New York's Hasidic Jews refuse to follow social distancing rules even as coronavirus ravages city
While New York continues to suffer badly from the novel coronavirus pandemic that has claimed nearly 15,000 lives in the US so far, the Empire State’s Orthodox Jewish community members continue to refuse to observe social distancing. A big concentration of the Hasidic Jewish population resides in Brooklyn, where some of the worst-hit counties are located.
In Rockland County, which is located not too far from Brooklyn, 13,506 confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported while 135 lives have been lost. The county is home to over 320,000 people and the largest Orthodox community lives there. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal in 2014, the number of Hasidic Jews who lived in that county is 60,000.
Also in Borough Park and Williamsburg, two of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods, several continue to defy social distancing rules to assemble at funerals of people killed by the virus. Both the neighborhoods have over 550 cases of infection and could soar to more than 1,600, the New York City health data released on April 7, said, according to Daily Mail.
On April 5, the New York Police Department (NYPD) personnel tried soft means to convince the community to maintain a minimum distance of six feet from each other at a funeral or wear masks or gloves.
According to local reports, the appeal fell on deaf ears. Last month, too, police personnel were seen dispersing crowds of Hasidic Jews who came to get free food at a Brooklyn 'Yeshiva' (religious educational institution).
If that was not all, hundreds came out on the streets only a few hours later to mourn the death of a rabbi or spiritual leader and they too refused to withdraw despite the police blaring sirens.
Leaders of the community said it is only a small part of the population that is ignoring the social distancing advice, but the lawmakers were worried that such gatherings were putting not only their own lives but those of many others at risk.
The Hasidic Jews came under the scanner last year too when a measles outbreak in Brooklyn was attributed to the community that did not take their children for vaccination. The current situation is a far bigger threat since there is no vaccine yet for COVID-19.
Ed Day, the Republican county executive, Brooklyn, told The New York Times that the situation was “maddening”. “By going to these funerals and being in close proximity to one another, they are going to condemn another person to go into the ground,” he said.
New York Andrew Cuomo, who has slammed gatherings time and again, said on April 7 that he understood and sympathized with the communities and their desire to bury their loved ones but added that it is not the right time. He asked the NYPD to be more aggressive in breaking up religious congregations of all faiths, including the Orthodox Jews.
Community leaders appeal for social distancing
Rabbis in some communities were also pleading with their congregations to observe social distancing.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said in a letter, “As the global pandemic of COVID-19 changes life on planet Earth, there is simply no way that our holiday observance could resemble years past. Physical distancing, sheltering-in-place, and pervasive fears are significant obstacles to making Pesach happen at all, let alone embracing it as a time of joy and renewal.”
“This year, let us throw open the technological doors to our homes to all those who may be feeling lonely or isolated or who need the connection and spiritual renewal that our seder can provide,” he added.
Cuomo said at a press conference earlier this week that the country was approaching a number of festivals but cautioned that nothing could be done even if people got offended for not being allowed to have gatherings.