According to the plan that was built with the NSC, the synagogues will only host regular worshipers • Public sanctity will not be used • Outline requires government approval

Nearly two months have passed since the entrance to the synagogues, due to the spread of the Corona virus. Today (Sunday), following the publication of the outline for the opening of religious institutions in "Israel Today" over the weekend, a discussion was held at the National Security Council, which set parameters for the opening of the synagogues. However, it should be noted that the outline that should allow the complexes to be opened for prayer still needs government approval.

Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon, newsenders, Paz Bar

According to the outline, presented by Minister Aryeh Deri and representatives of the synagogues, permanent groups of worshipers with regular seating will be appointed. The chairs will be arranged so that there is at least one chair space between worshiper and worshiper. Prayers with occasional worshipers inside a closed compound will not be possible, and they will have to continue to pray outside the synagogues.

Contrary to routine, public sacred objects will not be allowed, but each person will have to bring with him an arrangement, Pentateuch, prayer shawl and tefillin. Access to public sacred objects, such as Torah scrolls, will be restricted to a limited number of worshipers. In addition, it has been determined that a thorough cleaning of the prayer houses, including handrails and handles, must be performed, and a hand-washing position and disinfectant position should be provided at each entrance to the synagogue. Worshipers will be asked to wear masks throughout the prayer and keep two meters from each other. If a Corona patient is found, worshipers must at the same time enter a two-week isolation.

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The discussion at the National Security Council was led by representatives of the NSC and the Ministry of Health, as well as attended by the synagogue's director general, Rabbi Shmuel Slotki, who presented the outline that was first published in "Israel Today". Rabbi Slotki noted that members of the organization acknowledge the attempts "to find a suitable and appropriate formula for the careful opening of the synagogues very soon.

Synagogues across the country have been closed for two months under the orders of the Ministry of Health and the Government, and some of them have previously been instructed by rabbis and mayors, in the light of the realization that a significant proportion of infections in the religious and ultra-Orthodox public began in the synagogues. However, following the publication in Israel Today, criticism was raised that other institutions were being opened, while religious institutions remained closed. 

Rabbi David Fallah Chairman Rabbi David Netanyahu today sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that "the synagogues are essential to the public who pray for them, and every Saturday about 2 million citizens visit the synagogues as well as theaters and sports grounds. I do not press to allow them to return to the synagogues, but I would like to address a huge accumulation of synagogue for him.