Chief rabbi says keep phones nearby on Shabbat in case of lifesaving messages

Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi says people should be prepared to answer their phones on Shabbat, despite general restrictions on using electricity, as authorities may need to contact them with lifesaving information.

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef also calls for the closure of all synagogues located inside hospitals, saying that these often small prayer spaces do not allow worshipers to abide by the Health Ministry’s recommendation that people remain at least two meters (6.6 feet) from one another.

This ruling, which the rabbi’s office refers to as “dramatic,” is based on the Jewish legal principal that saving a life — or pikuah nefesh, as it’s known in Hebrew — trumps nearly all other religious requirements.

The ruling comes amid growing criticism of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, parts of which have been found to be regularly flouting the Health Ministry’s directives that are aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

The Health Ministry welcomes the ruling, saying the importance of a senior rabbi weighing in on the matter “speaks for itself and shows that an emergency requires accelerated activity lest — heaven forbid — a calamity occur.”

Yosef says this ruling applies not only to those who know they are at risk of the disease but also to those who don’t.

“There is no doubt that anyone who has been tested for corona must remain with their cellphone available on Shabbat, so that they can be updated on their condition and where they should go… but also whoever hasn’t been tested should remain with a cellphone available, so that if it is found that they were near a confirmed sick person and that they must go into isolation, they can be notified,” he writes.

Yosef also calls for the creation of a fleet of cars with loudspeakers to be established that can be sent into religious neighborhoods in order to inform residents that they must enter quarantine if necessary.