Jewish leaders are concerned that messages about the risks of Covid-19, and the need to isolate and keep social distance, are not reaching pockets of the ultra-Orthodox community who rarely engage with the media and have limited access to the internet.
Two members of London’s ultra-Orthodox community died of coronavirus at the weekend, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said. But in Stamford Hill, an area of north-east London with a large Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, population, some synagogues are still open.
The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations circulated guidance at the end of last week saying women, children and “elderly and weaker men with health disabilities” should not go to synagogues, but it did not extend the advice to healthy men. Schools and places of religious education should shut, the guidance said.
Almost all synagogues have been closed for more than a week, with many livestreaming services and celebrations. Kosher shops have put social distancing policies in place, and synagogues and other Jewish organisations have stepped up efforts to provide assistance to elderly and vulnerable people.
Rabbi Avrohom Pinter, who lives in Stamford Hill, said most people were heeding the messages about physical distancing. “The issue I’m concerned about it is that the government is, to a certain degree, abdicating responsibility. People need to be told.”
He conceded that some in the community were not following advice. “But I’m not quite sure why attention is falling on us,” he said, pointing to the actions of young people in parks and other faith groups that are still meeting for worship.
However, Levi Schapiro of the Jewish community council (JCC) in Stamford Hill said some synagogues in the area were still open because the government advice was “weak”.
The JCC was “working hard to get the message to stay at home out there. We’re running adverts, we’re posting in Hebrew and Yiddish on social media, and there are four cars driving round the streets as we’re speaking, broadcasting messages through loudspeakers. It’s a very big operation.
“But the government message is nowhere near explicit enough. If you want us to shut down completely, tell us and we’ll shut down.”
In the north-east of England, home to the UK’s fastest-growing Haredi population, “the community has effectively gone into shutdown”, said Jonathan Klajn of the Gateshead JCC.
“It’s very upsetting. The synagogues are at the heart of community life, but the rabbis, community leaders and doctors met, and with a single voice they said: ‘We’ve got to lock the doors.’
Symptoms are defined by the NHS as either:
- a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- a new continuous cough - this means you've started coughing repeatedly
NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days.
If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
After 14 days, anyone you live with who does not have symptoms can return to their normal routine. But, if anyone in your home gets symptoms, they should stay at home for 7 days from the day their symptoms start. Even if it means they're at home for longer than 14 days.
If you live with someone who is 70 or over, has a long-term condition, is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days.
If you have to stay at home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible.
After 7 days, if you no longer have a high temperature you can return to your normal routine.
If you still have a high temperature, stay at home until your temperature returns to normal.
If you still have a cough after 7 days, but your temperature is normal, you do not need to continue staying at home. A cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.
Staying at home means you should:
- not go to work, school or public areas
- not use public transport or taxis
- not have visitors, such as friends and family, in your home
- not go out to buy food or collect medicine – order them by phone or online, or ask someone else to drop them off at your home
You can use your garden, if you have one. You can also leave the house to exercise – but stay at least 2 metres away from other people.
If you have symptoms of coronavirus, use the NHS 111 coronavirus service to find out what to do.
Source: NHS England on 23 March 2020
“So far we’ve put three community bulletins through people’s doors, signed by rabbis and doctors, saying: ‘Don’t take chances.’
“The message is really being hammered home. No one is suffering from a lack of information. One person told me that he never normally listens to the radio, but he’s tuning into the prime minister’s press conference every day.”
One person monitoring the response of the Haredi community said people had received the message “but they haven’t yet internalised it. Going to the shul [synagogue] three times a day is so ingrained in the psyche that there’s no frame of reference to behave otherwise.”
A video circulating among ultra-Orthodox communities shows Yitzchok Kornbluh from Stamford Hill saying that, despite the risks, “shuls were full, mikvaot [ritual baths] were full. Where is the seichel [common sense] of those who went to shul today?”
Ephraim Mirvis, the UK’s chief rabbi, ordered the closure of synagogues affiliated with United Synagogue, the largest network of Orthodox synagogues in the country, last week.
Almost all synagogues have since closed, with many switching to livestreaming services and celebrations. Kosher shops have put social distancing policies in place, and synagogues and other Jewish organisations have stepped up efforts to provide assistance to elderly and vulnerable people.
A letter signed by 20 Jewish doctors, which circulated in Stamford Hill last week, was prefaced: “You are fully responsible for deaths that occur as a result of ignoring this advice.” It ended: “This is a case of pikuach nefesh [the Jewish command to save life] and we are all responsible.”
