Coronavirus in the United States: scandal over massive ultra-Orthodox Jewish wedding in New York with 7 thousand people

He was held incommunicado at the beginning of November.

The images are shocking: thousands of people dance and sing side by side and without masks in a ultra-orthodox jewish wedding which was secretly celebrated earlier this month in New York. The mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday a $ 15,000 fine against the synagogue for defying restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus.

The temple party Yetev Lev of South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, celebrated the wedding of Yoel Teitelbaum, grandson of Chief Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum of the Hasidic Satmar dynasty, according to the newspaper New York Publish. It took place on November 8 and the temple, which seemed almost full, was capacity for 7000 people.

“What we definitely know is that there were too many people. Whatever the number, if it was hundreds, thousands, it was too crowded, ”said the mayor of New York, where some 25,000 people died of covid-19.

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De Blasio argued that there was “a very conscious effort to hide ‘the marriage from the authorities’, which makes it even more unacceptable.”

The fine of $ 15,000 “is very serious,” he said. De Blasio also threatened to close the synagogue permanently if “inappropriate activity” continued.

Governor Andrew Cuomo noted that the marriage was “a blatant disregard for the law“. “It’s illegal. It was also disrespectful to the people of New York,” he said on Sunday.

The event “clearly violated” restrictions imposed to deal with the pandemic, firefighter spokesman Frank Dwyer said. According to the current rules published by the city, places of worship can hold religious services indoors with a occupancy limited to 50% of its capacity. In addition, attendants from different households must maintain a social distance of two meters or wear face masks, the Post said.

Another wedding for 10,000 people called off

Last month, another wedding with thousands of guests from a rival faction of Satmar, which was due to celebrate the nuptials of a grandson of Chief Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum – Aaron’s brother and foe, according to the Publish– was canceled by the authorities at the last minute.

Part of the ultra-Orthodox community in New York State rejects the use of chin straps and social distancing, and the authorities penalize when they try to make them obey the rules.

In October, several ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods were put on alert by the governor as the infection rate rose. Cuomo decreed the shutdown of non-essential businesses and limited the maximum number of religious temple attendees to 10 people, which caused protests, sometimes violent, from the community, who accused the authorities of being anti-Semitic.

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Fear of a Thanksgiving rocket

The United States faces a second wave and Coronavirus cases on the rise in New York, which has a rate of new positive tests of around 3.1%, although now the biggest source of infection is no longer in Brooklyn but in Staten Island.

Cuomo recalled the impact of the first wave of covid-19 on Tuesday, when New York City was the epicenter of the pandemic, and noted that the state now has one of the lowest infection rates in the United States. United. However, he warned that could change in the face of Thanksgiving Day, which is celebrated this Thursday and brings several family reunion holidays.

The governor has asked the company not to rely solely on the good news of the effectiveness of anti-ovid vaccines and estimates that the United States will begin a vaccination campaign from December 12, because it will take time to vaccinate. many people. “The vaccine will not be there in time to stop an increase in the rate of infection,” he said.