Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews in fight over new social distancing regulations

AFP

Israeli police with face masks and batons and backed by surveillance helicopters have stepped up patrols of ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods that became coronavirus hotspots.

This week has seen tense altercations, and a few rabbis have admitted that their communities, where prayer and scripture study are traditionally communal, aren't observing new social distancing regulations.

A few days ago in Bnei Brak, a city near Tel Aviv with a largely ultra-Orthodox population, many faithful crowded together to attend the funeral of prominent rabbi Tzi Shenkar.

They flouted pandemic emergency rules limiting attendance at funerals to twenty people, who must keep a distance of a minimum of two metres (six feet) from each other .

The orders have closed places of worship of all faiths.

The mass funeral brought wide condemnation, including from some high-profile members of the ultra-Orthodox community.

Eliyahu Sorkin, head of medical care at Bnei Brak's Mayanei Yeshua hospital and himself ultra-Orthodox, called the breach of health regulations "criminal".

Influential rabbi Chaim Kanievsky condemned the mass event and Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, also ultra-Orthodox, even said he had asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to impose a blockade on the town .

"The situation there's horrific," the minister said in an interview with Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot.

"Every day there's fear of losing lives."

- 'Missed the boat' -

The government was said to be considering the blockade request.

In Jerusalem, Chief Rabbi David Lau made a radio appeal to the observant to "inform" the authorities of these they see breaking the principles .

Litzman's ministry has thus far confirmed quite 4,800 cases of COVID-19 infection nationwide since the primary recorded instance in Israel, in February.

Since then 17 people have died and quite 160 have recovered, consistent with data released Tuesday.

Media reports say that half the country's sick are ultra-Orthodox, although they create up only around 10 percent of the population.

Bnei Brak, where the mayor himself tested positive for COVID-19, runs second within the number of confirmed cases after Jerusalem.

The Celestial City is that the heart of the Orthodox world, centred around the densely-populated Mea Sharim neighbourhood which has largely become a no-go zone for outsiders.

There and in other ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods, police helicopters hover over lanes, courtyards and alleys, trying to find men gathering for outdoor prayer now that synagogues are locked down.

Police said officers on the bottom had handed out fines to violators on Monday.

Police in Mea Sharim arrested ultra-Orthodox men who protested the closure of a synagogue there, an AFP photographer witnessed.

Video shows a politician briefing his squad to comb the world and make sure that all places of prayer were closed, while some objectors shouted "Nazis".

Rabbi Henri Kahn told AFP that the ultra-Orthodox world had "missed the boat" in anti-virus measures.

"We didn't want to ascertain ," he said.

In Bnei Brak especially , some synagogues and seminaries stayed open well after the lockdown orders given by the authorities.

- No TV, no internet -

Motti Ravid, director of the Mayanei Yeshua hospital there, expects a pointy rise within the number of ultra-Orthodox who become infected.

He says that with internet and tv prohibited within the community on religious grounds, government directives took an extended time to filter through.

Even for those using mobile phones, access to the web and most instant messengers is blocked, shutting them faraway from the most means of communication used now by the health ministry.

Kahn also said that the govt measures directly clashed with Jewish religious obligations, like the need for each man to wish 3 times each day during a synagogue with nine others.

Next week is that the major Jewish holiday of Passover, a feast also referred to as the festival of freedom which celebrates the biblical Exodus from Egypt.

At its centre is feasting and reciting blessings with the relatives .

Many now wonder the way to observe the traditional traditions at a time of social distancing, while officials fear mass breaches of the security regulations.

As the holiday nears, said health ministry director general Moshe Bar Siman Tov, "we are afraid that folks will gather on Passover despite the continued ban, which things will worsen."

Current Breaking News Online