"We will check and only if all the professionals involved agree will we make the decision," he said.
By GIL HOFFMANThe poor man’s Passover prayer(photo credit: TOA HEFTIBA/UNSPLASH)
The amount of people permitted in a synagogue will remain 10, despite requests by United Torah Judaism and Shas to increase the limit ahead of the Tisha Be'Av holiday, coronavirus czar Ronni Gamzu announced on Tuesday night."There is no change," Gamzu told Channel 12. "I have to tell the rabbis: There are places in the country with a high infection rate. I cannot take such a change on myself, and it is forbidden for you to do it. It is a matter of pikuach nefesh (saving lives)."Health Minister Yuli Edelstein met at the Knesset on Wednesday with the heads of Shas and United Torah Judaism, who asked him to increase the number in honor of the holiday in new regulations regarding the coronavirus. At the conclusion of the meeting, the two parties released a statement as if the decision was a done deal and taking credit for itBut after reports that Gamzu heard about the decision through the press and opposed it, Edelstein denied that a decision had been made."All I said at the end of the meeting was that we would look into the matter," Edelstein told Army Radio. "There is no tension, and we are all working together."Edelstein said it was completely legitimate that politicians try to obtain achievements on issues important to their constituencies and that he understood the challenges in limiting synagogues to 10 people."We will check and only if all the professionals involved agree will we make the decision," he said.While a decision was sought for Tisha Be'av, which begins Wednesday night, and the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday that begins Friday, Gamzu reportedly prefers consistent rules for houses of prayer, without making special exceptions.Shas and UTJ MKs said it makes no sense to limit synagogues of all sizes to 10 people wearing masks, when smaller restaurants can have 50 people not wearing masks.Another decision set to be made in the month ahead will be whether to permit tens of thousands of Israelis to make an annual pilgrimage to the cave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav in Uman, Ukraine ahead of Rosh Hashanah. Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky spoke against the idea in a parliamentary query to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."It is clear that Health Ministry directives would not be followed in Uman," she said. "The result of this adventure is written on the wall. Who authorized this blunder?"
