Jewish American Heritage Month

Where is God in the pandemic? – Opinion – The Daily Herald – Columbia, TN – Columbia Daily Herald

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

Pandemics, wars and natural catastrophes usually confront us with religious questions that are as old as religions themselves. Among them, where is God in all this mess? Or, why is God allowing such pain to come our way? We want to know; we need some answers and we wont stop until we get them. In these troubling times, we crave a measure of certainty.

But before I share with you a bit of my personal theology, let me tell you some of the things in which I do not believe. I dont believe, for example, that the current pandemic is a divine punishment. Not only that, I am deeply disappointed with those using the fears and anxieties created by the spread of COVID-19 as an excuse to lobby for their personal agendas. In the last few days I read about people saying that the pandemic is Gods punishment because we normalized homosexuality, because we continue to allow abortions in our country and because of the sinful nature of the West. I even learned about a pastor who is preaching that the coronavirus is spreading in synagogues because Jews denied Jesus, so that the remedy to the plague is to repent and embrace him as savior.

I have multiple issues with these discourses. First of all, they pretend to know Gods will, which to me comes very close to the highest form of hubris possible. Second, they portray a theological picture of God that may resemble some aspects of the biblical theology without taking into account the fact that the Bible is a book written 2,000 years ago. I may be able to understand why the Bible describes certain moments as divine punishments back in the day. What I cant condone is contemporary religious leaders using the same old tools to present a false sense of certainty that not only is incorrect but also alienates people, stigmatizes folks who may be already dealing with the virus and pushes for the restriction of rights of citizens of this nation.

I dont see God in the plague. As we learn how the world works, we should know that every now and then, viruses coming from animals can mutate and infect human beings. Thats not divine punishment but the laws of nature. The virus causing COVID-19 will kill many of us until a cure is found, something that we hope will happen in the upcoming months.

It is there, in the resilience and the tireless job of those who are trying to come up with a vaccine against the virus, that I see God. It is in their use of information, in their mapping of the viruss genome in record time and in the working together beyond borders for the greater good that I see God being manifested, as all of those scientists are becoming partners with God in creation. I see God in the first responders who are risking everything for the sake of other human beings. I see God in the hands and hearts of the physicians who are tending with care to those who are suffering the most.

Whether all these people believe in God or not is irrelevant, because the point here is to work hand in hand (or in these times, elbow to elbow) in bringing humanity to a better place. When that happens, God is closer to us. When we shine with our best light, we make room for God to be present in our midst. Not through punishments and pain but through love, empathy and compassion.

I am deeply thankful to these scientists, physicians and first responders, for all they are doing. I am proud of them and I am sure you are proud as well. So, if you like to pray, I hope youll pray with me so that God will continue to inspire them and strengthen them, as they continue to do heavenly work, as they do their best to save us and as they put themselves at risk for the sake of humanity. And, while you pray, please stay at home, so that you can help them while they do their jobs. If we keep a healthy physical distance for the time being, we will be able to take care of them and, in that way, we will also become partners with God in weathering this challenging storm.

We can do it. God is counting on us.

Rabbi Joshua Kullock has served as the Rabbi of the West End Synagogue in Nashville since 2013.

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Hampstead antisemitism: Man and woman arrested over offensive graffiti – Hampstead Highgate Express

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

PUBLISHED: 14:32 17 May 2020 | UPDATED: 18:23 17 May 2020

Sam Volpe

Antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on walls and doors in Hampstead on Saturday, December 28. A wall next to South Hampstead synagogue in Eton Road. Picture: Oliver Cooper

Oliver Cooper

A 26 year-old man and a 45-year old woman have been arrested in relation to the antisemitic graffiti daubed on a number of buildings in Hampstead and Belsize in December including on the walls of South Hampstead Synagogue.

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Police confirmed the duo had been arrested on May 14 on suspicion of a racially motivated hate crime.

Scotland Yard said: Police investigating a racially motivated hate crime in the Hampstead area have arrested two people.

They were released from custody on bail to return on a date in late May.

The incidents were reported to the Met at around 11.30pm on December 28.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting CAD 7282/28Dec or the independent charity Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The Community Safety Trust (CST), tweeted: We are very pleased that CSTs information has helped Police make two arrests regarding the disgraceful 9/11 antisemitic graffiti in Hampstead & Belsize Park late Dec 2019.

The CST is a Jewish organisation dedicated to helping UK Jews with security and antisemitism incidents.

The graffiti, discovered late on the evening of December 28 and in the morning of December 29, shocked the community.

A reference to an antisemitic trope about the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, was painted on Oddbins, the former Cafe Hampstead site, and a phone box in Rosslyn Hill.

The slurs were also painted over a phone box in Belsize Park and on a wall next to South Hampstead Synagogue in Eton Road.

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Now that Conservative Judaism is O.K. with livestreaming, how is it different from Reform? – Forward

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

Conservative and Reform Judaism the United States two biggest egalitarian denominations have been converging for decades. Now coronavirus has wiped out yet another difference between them.

Even before the pandemic, Reform communities had embraced streaming services. Conservative synagogues, however, mostly avoided it in order to keep technology from creeping into Shabbat observance.

Now the Conservative movement has ruled that streaming on Shabbat and holidays is allowed, and that one can fulfill ones obligations in prayer by following along with a service over Zoom.

There are many caveats in the decision, which the movement said was in the works before the pandemic. For instance, the video system cannot be set up on Shabbat or a holiday. It has to be already running, or turned on by a timer.

The announcement of the decision came as Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the leader of the Reform movement, said he was willing to consider merging part of his movements synagogue organization with the counterpart groups of other denominations a move that scholars have predicted for decades, and which they think could lead to a broader merging of the Jewish egalitarian community.

The two developments brought into sharp relief a question that is being confronted by Conservative and Reform congregations, which have increasingly cross-pollinated and drawn on the same sources of innovation in updating their liturgies and approach to prayer.

What are the remaining differences between the two movements now?

This is the defining issue that separates them. The Reform movement allows its rabbis to officiate interfaith weddings, while the Conservative movement does not. Only in 2018 did the Conservative movement lift a ban on its rabbis attendinginterfaith weddings.

Some Conservative rabbis have broken with the movement over interfaith marriage, and some have been expelled for officiating interfaith weddings. Its one of the few things that can still get you kicked out of the movement. Yet there are an increasing number who are pushing for the movement to officially allow rabbis to officiate these ceremonies.

In general, Conservative services have more Hebrew, and Reform services have more English. But this has changed over the years: Reform prayer books have included more Hebrew with each new edition, while Conservative synagogues continue to incorporate English translations of prayers or nondenominational worship texts in their services.

There are still minor differences in the texts the two movements use. Conservative synagogues often recite a fuller version of certain prayers than Reform ones, or pray entire services like the first service of Shabbat morning that Reform synagogues skip. For example, the Reform movement has updated the second blessing of the Amidah, the centerpiece of the Jewish prayer service. Instead of blessing God for being able to give life to the dead the original blessing that the Conservative movement still uses the Reform movement changed the language: Blessed are you God, for granting life to all things.

Conservative synagogues once completely forbade the playing of musical instruments during the service, while the Reform movement has consistently put music at the center of its worship, from church-style organs in classical Reform temples to the heyday of Debbie Friedman in the 1990s.

Now, Conservative synagogues have begun to embrace musical services, especially on Friday nights, during the Kabbalat Shabbat services, which have historically involved beautiful melodies.

The Reform movement considers someone a Jew if either of their parents is Jewish. The Conservative movement considers someone Jewish only if they have a Jewish mother. Both movements consider converts to be Jewish more on that below.

Approaches to conversion vary widely within each movement, but in general, some broad differences remain. Conservative rabbis are more likely to require that male converts undergo circumcision if they are not circumcised or hatafat dam, a ceremony in which a pinprick of blood is drawn from the foreskin area, to symbolize the classic circumcision ceremony. Reform Judaism does not require converts to undergo circumcision.

Still, some metropolitan areas have multi-denominational conversion panels, for which member rabbis agree to adhere to a uniform conversion process regardless of their movement or affiliation.

Conservative Jews and Conservative institutions are generally more likely to abide by the full rules of kashrut than their Reform counterparts. Reform synagogues may not keep a strictly kosher kitchen, but many forbid shellfish and pork foods forbidden in the Bible on their premises.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman

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Now that Conservative Judaism is O.K. with livestreaming, how is it different from Reform? - Forward

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National Security Council Approves Opening Shuls with Empty Seat Separations – The Jewish Press – JewishPress.com

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

Photo Credit: Gershon Elinson/Flash90

In Israel, the beaches are being opened to the public, as are schools and even some places of entertainment, and now, God willing, its time for Israeli synagogues to open up. According to Kipa, on Sunday there was a meeting of the National Security Council with representatives from the Health Ministry and from Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, which concluded in an agreement to open the countrys synagogues under special guidelines.

The outline for opening shuls includes stipulating that all of them will be opened, with the obligation to separate each two worshipers with an empty seat.

Also: you have to bring your own siddur and chumash and whatever else you plan to read during davening no one may use the shuls seforim.

And the shul must be disinfected every night. And you cant invite guests. Only the regulars may come in.

OK, you just know that last one will be the first one to be broken on the first Mincha-Maariv service without a minyan.

Entry to the synagogue will require checking everyones temperature, and on Shabbat with that new thermometer thats mutar on Shabbat (See: Zomet Introduces Shabbat Thermometer for Synagogues and Hospitals). Everyone who goes into a synagogue must be listed, with their ID or phone number. On Shabbat pre-registration.

And no one in a high risk group is allowed even after the shuls are opened.

You can still daven outdoors if youve gotten to like it, just keep the six-foot distance and no more than 50 Jews per outdoors minyan.

Oh, and youre not allowed to rush through Aleinu. I hate that.

Europes disappointing response to Israeli annexation of the West Bank – Haaretz

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

The all-clear has sounded for those who were worried: Israel can annex the West Bank as much as it wants Europe will not stand it its way. Anyone who thought they could strike fear into our hearts over Europes reaction to annexation forgot what Europe is, how paralyzed it is, how coerced, fearful, divided and helpless it is in the face of Israel. Former Meretz chairwoman Zehava Galon, who tweeted after the meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Friday: Whoever thinks that annexation will pass quietly for us can be told: It will indeed pass very quietly. Dont count on Europe. Theres no one and nothing to count on. Europe, as always, will formulate statements, hold consultations, summon ambassadors and stand on the sidelines.

How 'God-gate' rocked the settlers faith in their evangelical alliesHaaretz

Classical Europe is neutral Europe, which doesnt intervene against any injustice Israel commits. We have no expectations from the United States, certainly not under the presidency of Donald Trump, nor under his predecessors for that matter. Non-Classical Eastern Europe admiringly supports every violent thing Israel does. The only hope is the northwestern tip of the map, the one Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tends to point to and say: Thats the only place we have a problem. Thats the only place where there was hope, we once thought. Thats a disappointment now as well.

The outcome of Fridays deliberations of foreign ministers is Classical Europe at its worst. Mapping of joint projects; turning a new page vis a vis the new Israeli government; sanctions are a complex issue; and it doesnt mean well do it tomorrow. No surprise there. Fifty-three years of occupation that persists under your silence, your funding, your arms, and the spokesman for EU external affairs tells reporters who ask about sanctions not to put the cart before the horse. Theres time. Fifty-three years of occupation whose legitimacy is recognized by no international institution in the world, and the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell says that theres no comparison to Russias occupation of Crimea. There, the territory belongs to a sovereign state. Israels outgoing propaganda minister, Gilad Erdan, could not have put it better. Europe is with the Israeli right. When it came the occupation of Crimea, Europe in fact knew how to respond with action and immediately. But Russia scares Europe much less than Israel does. When it comes to Israel there are other rules, and a different international law, and different conduct. Fear of the United States on the one hand and guilt over the Holocaust on the other, together with the unbelievable efficiency and extortion efforts of the Zionist propaganda machine, stronger than any obligation to international law, than the obligation that Europe has to the fate of the Palestinians, and stronger than European public opinion, which is much more critical of Israel than any government.

The European Unions Erasmus+ education funding and its Horizon 2020 research programs are in danger. Thats Europes response to annexation. Stopping joint research projects will prevent occupation. Dont make Israel and its settlers laugh. Instead of imposing real sanctions from a sweeping ban on settlers entering Europe and through economic sanctions they threaten Erasmus+. Europes insistence on a two-state solution when some of its leaders already know and sometimes admit in closed conversations is already a lost cause plays into the hands of Israeli apartheid, which also knows how to mumble the term two states, if only there were a partner, and then builds tens of thousands more houses in the West Bank.

One can of course argue that it isnt Europes role to bring about world justice or clean up after Israel. But after all, the European Union has higher pretenses than just a common market. Europe, which was silent and closed its eyes in the past, is doing it again. Perhaps it will soon summon presumptive foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi and he will promise them that Israel will work to enact the two-state solution. Four and a half million people will continue to suffocate without rights and without a future, and Brussels will go on patting itself on the back and feeling good about itself after all, it threatened to cancel Erasmus+.

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Missing the Context of De Blasio’s ‘Jewish Community’ Tweet – FAIR

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

New York Mayor Bill de Blasios tweet (4/28/20) to the Jewish community.

Time for a Yiddish lesson: Shanda, meaning a shame or disgrace; a scandal.

Right-wing voices throughout the media thought they found one with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios tweet (4/28/20) about a Hasidic funeral that violated Covid-19 social-distancing rules. But their shoddy coverage was the real shanda.

The background is this: Some Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, members of a strictly Orthodox religious movement, went forward with a public funeral for a rabbi that ended up not observing proper social-distancing rules. The mayor tweeted a defense of police actions that broke up the event, aiming it at the Jewish community, rather than just the specific sect who caused the trouble. It was terribly worded, and, out of context, it could be construed as insensitive to all Jews.

For the New York Times Bari Weiss (5/1/20), New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted against lack of social distancing at a Hasidic funeral because he was hankering for a scapegoat.

The media went wild. Bari Weiss of the New York Times (5/1/20) called his comments inexcusable, and linked them to his supposed far-leftism. The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post (4/29/20) covered the anger in response to the tweet. Two writers at the Wall Street Journal (4/30/20) summed up the mayors tweet as by definition antisemitic. John Podhoretz in the New York Post (4/29/20) called it a new low for the mayor.

These themes flared up in the conservative media, too. In one particularly sanctimonious piece, Kathryn Jean Lopez at the National Review (4/29/20) said the tweet forced her to recall her visit to Auschwitz. Breitbart ran several articles on the matter.

Lets be clear: de Blasios tweet was boneheaded. And Jews were right to be worried. In a time of anti-government conspiracies, and when Asian Americans are already subjected to racist attacks because of the coronavirus Chinese origins, any blame aimed at the Jewish community for the crisis could further rile up tensions. The backlash de Blasio got from Jewish advocates wasnt unwarranted, but theres no evidence that this was a part of some abiding antipathy City Hall has toward New York Citys Jewish population.

De Blasio is from Brooklyn, formerly representing Park Slope in the City Council. Because Hasidic and other hard-core religious Jewish constituencies tend to vote in blocs, winning the favor of prominent rabbis and other community leaders is appealing for any New York City politician who eyes citywide office, and is especially critical for politicians from Brooklyn. (Brooklyns Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Borough Park are home to large religious Jewish communities.)

De Blasios dealings with Hasidic communities, thus, stem from political motivations that have helped secure him two terms at City Hall. If anything, de Blasio has been too cozy with these leaders, including on issues of public health, rather than dismissive or offensive. And his record shows this.

New York Posts John Podhoretz (4/29/20): You decided to seek your jollies by attacking Jews.

The New York Post (5/9/20) just recently uncovered that the mayor

was personally involved in a deal with Orthodox Jewish leaders to delay a long-awaited report on shoddy yeshivas in exchange for an extension of mayoral control of city schools.

The New York Times (4/15/19) had already documented last year how critics saw politics behind de Blasios slow response to a measles outbreak among Hasidic Jews. The papers editorial board (12/25/19) also criticized de Blasios mishandling of the yeshiva issue, saying at the time that city investigators couldnt determine whether Mayor de Blasio had personally authorized the delay, but concluded that the administration had interfered with the Education Departments investigation into the yeshivas.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (5/4/20), outlining de Blasios long connection to religious Jewish communities, reported:

While campaigning for mayor in 2013, de Blasio said he would look into easing regulations around metzitzah bpeh, a circumcision practice in which blood is sucked from a baby boys genitals that was linked to several cases of herpes in the newborns. The Bloomberg administration had required parents to sign a consent form notifying them of the risks involved in the practice, but de Blasio viewed that as onerous. The move earned him an endorsement from a faction of the Satmar Hasidic community.

And Jack Rosen, president of the American Jewish Congress, hardly a left-wing organization, noted in the New York Daily News (5/4/20) that while de Blasio could have had better messaging in his response to Hasidic Jews, there was some important context here:

While a few in the Orthodox Jewish community continue to flaunt social distancing orders even Israeli Defense Forces have had to crack down on Orthodox gatherings the order to stay at home and practice social distancing applies to all, no exceptions. De Blasio should have known it is better to broaden his appeals to New Yorkers than lump all Jews together. Anyone violating the social distancing edict should be called to account.

National Reviews Kathryn Jean Lopez (4/29/20): When I saw the mayor of New Yorks tweet last night, all I could think about was my one visit to Auschwitz a few years ago.

For right-wing voices in the press, de Blasios institution of universal pre-K, his relatively progressive campaign for mayor in 2013 and his support for Bernie Sanders presidential bid make him a high-level symbol of the Democrats progressive flank. In this case, right-wing agitators in corporate media used de Blasios poorly worded tweet to advance the theory that, alongside the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter and constant antisemitic hate from the Trumpian right, a liberal like de Blasio was similarly an enemy of the Jews. It was a ham-handed move to link liberalism with antisemitism. In the process, these journalists revealed that they knew little about the political relationships religious Jewish communities in New York City have with city government, which is city beat reporting 101.

But explaining the real political context would get in the way of drawing a false equivalency between an awkward tweet and the weaponized antisemitism of the far right.

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A Progressive Addition Distinguishes a Toronto Synagogue Built in the – Metropolis Magazine

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

At the historic Holy Blossom Temple, Diamond Schmitt Architects has recently added an airy atrium that links the original sanctuary structure with a more modern education wing from the 1960s. Courtesy Tom Arban Photography

Torontos iconic Holy Blossom Temple has always had a progressive agenda. Besides occupying one of the citys original purpose-built synagogues, designed in 1938, it is the first Canadian congregation to be led by a female rabbi. Naturally, when the time came to add a space for gatherings and events around 2003, its members sought out a firm steeped in contemporary practices. There was an added challenge, though: An adjacent educational wing and social hall, built in the 1960s, was linked to the rear of the temple by a warren of administrative offices. The ensemble had further robbed the complex of a defined foyer and an adequate front door.

Over the new gathering space is a crisscross of walkways and staircases that link to auxiliary rooms above, like a chapel clad in light woods. Courtesy Tom Arban Photography

The firm hired for the job, local studio Diamond Schmitt Architects, took an almost surgical approach by removing the interstitial spacea labyrinth of rooms and hallways that principal and project lead Martin Davidson describes as a tortured pretzel. In its place is an oblong atrium three stories high and featuring a fritted glass roof that floods an unobstructed gallery with natural light. At one end, a circular stairway wrapped in cut steel leads to the upper levels, while cantilevered walkways connect auxiliary spaces like a family chapel with sycamore walls and oak floors.

Courtesy Tom Arban Photography

Navigation is now so transparent that staff at the front desk can simply point visitors in the right direction. Before services, congregants enter the darkened sanctuary via the new atrium; after, they pour back into the ample space for lingering and chatting.

Rather than erase entirely what was removed, Davidson and his team left a trail of archaeological reveals that attest to the campuss past lives. For example, three metal rectangles outline the rabbis previous office windows. And just inside the new foyer is an irregular pattern on the floor that demarcates the former entrance, replaced by a handsome pair of heavy wooden doors that lead to the heart of the complex.

You may also enjoy Artist David Hartt Takes Over a Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Synagogue

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‘Rogue’ minyans and divided ranks: Orthodox rabbis are increasingly split over safety of communal prayer – JTA News

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

(JTA) When the coronavirus pandemic first descended on the United States in March, the Orthodox rabbis of Dallas shuttered their synagogues together in a remarkable show of unity.

In April, as the governor of Texas began reopening the state, the rabbis banded together again, telling their congregants that they all would keep their synagogues closed.

But now, as the nations lockdown enters its third month, their compact has frayed. This week, the rabbis announced that going forward, each synagogue would decide on its own when to resume in-person services.

The Orthodox Rabbinate of Dallas have collectively decided that each shul will open at a time and in a way that is best suited for its physical plant and congregation, the rabbis wrote in a statement published Thursday. Please note that whenever your shul opens and in which form, one thing will be common to all shuls the reopening will be gradual, methodical and, in the initial stages it will, sadly, need to be quite different from when we all prayed together.

The letter offered the latest evidence for an emerging reality: Two months after abruptly ceasing all communal prayer, Orthodox communities across the United States are increasingly divided over when and how to resume this centerpiece of Jewish life.

In Dallas, community leaders are essentially agreeing to disagree about whether it is safe to come back to synagogue. But in other places including New Yorks suburban Long Island, Florida and Ohio rabbis are openly sparring over whether to permit outdoor minyans, or small-scale prayer services held on porches and lawns.

That Orthodox communities are eager to get back to prayer services is not surprising. Non-Orthodox synagogues have added online Shabbat services and begun allowing prayer quorums to form over Zoom, enabling those whove lost a loved one to recite the Mourners Kaddish. But Orthodox practice does not allow technology on Shabbat or virtual minyans, precluding observant Jews from fulfilling the religious obligations that form the rhythms of daily Orthodox life.

Rabbis ruled that staying home to prevent the spread of disease was a higher obligation than praying communally during the pandemics early days, when it ravaged Orthodox communities in New York and New Jersey. But as time has worn on and other local communities have not experienced the same crisis, rabbis have faced pressure from their constituents to allow minyans to resume with added safeguards.

Hasidic Jews in Londons Stamford Hill neighborhood gather for Shabbat services, April 25, 2020. (Barry Lewis/InPictures via Getty Images)

Last week, major Orthodox groups issued two sets of guidance that urged a slow, careful return to in-person prayer services. One set of guidelines, from the more liberal Orthodox Union, took a firmer stand than the other, from the haredi organization Agudath Israel, against resuming outdoor services immediately. But both groups left final decisions about reopening to local rabbis and health officials.

The result has been tension within Orthodox communities, with advocates of devising a pathway back to communal prayer clashing with those who say its too soon, and too risky, to reconvene.

In Cleveland, an Orthodox rabbinical association announced Tuesday that block captains could begin organizing outdoor minyans that conformed to distancing guidelines.

It faced swift opposition from other Orthodox rabbis in the area.

I feel duty-bound to inform people that I am not supportive of the letter, one of the rabbis wrote, according to the Cleveland Jewish News.

Leaders of a synagogue in Deerfield Beach, Florida, sent a letter to congregants this week sharply criticizing those who gathered for services in what they deemed rogue minyanim.

This level of raw chutzpah and dangerous Sofek Pikuach Nefashos cannot be tolerated, said the synagogue leaders, using a Hebrew phrase meaning possible danger to human life.

The letter warned that participants in these minyans would be denied honors at the synagogue whenever it reopened.

And the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County, home to a number of large Modern Orthodox communities, released a letter Wednesday saying outdoor minyans absolutely cannot take place now. The northern New Jersey group was the first to issue unified rules during the pandemic, shutting down all synagogues under its purview on March 12 as it became clear that an outbreak in the New York City area was spreading within the community.

Perhaps nowhere has the fracture been more pronounced than in areas of Long Island where haredi and Modern Orthodox Jews live side by side on the same tree-lined blocks.

A local synagogue that continued to meet for services stood out so much that a prominent rabbi denounced its leader by name in a fiery lecture on Zoom just before Passover.

Rabbi Hershel Billet of the Young Israel of Woodmere called the rabbi who allowed the prayer service a danger to the entire community and promised to personally try to run this man out of the community.

Jewish men pray while keeping distance from each other outside their closed synagogue in Netanya, Israel, April 23, 2020. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

Later that month, a group of 57 rabbis from the Five Towns and Far Rockaway signed a letter urging against gathering for outdoor services.

That was three weeks ago. In the past week, several rabbis have begun cautiously approving the practice under narrow circumstances.

The split in this community has fallen along loose ideological lines, with rabbis aligned more closely with the haredi community, often described as ultra-Orthodox, allowing the outdoor minyans while those in the Modern Orthodox camp continue to oppose them.

But there have been some exceptions where the distinctions blur between parts of the Orthodox community.

Rabbis Eytan Feiner and Motti Neuberger of The White Shul, a synagogue in Far Rockaway affiliated with the more modern Orthodox Union, sent a letter to congregants last week allowing outdoor minyans to proceed with restrictions in place.

The letter advised congregants that the minyans could only be held if each family remained on its own property and maintained at least 6 feet of distance from anyone outside his own household.

Only OUTDOOR Minyanim are permitted, they wrote.

Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, director of the Chabad of the Five Towns in Cedarhurst, sent a similar letter to his congregation after previously prohibiting outdoor minyans. But Wolowik told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he had not participated in such a minyan himself because his house is not situated in a way that would allow it.

If they can do it right, everybody on their own property kudos to them if they can do it safely, said Wolowik, noting that many people are not able to participate in the minyans if they dont live close to enough people who can participate. I am their best example I cant do it and so I dont do it.

But the guidance issued last week by the Orthodox Union and Rabbinical Council of America cautioned that even carefully regulated outdoor services could spin out of control.

Care must be taken to ensure that this not become a free-for-all, the guidance said.

One Long Island rabbi who had recently allowed the outdoor minyans wrote to his congregants Thursday warning that his permission would be revoked if the rules for running the minyan were broken.

I am sad to say that a number of people have called to tell me that the guidelines have already been broken in several ways, Rabbi Yaakov Feitman of Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi wrote.

It was that possibility that the rules would be broken that led Modern Orthodox rabbis in the community to oppose the practice.

In theory, one can create a minyan today that doesnt pose risk, Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt, a rabbi at two synagogues in the area, including Billets, and the chief of Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital, said. But the question is can that theory be translated into reality.

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'Rogue' minyans and divided ranks: Orthodox rabbis are increasingly split over safety of communal prayer - JTA News

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Orthodox rabbis are increasingly split over safety of communal prayer – The Jerusalem Post

Posted By admin on May 17, 2020

When the coronavirus pandemic first descended on the United States in March, the Orthodox rabbis of Dallas shuttered their synagogues together in a remarkable show of unity.