Although the chief rabbis have instructed that there be no burning of hametz this year, the time-honored custom of selling hametz to a non-Jew in advance of Passover is being maintained.
President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday used Jerusalem Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar as an intermediary to sell his hametz.
During their conversation, he castigated those who speak maliciously about the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community throughout the country.
Rivlin said whenever he hears such atrocious comments, he wants to scream.
“We are brothers who are responsible for each other, and it is wrong for any section of the population to heap needless blame on another,” he said.
Rivlin was especially angry that some people are blaming the haredim for spreading the coronavirus epidemic.
“A whole community cannot be blamed for the misdeeds of a few individuals,” he said.