away into the wilderness, he would place his hands upon it and declare confession on behalf of all of Israel's sins. So significant was the Se'ir Ha'mishtale'ah ritual that it atoned for certain transgressions even in the absence of Teshuva.

Nowadays, the Rambam adds, when we do not have a Mikdash and thus the Se'ir Ha'mishtale'ah ritual is not performed, we rely solely on Teshuva for earning atonement, and repentance atones for all sins. The Rambam emphasizes that even if a person lived his entire life in sin and then repented, nothing of his wrongdoing remains on his record. This power of Teshuva should encourage and inspire us as we work towards performing Teshuva during the month of elul. Regardless of what we have done and how grievously we have sinned, we are able to "delete" all our misdeeds by performing sincere and genuine Teshuva.
3)The Custom to Perform Hatarat Nedarim Before the Month of Elul

Many congregations in the Syrian community have the custom to perform a congregational Hatarat Nedarim (annulment of vows) in the synagogue on the Mosa’eh Shabbat after Tisha B’Ab, or the Mosa’eh Shabbat preceding Rosh Hodesh elul. It should be noted, however, that this is not the original custom that was observed in Halab (Aleppo, Syria). The work Derech Eretz, which documents the religious customs of the great community of Aleppo, writes (listen to audio recording for precise citation) that the original custom was to perform the communal Hatarat Nedarim on Ereb Rosh Hodesh elul, regardless of what day of the week it was. The entire community – men, women and children – would come to the synagogue on that day for the Hatarat Nedarim to absolve any vows that were taken in preparation for the holidays. Later, the custom changed, and the communities began performing the congregational Hatarat Nedarim earlier, on 19 Ab, in the morning. (The Hatarat Nedarim was made again on Ereb Rosh Hashanah and on Ereb Yom Kippur.) At some point the custom changed again, as it was difficult for families to come to the synagogue in the morning, and they began doing the Hatarat Nedarim on the night of 19 Ab, after the Arbit prayer.

The common practice here in the United States, where the Hatarat Nedarim is performed on Mosa’eh Shabbat, began on these shores as a matter of convenience, as people were anyway in the synagogue at the end of Shabbat. This is not how it was done back in Aleppo, and therefore in our synagogue we perform the congregational Hatarat Nedarim on 19 Ab, in accordance with the practice observed by our ancestors in Syria.
Rabbi Mansour

Tue, October 3 2023 18 Tishrei 5784