Yom Kippur, the day of forgiveness, has been celebrated since Sunday, September 27 in the Jewish community.

In Israel, while a containment has been decreed since September 18, the inhabitants are trying to make this religious festival, the most important on the calendar, coexist with barrier gestures.

"We installed special capsules on purpose. We put the white curtains for prayers, and all over the space we will make groups of 20, no more! There will be someone to supervise, to ensure that everything everyone is wearing a mask and the number of people allowed is well respected, ”explains Yehezkel Alfa, the guardian of the largest synagogue in Bnei Brak.

Facilities are sketchy, but in this city with Israel's largest ultra-Orthodox community, it is unthinkable to forgo collective prayer.

"People here listen to the news. They are aware of what is going on but they are also very connected to their synagogues! It is very hard to suddenly cut these people off their synagogues", says Yehezkel Alfa.

"We follow the Torah, not the State"

Bnei Brak is one of the cities where Covid-19 circulates the most in Israel.

It has 180,000 inhabitants and just over 3,000 are infected with the virus.

The city hospital has more patients than beds available.

The ultra-Orthodox who live here respect the instructions better, up to a point: they will go to the synagogue for Yom Kippur, despite the risk of contamination.

Among the members of the Haredim community, "those who fear God", others go further.

The word of the authorities has no weight compared to that of the rabbis.

"I'll tell you, I was infected with the virus, but even before that I was not very worried. You have to keep a sense of measure, I put on a mask, but no more. I do not respect the confinement, because we follow the rules of the State, as long as they do not conflict with the laws of Judaism. We follow the Torah, not the State ", summarizes one resident.

The ultra-Orthodox nevertheless know how to use their political weight to be listened to by the authorities.

To secure the opening of synagogues on Yom Kippur, they threatened to abandon the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

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