In Israel, where authorities have identified more than 340,000 coronavirus infections, including 2,890 deaths, since the start of the pandemic, gatherings are currently limited to 10 people indoors and 20 outdoors.
This did not prevent, this Thursday, thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews from participating in the funeral of a rabbi in Jerusalem, thus defying the rules of physical distancing in force to fight against the coronavirus.
The police had distributed sanitary masks / AFP / MENAHEM KAHANA
Rabbi Aaron Chadash, who died on Thursday at the age of 90 from Covid-19, was one of the spiritual leaders of the prestigious yeshiva (talmudic school) of Mir, the largest in Israel.
This religious establishment, located in Jerusalem, welcomes thousands of students from Israel and around the world.
No physical distancing
In the very dense crowd of ultra-Orthodox who followed the funeral procession, we could see that the faces were covered by sanitary masks distributed by the police.
March during the trip between the district of Méa Shéarim and the large Har Hamenouchot cemetery on the outskirts of Jerusalem, the rules of physical distancing were clearly not respected, as an AFP journalist observed.
For many Israelis, the haredim ("fearing God" in Hebrew) are largely responsible for the spread of the virus in the country, which in September recorded one of the highest rates of infection in the world before realizing a slowdown.
Some rabbis had called on their followers not to close the Talmudic schools during the two confinements, established in the spring and in September, to continue studying religious texts, despite the sanitary instructions.
On November 8, it was an XXL Orthodox Jewish wedding, again bringing together thousands of people, which took place without a barrier gesture in a Brooklyn synagogue.
Most of the participants did not wear a mask.
"It is illegal and also disrespectful to the people of New York," responded State Governor Andrew Cuomo.
A huge mask-free hassidic wedding with thousands of guests was organized in New York by word-of-mouth alone, without any press or government officials finding out beforehand.
Read the full details at https://t.co/ARWQVToliW pic.twitter.com/MfDvf8d1Ob
- The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) November 22, 2020