This is becoming a global pandemic, and countries are doing whatever they can to try to limit, to minimize, the spread of the virus. As dangerous as it might or might not be, it spreads quickly and easily, and some people can be seriously hurt by it. These precautions might seem to be fueled by paranoia, but I trust that they are being put in place for the purpose of minimizing the spread. Hopefully soon the virus will die out as the season changes, and/or a vaccination will be produced - whichever comes first.
In the meantime, Corona is affecting Israel strongly.
Yitzchak Rabin once said, in his quest for peace and after signing the Oslo Accords "Israel is no longer a nation that dwells alone". The Torah says the Jewish nation is one that dwells alone. Am Levadad Yishkon. Now, with thousands being added to the quarantine list daily, from coming into contact with people who might be carrying the Corona virus or for having traveled to countries that have enough of a spread to get listed as possible exposure, Israel is going back to being a nations of people who dwell alone. The "bidud" is redefining us. I saw a stat yesterday that there are now 100,000 Israelis officially in quarantine.
Besides for the difficulty of spending 14 days in quarantine, there are other changes to our behavior. Leaders, in government and in communities such as rabbis, are advising people to stop shaking hands for now, stop hugging and kissing in public, wash hands with soap more frequently and for at least 20 seconds, stop touching your face (harder than it sounds) and much more. Some of it seems obvious, some of it less so.
From a religious perspective, the spread of Corona, or the fear of it spreading, has led to some interesting decisions by the rabbinate.
I'll start with the Chief Rabbi of Tehran. I did not even know there was a Chief Rabbi of Tehran, so just discovering his existence is interesting to me. Rav Yehuda Grami, Chief Rabbi of Tehran in Iran, paskened that the Jewish communities in Iran should not fast on Taanis Esther this coming week. According to Rav Garmi, because Iran has been hit so hard by the Corona virus, the hardest and deadliest hit country outside of China, the Jews of Iran would be in a weakened state by fasting and that would put them at greater risk of catching the virus and of being adversely affected by it. (source: YWN)
Ironic, though seemingly necessary, that in Iran itself, where the story of Purim happened, they won't be fasting on Taanis Esther.
Besides for that, Chief Rabbi (of Israel, not Tehran) David Lau joined the "Garbuzes" yesterday when he came out against kissing mezuzas. Yair Garbuz is an Israeli artist, author and humorist who recently spoke out against the amulet and mezuza kissers, and, deservedly, received a lot of strong criticism in response. That was just a joke saying that Rabbi Lau joined the Garbuzes of Israel opposing the mezuza kissers, but Rabbi Lau did "pasken" and announce that people should abstain from kissing mezuzas for now, to avoid possible contamination and further spread of Corona.People should not even touch the mezuza, but should think about the mezuza when entering or leaving the room and passing it, but without touching and kissing it. The kissing of the mezuza only became some sort of minhag and is not halacha, it is not even mentioned in Shulchan Aruch, so now in a time of possible danger, this should not be done.
The Chief Rabbinate of Ranana published a list of guidelines and piskei halacha for people who must remain in isolation, which is a number that is exponentially increasing.
I would add, though I have not seen it mentioned, one should stay far away from the towels hanging in shuls. I stay away from them anyway, but shuls now should be removing them. If a shul did not, don't get even close to it.
The guidelines include:
- not to leave the quarantine to go to shul, even to an empty shul. Also, not to go to the house of someone in quarantine to help him have a minyan in his house.
- not to go to shul for "Zachor" on Shabbos, if still in quarantine. This is so even though Zachor is an obligation to hear. One should read it himself/herself from a chumash at home in quarantine, even though one does not fulfill the obligation by doing so. A Torah should not be brought to the home of someone in quarantine to be read there.
- one should not leave quarantine on Purim to hear the megilla reading. if one can read himself and has a kosher megilla, he should do so in quarantine by himself. If he does not have the ability to read his own megilla, he can fulfill his obligation by hearing it read over the telephone - normally this would not be a solution, but in a tight situation it can be relied upon.
- someone who has a yahrtzeit or is on mourning and needs to go to shul to say kaddish, should not. An alternate person should be found or hired to say kaddish in his stead. Also, one should not leave the quarantine to go to the grave site, as is common on the yahrtzeit
- a woman in quarantine who needs to go to the mikva, should NOT go, even if they clear the mikva of other people or possibly going after normal operating hours. Going to the mikva would put the mikva lady and others at risk. Until the Health Ministry says otherwise one should not go to the mikva at all. If the Health Ministry decides to allow women to go after normal hours with the stipulation of the water being changed and the entire mikva being disinfected, while also protecting the mikva lady and any other relevant people, then she should go to the mikva following those conditions, even if she would not be allowed to have marital relations with her husband, for example due to the quarantine.
I would add that men in quarantine should obviously not be going to the mikva, even if they normally do on a daily basis or every erev shabbos. I don't know if chlorine in the water helps kill the Corona virus, but even if it did, going to the mikva would still put other mikva immersers at risk.
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