JERUSALEM – As the Israelis prepare to celebrate the holy days on the Jewish calendar under a fresh lockdown, the planning of prayer services is proving to be more of a consideration of mathematics than a spiritual exercise.
The rabbis prepare to organize the devotees in clusters of 20 to 50, separate by dividers, determine the number and size of groups based on complex calculations associated with local infection rates, and how many entrances and square feet are in their synagogues. Masks will be necessary, and many seats will have to be left empty.
With the coronavirus throbbing again, Israel will become one of the few places in the world to go into a second lockdown, which will be affected by Friday, the eve of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. The government has issued a list of sanctions – with a majority of exemptions, which many criticize as a source of confusion and dissatisfaction.
The atmosphere of running for the holidays was more depressing than joyful.
“These are not the holidays we’re hoping for,” said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, president of the Israel-based Jewish education group Ohar Torah Stone, a group with angels from around the world. “The fragility of life is up to us, but I see people growing up on occasion.”
The three-week national lockdown, Rosh Hashna and Yom Kippur were held to coincide with the holy days and the festival of Sukkot, so that business slowed down in any case around the holidays in the hope of causing economic losses. It was also aimed at preventing large family meals that could become petri dishes for the virus.
For many Jews, the loss will be emotional rather than financial, taking from them gatherings and rituals they have always relied on to tighten the bonds of family and community.
Israel successfully limited the spread of the virus in the spring, but recently its infection rate has turned into one of the worst in the world. The country has seen more than 300 confirmed new cases per 100,000 people in the past week – the most affected European country in Spain, and four times more than the United States, more than double the rate in Spain.
Schools closed on Thursday, just two weeks after they resumed. From Friday, people will, in general, need to stay indoors for 1,000 meters – about 1,100 yards.
Many Israelis question the logic and motivation behind them – to work, to exercise, to demonstrate, to buy essentials, and to fulfill various religious obligations.
The degreasing policy shift continued on Thursday evening. Health officials have warned that relatively loose lockdowns are unlikely to dramatically reduce infection rates, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying “there will be no alternative but to tighten the rules.”
At the same time, the parliamentary committee argued to reduce restrictions on movement, increasing the radius from 500 meters to 1000. The cabinet approved the change overnight between Thursday and Friday.
“All the zigzagging people are confused,” said Karin Azizian, a 45-year-old maker from the village of Imunim in central Israel. “They have no faith in the government.”
Just before the government issued its instructions this week, the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, where prime ministers and presidents have prayed, announced that it was closing its doors on high holy days for the first time in more than half a century of history.
Members of the Board of Trustees wrote in a letter that “our decision reflects the extreme uncertainty and extreme concern to protect each congregation and their families at a time of change in government guidelines.”
“I have tears in my eyes,” Great Synagogue President Zali Jaffe said in an interview. The synagogue operated without interruption during all of Israel’s wars, he said, recalling how, in 1991, when it was clearly heard after an Iraqi missile attack, he ran away from home for morning prayers.
But the government’s policy was not very reassuring, he said, “Is it based on science or politics or economics?”
During Rosh Hasna and Yom Kippur on the Day of Atonement and Fasting, many annoying Jews are present in the synagogue. But there is resentment among secular Israelis over the lockdown liberation as many of them are seen as religious adherents – the result of pressure from religious parties in the ruling coalition.
Jewish women will be allowed to venture more than 1000 meters to immerse themselves in a religious bath, but the swimming pool will be closed. Observer Jews will be able to travel to Sukkot – to purchase citron fruit and other plants as well as supplies needed to inspect the materials for making the temporary shelter. Unlike synagogues, cultural sites, museums, gyms and hotels will be closed.
“Many secular Israelis have a deep-seated group and well argue that this lockdown is a ‘lockdown for the secular,'” Shonet Chen wrote in a column on Janet.
One of the provisions that people have made is to allow Israel to go to Greece and some other countries, but not to Israel’s Red Sea resort Ilat.
The head of an Israeli hotel chain said he would name the city more Greek-sounding “Ilatos” if he helped, as kitchen workers were forced to throw away food already prepared for the holidays.
Public confidence in the government’s decision began to wane during the spring lockdown, when Mr. Netanyahu and the country’s president, Reuven Rivlin, broke the rules by hosting their members from outside their immediate home.
In an emotional, televised speech to the nation on Wednesday night, Mr. Revel once again apologized and said he was also atone for the failure of an epidemic-ridden leadership.
“You trusted us and we disappointed you,” he said. “I want to say to the Israeli government – its leaders, ministers and advisers: the trust of the people is beyond value. We must do everything we can to restore the personal, medical and economic confidence of our fellow citizens. “
In an effort to make more people experience the holiday spirit, some Jewish organizations are working on constructive solutions.
The Zohar Rabbinical Organization and the Ohr Torah Stone have expanded the “In the Shofar in the Park” project, which began many years ago, to bring a religious explosion of ramp horns to the public sphere. Now they are also taking it inside residential houses where people will be under lockdown.
In addition, O’Hara Torah Stone has created a short, online version of the prayer book for the “Machzor” holiday, with short, safe services whether they are kept indoors or outdoors, in small communal settings of up to 20 people. . Thousands of copies have been downloaded for mass printing and distribution.
“Jewish law prioritizes health and safety,” Rabbi Brander said. “It gives us the opportunity to maneuver in times of challenge.”
Merv Ategi (44), a teacher of Nitzan, a small community in the southern end of the Mediterranean coast of Israel, took two of his five sons to a beach before his new five-year ban expired.
“It’s a suffocating spirit, but there’s no alternative,” he said of the looming lockdown.
Gur Lavi, 24, and Orion Mazar, 23, who live in different towns in central Uyghur, went out to Jerusalem for a day before spending at least the next three weeks stuck in their family homes.
Mamila, an outdoor shopping mall near the Old City of Jerusalem, usually comes together with foreign tourists. But in the days before the holidays began, exclusive gift stores and boutiques were almost deserted.
A few more Israelis were still going to buy holiday clothes. A popular clothing store chain was still announcing “back-to-school” offers fur.
“Like the passover, when everyone was sitting in their pajamas, this time people want to dress up for their own family, too, to experience the festivities,” said Shimi Elimelech, a store manager at the chain.
