Bnei Brak hospital director resigns after blasting haredim
By violating COVID regulations, they’re killing people, says Prof. Mordechai Ravid
By JEREMY SHARONIsraeli border police officers check citizens on Jaffa Street in downtown Jerusalem on October 7, 2020, during a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.(photo credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)
Ma’aynei Hayeshua Medical Center’s director blasted the ultra-Orthodox community over its approach to COVID-19 regulations, saying its lack of adherence to government rules is killing people.Shortly following Prof. Mordechai Ravid’s outburst, the Bnei Brak hospital announced that Ravid had submitted his letter of resignation.“They have been educated to take everything and give nothing for years,” Ravid told KAN Reshet Bet on Thursday.“This is one of the wildest incidents in the history of the State of Israel. There has never been a community that has thrown off the yoke in this manner and is killing people, not through faith, because I do not understand the connection between Judaism and religion and what they are doing,” the professor continued, in reference to the large parts of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community that are not complying with social distancing or mask wearing.Ravid also said some rabbis in the sector have publicly required compliance with health regulations but that such comments were intended to give a positive impression to the outside world, while not implementing or enforcing such rules.Ravid was denounced by several haredi politicians, including Deputy Transportation Minister Uri Maklev.Following Ravid’s interview, the board of directors of Ma’aynei Hayeshua said it was “saddened” by Ravid’s “hurtful words against the ultra-Orthodox public in general and its rabbis in particular,” which it said “should not have been said,” and added that Ravid had now resigned.Several large hassidic communities, in particular Belz and Vizhnitz, and other smaller groups have refused to abide by the regulations, while extremist groups in Mea She’arim and Beit Shemesh, as well as the radical Jerusalem Faction community, have similarly rejected government health guidelines.The rabbinic leadership of the non-hassidic haredi community has been more insistent that people abide by the regulations, but have refused to order the closure of synagogues, schools and yeshivas.According to KAN, 12% of COVID-19 deaths in Israel have been from the haredi community, roughly in keeping with the community’s size of approximately 11 to 12% of the general population.Since the median age of the haredi community is extremely young due to its high birth rate and the fact that COVID has far more serious effects on older age groups, mortality rates in the sector were expected to be far lower than 12%.
