Senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis call for vigilance over COVID-19 regulations

The ultra-Orthodox rabbinic leadership was slow to order synagogues, yeshivas and schools to close, a factor some believe contributed to the high infection rate in the community in the first wave.

By JEREMY SHARON
An Orthodox Jewish man wears a mask while talking on a cellphone in the Orthodox Jewish community of the Borough Park neighborhood during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., April 30, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS)
An Orthodox Jewish man wears a mask while talking on a cellphone in the Orthodox Jewish community of the Borough Park neighborhood during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., April 30, 2020.
(photo credit: REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS)
Several senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis have called on their communities to remain vigilant in their observance of regulations pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, in light of the steep rise in infection rates, including in ultra-Orthodox community.
At the beginning of the initial outbreak, the ultra-Orthodox rabbinic leadership, especially in the non-hassidic community, was slow to order synagogues, yeshivas and schools to close, a factor some believe contributed to the high infection rate in the community in the first wave. 
On Tuesday however, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the leading figure in the Ashkenazi, non-hassidic ultra-Orthodox community, issued a statement calling on people not to become lax in protecting public health.
“Since the coronavirus has been made more severe by Heaven, we must certainly awaken and strengthen ourselves in what the heart knows is the will of its soul, specifically to protect the holiness of our synagogues and study halls,” wrote Kanievsky.
“We must also remember that at this time the commandment upon us is to protect health as strictly as possible and God forbid to become relaxed about this.”
Meanwhile, Rabbi Meir Mazuz, a senior ultra-Orthodox Sephardi leader, decried what he said was people in the community trivializing the pandemic.
“People are disparaging the [danger of] coronavirus, and we must not do this, especially in places which observe Torah and religious commandments,” said the rabbi.
“They are committing a sin against themselves and against others and against God, who commanded us to greatly protect our lives,” saying that someone who does not obey health guidelines also desecrates the name of God as well as endangers himself and others.
He also insisted that the closure imposed on the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad was justified due to the rate of infection there, and said those complaining of hate and discrimination against the ultra-Orthodox it were “fools.”
And one of the most senior rabbis in the radical Jerusalem Faction grouping, Rabbi Baruch Shmuel Deutsch, was critical of those in his community who have refused to wear masks.
The Jerusalem Faction is a splinter group from the mainstream ultra-Orthodox community and has become highly antagonistic to state authority since its split in 2013, including opposing social-distancing during the current epidemic.
In a recent speech in Modi'in Illit, reported by the Kicker Shabbat website, Deutsch criticized the politicization of the COVID-19 regulations and opined that the late leader of the Jerusalem Faction, Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, would have backed the decision of other rabbis not to open yeshivas.
He also criticized people for not wearing masks.
“I don’t see anyone wearing masks. Someone should stand up and explain what is preventing people from wearing masks,” he demanded.
“It is absolutely awful. It’s childish.”