The Vizhnitz Rebbe, Rabbi Yisroel Hager, has denounced “informants” and “snitches” who complain to state authorities about violations of Health Ministry COVID-19 regulations and called for them to be ejected from the community.
Hager, whose Vizhnitz community is one of the largest and wealthiest hassidic groups in the country, made his comments on Saturday night in reference to those he suspects have informed authorities about the unlawful return to educational institutions in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) sector in contravention of government regulations.
There had been “many spiritual destructions” during the COVID-19 crisis,” he said, adding that it was “unbelievable how many young men and children” had fallen prey to spiritual descent.
Hager welcomed the recent reopening of schools for some age groups, saying their continued closure was not possible.
“However, a group of informers has risen up and become established, may God have mercy,” he said.
Hager cited his grandfather, the fourth Vizhnitz Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager, as having “spoken out against informants as forbidden in all manner.”
Such people could be “excommunicated from the Jewish people,” the current Vizhnitz Rebbe said.
“They are full of intentional evil,” he said. “Nothing is worthwhile for them; we need to eject them from our camp.”
Some hassidic communities have not observed COVID-19 regulations strictly, including sending children back to school even if their grades had not been given the green light to reopen by the government.
Hager held a tisch, or hassidic gathering, amid the national lockdown at the end of Yom Kippur. It was attended by hundreds of young hassidim, whom he fears could have a spiritual decline without an educational and communal framework.