Tuesday March 17, 2020 – כא 'אדר תש"פ URGENT PLEA FROM THE רבני העיר שליט"א
LOCAL PHYSICIANS and HATZOLAH OF CENTRAL JERSEY
The Rabbonim have been inundated with calls from very concerned members of our kehillah as how to proceed in these tumultuous times. In truth, these are very concerning times on many different levels. Hkb”h is truly testing us on many levels and we require rachamei shomayim merubim.
We would thus like to bring some of our insight to the general public. The Novel Covid19 Virus, is a brand- new virus which has not been seen prior to a few months ago. This virus has had devastating affects throughout the world. In some countries the death and destruction has been horrific. Hundreds of deaths per day, hospitals are overwhelmed and have no beds, staff and equipment. In some countries, patients as young as 60 are not being given respirators and sadly being left to die.
Other countries have taken extremely aggressive steps to lock down the country and the result has been far better and clearly saved thousands of lives. A group of doctors from Lakewood ran the projections of what has happened in other places similar to Lakewood and the results are frightening. Compounded is the fact that our hospitals are almost full to capacity as it is, and additional cases of the virus can completely overwhelm the system. We must make sure that we stop preventable deaths. We have spoken to frum Infectious Disease specialists who said that if we do not take drastic precautions the risk of death R”L is staggeringly high.
The only way to stop this is by ceasing the social contact with other people!
As such, we feel that unnecessary social interaction is a question of pikuach nefashos mamish!
Hand washing with soap and warm water is vital before and after any interactions.
Non- essential retail establishments should only do deliveries and curb side drop off. Groceries and pharmacies should also only do deliveries unless absolutely necessary for patrons to go in. In those essential stores, if one needs to be there, care must be taken to avoid interactions and/or touching items such as carts etc.
No one should be attending simchos besides the immediate family within the proper guidelines suggested.
Any elderly and immuno-compromised patients should not attend Shul or any social gatherings at all.
Anyone not feeling well should be sure to stay away from any social events interactions including Shuls of course.
The only way a Shul may stay open is if the following guidelines can be followed, and ensured. Mispallelim should be approximately 6 feet from one another on all sides. All areas must be cleaned and sterilized after each tefilah. There should be staggered minyanim to ensure that these can be followed. If you’re concerned or unsure please stay home, chamirah sakantah! THIS SHOULD ONLY BE DONE IF THE INDIVIDUAL RAV TAKES ACHRAYUS THAT THIS IS STRICLTY ADHERED TO.
If Rebbeim learn with the Talmidim in their homes they should be aware of the following. The Infectious Disease specialists state that this can have a devastating spread of the illness R”L. If an individual Rebbe finds an appropriate location with suitable spacing and ensures the proper distancing and sanitizing as detailed above, this would be on the achrayus of this individual Rebbe.
PLEASE DO ALL THAT IS POSSIBLE TO CONTINUE TO LEARN BY PHONE.
The Rabbonim are following the guidelines set forth by the Health Department, should their recommendations become more stringent so will ours.
It is a time to be mechazek in Torah and Tefilah so that Hashem will have rachmanus on us during this eis tzarah.
In the z’chus of following the directives of the Torah and making our hishtadlus to do what is required of us, we will certainly see the Rachamei Shomayim and end to these dark times.
Signatures in formation
Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen Rav Chaim Mayer Roth Rav Uri Deutch Rav Avrohom Spitzer
Rav Moshe Rotberg Rav Moshe Chaim Kahan Rav Moshe Peretz Schwartz Rav Yosef Zimbal
Rav Yosef Fund Rav Daniel Neustadt Rav Boruch Yehudah Rabinowitz Rav Yitzchok Oelbaum
Rav Yosef Greenfeld Rav Micha Cohn Rav Moshe Kanner Rav Zev Fund Rav Mayer Turin
Rav Shaul Simcha Friedman
Dr. Howard Lebowitz Dr. Reuven Shanik Dr. Jonathon Cohen Dr Allen Lempel
Dr. D Lapidus Dr. Daniel Roth Dr. Mordechai Tarlow
On Behalf of Hatzolah of Central Jersey
Dr. Shimshi Zimmerman
Yitzchok S. Meyer Avrohom M. Muller Meir Lichtenstein Yoel Tesser
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