Government weighing reopening of synagogues

Under pressure from Orthodox groups and the Chief Rabbinate, the Israeli government is set to deliberate the reopening of the synagogues, which were shuttered in late March in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, with a decision possibly coming as soon as Monday.

According to a report in ultra-Orthodox news site Kikar Hashabbat, the National Security Council is slated to discuss the issue on Sunday afternoon.

A spokesman for the Chief Rabbinate confirms the deliberations, saying that chief rabbis David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef have called on public health authorities to set guidelines to enable the safe resumption of public prayer.

“The chief rabbis have requested the reopening of all the synagogues but of course this will be according to the guidelines of the Health Ministry. This is a complex topic,” the spokesman says.