Local authorities provided barbecues for courtyards, due to the expected fire • Senior rabbis: "Close synagogues" • Minister Deri: "Prayers infected others on Rosh Hashanah"
Outdoors: Closed or Not Closed in Yom Kippur - Synagogues prepare for the doomsday scenario, literally, and open-air prayers on the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
It is not clear exactly how this will be done in light of the heavy heat that is expected, but if it is decided to ban the opening of synagogues - there will not be many choices left.
Prime Minister Netanyahu on the need to tighten restrictions
Already now various municipalities and councils have begun to provide barbecues for courtyards.
At the same time, the regular and improvised collectors work to divide the worshipers into capsules.
The goal is to allow anyone who wants to pray in the minyan to do so, while maintaining the strict restrictions that are planned.
However, the fact that only a few days before Yom Kippur, the Corona cabinet has not yet made any decisions or instructed the synagogues on how to proceed - makes things difficult.
Usually, the arrangement of the chairs and places in the Yom Kippur prayers is determined close to a month in advance - and for a fee, while this time the Gabayim have to deal with heavy uncertainty.
It should be noted that in many synagogues, short prayers were held outside the buildings on Rosh Hashanah, so they are also prepared for such prayers on Yom Kippur.
"The plague is raging"
Some rabbis announced yesterday that they are in favor of closing synagogues in Yom Kippur, in terms of mental supervision.
In religious Zionism there is consensus on the issue, between conservatives and liberals.
Among the ultra-Orthodox, opinions are divided, with Lithuanians and Hasidim not intending to align with this call, while Sephardic ultra-Orthodox rabbis think otherwise, including Rabbi David Yosef.
The rabbi, a senior Shas rabbi, did not wait for the cabinet's decision, and issued a call to the public to close the synagogues immediately. "The plague is raging," he clarified in a video he published.
Even on Yom Kippur, we must close the synagogues. "
The Chief Rabbi of Israel, David Lau, made it clear that he would agree to the government's directives, despite his opposition to allowing demonstrations.
While ministers discussed, municipalities and councils across the country voted with their feet.
After the Tzohar organization announced on Tuesday a recommendation to close the synagogues in favor of open-air prayer, it was decided in the city where the Tzohar chairman, Rabbi David Satyu, serves as rabbi of the city, to close all the synagogues.
Kibbutzim belonging to the religious kibbutz movement also announced that they would not hold prayers inside buildings.
The head of the Benjamin Council, Israel Ganz, called on his residents to give it up.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri addressed these issues at length yesterday in an interview with Kol Chai radio.
He admitted that on Rosh Hashanah "there were a lot of patients who came to synagogues when they were sick and did not know they were like that. But they managed to infect many while praying. "I'm just one finger in the government. But how can you explain to the public that there is a full closure, while you see people celebrating at the beach and having crowded meals on Balfour Street."
