But heavy in Chabad movement • 88-year-old Rabbi Yehuda Leib Gruner, who served for 40 years as the Lubavitcher Rebbe's secretary, passed away after contracting the virus

One of the people closest to the Lubavitcher Rebbe died of Corona. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Gruner, a Chabad devotee who for 40 years served as the secretary of the movement's leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson - passed away last night (Tuesday) after contracting the deadly virus. His condition deteriorated until he passed away.

The well-known secretary of the Rebbe was responsible, inter alia, for the transfer of letters between the Chabad leader and his followers, and for years served as the Rebbe's assistant in the movement's official book publishing company - "KWAT". The Chabad Info website stated that his passing was a "huge loss." Rabbi Gruner left behind a wife and seven children.

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• "Send Matzah in a Protected manner": This is how Chabad houses around the world deal with the Corona

In the United States, at least 250 Jews have died from the plague. Following the expansion of the Corona, it was decided during the last March, for the first time in history, to close the 770 Complex, the main building of the World Chabad Hasidic in Brooklyn, New York, from which the late Lubavitcher Rebbe operated. The decision was made to prevent exposure to the virus among the devotees.

A few weeks ago, 65 Chabad devotees arrived in Israel from Brooklyn who were discovered to be isolated in the Dan hotel in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, in mid-March, Chabad emissary to Paris, 64-year-old Rabbi Masoud Tubul, who for more than 40 years ran the Beit Hanna building for girls in the French capital, where more than 2,000 students are studying.