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China Rabbi Says Synagogue Shutdowns Shielded Congregants From Coronavirus

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March 20, 2020
BEIJING, CHINA – MARCH 20: Chinese commuters wear protective masks as they line up in a staggered formation while waiting for a bus at the end of the work day on March 20, 2020 in Beijing, China. With the pandemic hitting hard across the world, China recorded its first day with no new domestic cases of the coronavirus since the government imposed sweeping measures to keep the disease from spreading. For two months, millions of people across China have been restricted in how they move from their homes, while other cities have been locked down in ways that appeared severe at the time but are now being replicated in other countries trying to contain the virus. Officials believe the worst appears to be over in China, though there are concerns of another wave of infections as the government attempts to reboot the worlds second largest economy. In Beijing, it is mandatory to wear masks outdoors, retail stores operate on reduced hours, restaurants employ social distancing among patrons, and tourist attractions at risk of drawing large crowds remain closed. Monitoring and enforcement of virus-related measures and the quarantine of anyone arriving to Beijing is carried out by neighborhood committees and a network of Communist Party volunteers who wear red arm bands. A primary concern for Chinese authorities remains the arrival of flights from Europe and elsewhere, given the exposure of passengers in regions now regarded as hotbeds for transmission. Since January, China has recorded more than 81,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 3200 deaths, mostly in and around the city of Wuhan, in central Hubei province, where the outbreak first started. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

(JTA) — A rabbi in China who urged the members of the Chabad community there not to congregate for worship said the concession shielded them from the coronavirus.

“Throughout all the 13 Chabad houses in China and Hong Kong, not one community member contracted this virus. And the reason is because they listened,” Shimon Freundlich, a Chabad emissary in Beijing, said in a voice note he sent out Friday, referencing government orders not to gather with anyone outside household members.

Freundlich said his message was in response to the many questions he has received about conditions under which it would be safe to hold a minyan, the quorum of 10 Jewish men required for some prayers in Orthodox Judaism.

Theoretically, “if it’s done in a certain way, perhaps it would be possible, but it’s not practical,” he said of holding a minyan at a time when the virus has infected hundreds of thousands of people in dozens of countries since its appearance in China late last year.

Freundlich said the issue is “pikuach nefesh,” Hebrew for a situation where saving a human life supersedes religious rules and practices.

“Listen to the poskim, listen to the dayanim and stay home,” he said, using the Hebrew words for makers of religious rules and rabbinical judges.

“You think you’re a ‘groiysse chochem’ [Yiddish for ‘great sage’] that you know better than the doctors?!” he asked. “All the scientists in the world who are telling you how dangerously quick, fast this virus spreads?!”

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