The main narrative upon which the entire ultra-Orthodox society is based has suffered a serious blow in recent weeks.
The average ultra-Orthodox citizen sanctifies learning the Torah and heeding its commandments, treating it as an all important social principle. But due to the coronavirus epidemic, this most basic pillar of ultra-Orthodox society has now been infected.
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Police officers enforcing coronavirus regulations in the ultra-Orthodox area of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem
(Photo: Getty Images)
The members of this community are used to living in small, crowded apartments more so than any other sector of the population.
They are also much less informed, less aware and less exposed to the abundance of online information out of fear of what they see as negative content.
They also closely and proudly follow the instructions of their rabbis and will do anything their spiritual mentors order, while proudly quoting the commandment “and you will do as ordered.”
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Police officers enforcing coronavirus regulations in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak
On March 12, the state decided to close down all educational institutions. On that same evening, a video began circling among the ultra-Orthodox population, showing 92-year-old Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the most prominent leaders of the Lithuanian Haredi population, and his grandson Yanki.
“The country wants to shut down all Torah studies untl they know what to do about this plague,” says Yanki in the video. “They say that when children gather in the same room there is a greater chance of infection. My question is this: does my grandfather think all Torah studies should stop?”
Rabbi Kanievsky answers quickly and clearly: "God forbid.”
While the rabbi is a rare genius, recalling texts by heart and possessing uncanny teaching abilities, he has no knowledge of the world of epidemiology or how the coronavirus spreads, its infection rates, or any other detail regarding this pandemic.
The average Haredi is a victim of a situation in which a supplicant seeks the counsel of a great rabbi, but manipulates the rabbi to give the answer he wants.
The supplicant isn’t evil; all he wants is to maintain the Haredi way of life. After all most members of the ultra-Orthodox community believe that the Torah takes precedent - and sometimes that demands a price.
And so, tens of thousands of Haredi students gathered to continue their studies. Those suffering from coronavirus symptoms were not isolated and the masses remained uninformed about the disease.
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Police officers enforcing coronavirus regulations in the ultra-Orthodox area of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem
(Photo: Getty Images)
The coronavirus has attacked the ultra-Orthodox population in a most tragic manner. The members of the Haredi community are our brothers and sisters and the average person is not at fault for this grave situation.
There are still those in the ultra-Orthodox community who have not yet understood how to behave in these troubled times. The government needs to use all the tools in its disposal to provide this information and make it applicable to their way of life.
The social introspection will happen on its own. It is hard to believe that the ultra-Orthodox community won’t go experience change in the coming years, for after an emergency of this magnitude, it has no other choice.