Ahead of COVID-19 lockdown, Health Ministry urges haredim to pray outside

• Published date: 07 January 2021
• Author: JEREMY SHARON
• Date: 07 January 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The new lockdown prohibits indoor gatherings of more than five people, meaning that communal Jewish prayer services, which require a quorum of 10 men, are forbidden from taking place in synagogues.

But the regulations do allow a maximum of 10 people to gather outdoors, so the Health Ministry has renewed its campaign for prayer services in the open air.

Outdoor prayer services have become a regular feature of religious life during the pandemic, including in the haredi community, although large components within that community have disregarded the regulations and have continued to pray indoors as well.

Regulations prohibiting the gathering of more than 20 people for communal prayers were increasingly flouted during the last shutdown, as were restrictions on other forms of gatherings, including weddings.

The new campaign, including posters and notices being disseminated in the ultra-Orthodox media and neighborhoods, mentions specifically the highly contagious new variant of COVID-19, the so-called "British mutation," and the high rate of infection it can cause.

"Listen to the great rabbis who have called [on the public] to obey the regulations of the Health Ministry, take advantage of the [current] pleasant weather and pray in open spaces," reads one advertisement.

On Monday, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, the two leading rabbis of the Ashkenazi, non-hassidic ultra-Orthodox community, issued a joint statement calling on the haredi...