Mohamed Mohsen Wedd - occupied Jerusalem
The debate is raging in Israeli society about the extent of Jewish ultra-Orthodox adherence to the Ministry of Health's instructions and guidelines regarding procedures to prevent corona virus.
This comes after the diagnosis of 65 students from the biblical religious institutes out of 114 students of the "Chabad" movement of the ultra-Orthodox (religious) movement infected with the virus, upon their arrival from America to Israel on an Elal plane, after the American authorities closed the religious school Judaism to teach the Torah due to the Corona pandemic.
It was kept secret - even by the airline - to transfer this hard-line religious group from an endemic area in America to Israel, while quarantine was imposed on them in a hotel in occupied Jerusalem.
This debate reflects the secrecy of biblical beliefs between the various Jewish religious currents, religious Zionism and the secular current, and the contradictions they carry in Israeli society, summarized by the statements of the Minister of Health, Rabbi Yaakov Litzman, who sees the biblical teachings and the expected Messiah "saved and saved from the Corona virus."
| The Haredim prefer Torah teaching over the Knesset (Al-Jazeera) legislation |
Out of the expected Savior of the virus, Israel will remain under the emergency regulations and comprehensive closure until the middle of next April, the date of "Easter", while the rates of HIV infection continue to rise amid exchanges of accusations between Israelis about not violating the prevention instructions and not adhering to them by some currents. Religious and social strata.
Amid the confusion in the transitional government led by Benjamin Netanyahu about the implications of the virus on the economy and the ability of Israeli society to tolerate and adhere to the strict measures, Minister of Health Rabbi Litzman said, "We pray and hope that Christ comes before Easter, to save us from all the calamities in the world."
In light of the crisis in forming the government, which was exacerbated by the outbreak of the Corona virus, Netanyahu seemed cautious not to direct the direct accusations of the ultra-orthodox - his supporters in forming the government - of not adhering to the measures of prevention, and merely urged them to abide by the instructions while preserving Talmudic prayers and biblical teachings.
The same position was expressed by President of the "Blue White" Benny Gantz, who directed a direct invitation to the two ultra-Orthodox streams supporting Netanyahu's "Shas", Sephardic of the East, and the "Judaism" of the Lithuanians of Ashkenazi origin, to join his government.
| Eliyahu Kaufman: We abide by the teachings of the Torah, not civil legislation (Al-Jazeera) |
Rabbi Eliyahu Kaufman, who is affiliated with the "Haredi" movement, believes that the debate over the Haredi’s lack of commitment to the precautionary instructions and measures to prevent the spread of the Corona virus, "is inseparable from the essence of the conflict in Israeli society between Zionism and the Judaism of the state."
He also considered Litzman's attempt to use the Torah and prayers and wait for Christ as a savior from the epidemic, "an indication of his failure to manage the crisis and his political ambitions to remain in the Netanyahu government."
"The truth of the debate lies in the Judaism of the state and the government according to biblical legislation, and the Haredi rejected the Zionist principles that contradict the teachings of the Torah and the Jewish religion that prohibit the sweeping closure of synagogues, or prohibits the teaching of the Torah or the influence on the spiritual relationship between the individual and the Creator," Kaufman said in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net.
It is noted that "the various streams of the Haredim - and unlike the new religious Zionist movement represented by the coalition of the extreme right parties - prefer to work according to the teachings and principles of the Torah and the prayers that are the basis for preserving the integrity of the world, not according to the civil laws enacted by the Knesset."
He also notes that "large sectors of Israeli society do not adhere to the precautionary instructions and measures to prevent the spread of the Corona virus, both secular and some politicians, but without direct accusation. In contrast, when one religious person violates any directives, he accuses the various streams and sectors of the Haredi."
He cites in his speech what Minister Tzahi Hanegbi did not adhere to his quarantine, and violated the instructions and entered the Knesset, adding that the beaches and public parks "are crowded with secular Jews, without any government official criticizing this behavior and without being accused of causing the virus to spread."
He concluded by saying, "The Haredi in Europe and America responded to the authorities' request there and closed the synagogues and biblical religious institutes, as they do not clash with their beliefs with the ruling authority as the situation in Israel, as they clash with the political conflict and the contradiction between Judaism, secularism and Zionism."