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

As the new national COVID-19 lockdown takes effect with strict limitations on indoor gatherings, the Health Ministry is once again embarking on a campaign to persuade the ultra-Orthodox community to pray outdoors.

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 public to adhere to health guidelines to stop the spread of infection, and prevent a situation in which communal prayer and Torah study is halted.

The two rabbis said in particular that the elderly and people in high-risk groups should avoid indoor areas and try to pray outdoors, as should anyone else able to do so.

Rabbi David Stav, chair of the religious-Zionist Tzohar rabbinical association, has publicly opposed prayer services of 10 men outdoors, saying it will not be possible to restrict them to only 10.

“The decision to allow outdoor minyanim [quorum] of 10 people is simply unsustainable,” said Stav. “If 10 men are gathered outside, it’s entirely predictable that more will gather, and it will quickly get out of control. The reality is that this simply opens the door for people to behave irresponsibly when it comes to this specific issue, which then naturally carries over to other aspects of the lockdown. The government needs to come to an absolute decision either allowing minyanim or prohibiting them. Anything else is just inviting people to flaunt the rules.”