In the past few days and weeks, we have all experienced shocking changes in our day-to-day lives. As our spiritual leaders, you have been on the front lines. You’ve made difficult decisions about canceling Bnei Mitzvahs and restricting attendance at life-cycle events, you’ve adapted prayer services and study sessions to take place online, you’ve helped…
Shabbat was not canceled in Teaneck, N.J. this past weekend — but it was radically altered. When I first found out that the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County had shuttered area synagogues in an unprecedented move to help “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic, I was pleased with their leadership. The rabbis’ ban on…
The Jewish world is going online as schools, synagogues and Jewish community centers close down across the country in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. To keep Jewish learning and life alive for the next several months, clergy and educators are using what already exists on the internet or coming up with new…
One of the most important concepts in Judaism is pikuach nefesh, the principle that preserving life trumps almost every other religious rule. Accordingly, in response to the coronavirus, rabbis across the country are doing what had previously been unimaginable – telling community members not to come to Shabbat services in order to slow the spread…
Vera Koppel, 84-year old Holocaust survivor and resident of New Rochelle, is something of a local community organizer. She was born in Budapest, moved to the United States after the 1956 Hungarian revolution, and today is an active member of the Young Israel of New Rochelle, where she runs the “Ruach” weekly group for senior…
Synagogues across the country have taken steps to limit Shabbat services and other religious events after governors of three of the states with the largest Jewish populations announced bans on large gatherings. View an updated list of streaming services here. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a ban on gatherings of 500 or more…
New Rochelle High School was almost lifeless on Thursday. A school normally filled with more than 3,000 students was empty, the front gates tightly shut with a chain and a lock. But around the back of the school was a sign of life that is emblematic of these strange times — men and women in…
With rabbis and public health officials warning against participating in Jewish life activities due to the spread of coronavirus many are wondering how to have an active Jewish life amongst the many cancelations and advisories. We will be updating this guide with resources as they become available. (Last updated 3/16 2:11 p.m.) As a public…
The Yeshiva University basketball team did everything possible to protect themselves. After a second-round victory in the NCAA Division III tournament Saturday night — the best result in school history — the team decamped to Long Island rather than returning to the Manhattan campus, which had been partially shut down because a student tested positive…
The United States has seen nearly 1,000 cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus, which the World Health Organization characterized Wednesday as a pandemic — and the biggest outbreak in the U.S. is in Jewish community of New Rochelle, N.Y., just outside New York City. Also among the infected: a Jewish non-profit professional in Cleveland, several attendees…
The first Jewish coronavirus case was announced on March 3, but as early as January, Jews have been blamed online for spreading the virus, said Alex Friedfeld, an investigative researcher at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. Jonathan Sarna, a professor of Jewish-American History at Brandeis University, said this latest public health-related conspiracy theory reflects…
