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Synagogues oppose closure on Yom Kippur: "Allow demonstrations but forbid prayers?"

Many Gabayim joined the position of the Chief Rabbi, who made it clear that the public would not obey the ban on visiting the houses of worship as long as there was no enforcement of other congregations.

Bnei Brak explained that the closure is possible on Sukkot, "but on the condition that everything be closed."

In Jerusalem, the Great Synagogue closed its gates for the first time in 62 years

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• Corona virus

• Synagogues

• Yom Kippur

Yaki Adamkar

Tuesday, 22 September 2020, 15:36

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In the video: The Great Synagogue in Jerusalem is closed on holidays due to the Corona closure (Photo: AP)

Gabay of many synagogues warned today (Tuesday) that if the Corona cabinet accepts Prof. Roni Gamzo's recommendation to close the synagogues on Yom Kippur, the public will not listen.

In synagogues in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, the words of Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau joined in, protesting that prayer houses would be closed while demonstrations across the country continued.

However, the Great Synagogue in the capital does not share the position, and the gates of the place were closed for the first time since 1958 following the spread of the corona.

Among those who claim that the government will not be able to implement Gamzo's recommendation before Yom Kippur is Avraham Cohen, the Gabay of the Musioff Synagogue in the Bukharan neighborhood of Jerusalem.

In a conversation with Walla!

NEWS Cohen explained that in the synagogue under his management, thousands of people pray every day that "the police will not be able to enforce it either. Millions of people - ultra-Orthodox, religious, traditional and secular - come to the synagogue on Yom Kippur, to ban them? It will not apply."

According to Cohen, "It will only lead to a bad atmosphere and friction. The government allows demonstrations but wants to ban prayers? Getting to the synagogue is not a luxury. Do not forbid things that you can not achieve its goal in advance. We should all be anxious about our health but decision makers should conduct That is very wise. "

More on Walla!

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Prayer in a synagogue in Mea Shearim on New Year's Eve (Photo: Yonatan Zindel, Flash 90)

Yitzhak Sheinin, the Gabay of the Itzkovich Synagogue in Bnei Brak, also claimed that "the only chance that it will succeed, and then only by 50%, is only if there are no other gatherings in those days."

"This includes restaurants, demonstrations or any other gathering," he said.

The synagogue run by Sheinin has been closed most of the time recently, but he claims that if the government makes such a decision, synagogues will not be closed.

"People believe that through prayer on Yom Kippur, they are able to remove the corona from our lives. Do you want to take that prayer away from them? You have to be a big idiot or a big fool to make such a decision," he said.

However, Sheinin believes that closing synagogues on the eve of Sukkot is a "more realistic option," in his words.

"But even on the condition that everything is closed, otherwise it will not work."

More on Walla!

NEWS

After a threat of blue and white: Netanyahu prevented Ohana from presenting a position in support of restricting demonstrations

To the full article

"Do you want to take the prayer from them?"

Slichot at the Western Wall, 2018 (Photo: Reuven Castro)

In the first wave of the spread of the corona virus, the government decided to completely close the synagogues, and the ultra-Orthodox and religious public held prayer quorums in open space and kept the guidelines.

The decision was also backed by the spiritual leadership, and among other things, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis, ordered a ban on prayers in the open space due to an increase in high morbidity.

Now, the assessment among government officials that such a decision will not be made in the same attitude, both in light of the holiday season but also due to the holding of additional gatherings such as demonstrations.

The person who made this claim today is Rabbi Lau.

While talking to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, Rabbi Lau made it clear to them that closing the synagogue is not possible while "there is no enforcement of gatherings in other matters."

He said that "people will not obey," referring to the recent mass demonstrations near the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.

The position of Rabbi Lau was also joined by the chairman of the Constitution Committee in the Knesset, MK Yaakov Asher, who clarified that "canceling the outline of prayers and purchasing the needs of the holiday will undermine the hard-earned regulations and harm efforts to curb disease,"

More on Walla!

NEWS

Demonstrations bypass closure: Thousands of ultra-Orthodox protest across the country

To the full article

"Why do we have to look at the protesters?"

However, Zali Yaffe, the Gabay of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, announced on New Year's Eve that for the first time in 62 years, the synagogue will remain closed due to the plague.

Yaffa claimed in a conversation with Walla!

NEWS that "the words of the Chief Rabbi are a grave mistake. Why should we look at the protesters? It's not business. Either it's healthy or it's unhealthy and dangerous."

Yaffa explained that "if the government allows demonstrations and the demonstrators want to take risks, then should we also take risks?".

According to him, his decision to close the synagogue gates on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and during the holidays "proved itself".

Yaffa added that "a man came from abroad, he did not know that the synagogue was closed, he wanted to pray in it but at the height of the holiday - it turned out that he was ill in Corona.

How many people would go into solitary confinement because of him? "

"People will not obey."

Rabbi Lau (Photo: Noam Moskowitz)

The decision to close the synagogue "ruined my heart," in Yaffa's words.

"I had tears in my eyes. But you know what? It is necessary. To keep the people of Israel, to keep them healthy. 1,700 people participate in our closing prayer in the synagogue, it is an electrifying prayer, but if in the name of health we are forced to give it up - that is what we do."

However, Yaffa agreed that neighborhood synagogues that operate in an orderly manner that does not pose a high health risk can continue to operate, "It's all a matter of risk, with us the risk is great. It may be less elsewhere."

Praying in Bnei Brak during Passover closure, April (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The Itzkovich and Musioff synagogues are not the only test in the decision to close them. Closed Hasidic Hasidic communities did not give up mass prayers on Rosh Hashanah last year, despite the closure and restrictions. In the Belz and Vizhnitz chassidim, prayers were held with thousands of participants, contrary to the guidelines, and in other chassidic groups such as Gur, who are more strict in their instructions during the corona period, they held prayers with thousands of participants but under a pre-approved outline.

Most of the ultra-Orthodox and religious public adhered to the guidelines, and most synagogues held prayer quorums in open spaces. However, it is estimated that a sweeping ban on the opening of synagogues will encounter these communities indifferently, especially on Yom Kippur.

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