In New York, some neighborhoods have been more affected by the coronavirus: those where communities of Hasidic Jews are concentrated. This is the case in Brooklyn, near Crown Heights, Borough Park or Williamsburg. So much so that the city’s health authorities have publicly expressed concern about a more marked spread of the virus within these communities.
Smells of anti-Semitism
Several reasons can explain it. First, an essentially communalist way of life, with more limited access to the means of communication. Then, parties took place after the first social distancing guidelines were issued. Firefighters, for example, had to intervene in Williamsburg to interrupt a wedding, worried about the presence of 200 guests. And in Crown Heights, where the world headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitcher community is located, the big Purim festival, which took place on March 9 and 10, was likely a factor in the spread of the virus.
The subject is delicate. Since March 22, the whole of New York State has been placed in containment. Synagogues and schools have also closed in these areas. The rabbis have multiplied the calls to respect the instructions. On March 18, the leading rabbis of Satmar even pointed out that those over 60 and those in poor health could be exempted from public prayer and ritual baths. But the first reports gave off hints of anti-Semitism. A firefighter, for example, spread insults on social networks, describing the Jews as “dirty”, convinced that they did not knowingly respect the health directives.
False, replies Meyer Labin in an opinion published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “A vicious rumor claims that Hasidic Jews do not take the pandemic seriously because we are selfish. But as someone born and raised in the Satmar community of Williamsburg, who now lives in Jerusalem and writes for Yiddish publications, I can say that is wrong. There are many reasons why the epidemic has been more severe in communities like mine, and the response unfortunately slower. But none of them is related to a lack of attention to others. “
Trauma from the past
For him, the first major problem is access to information: “There is practically no television in Hasidic homes, as well as very limited access to the Internet.” “The second major reason for the rapid spread of the pandemic in our communities is related to physical space and social interactions. The average Hasidic Jew comes into contact with hundreds of community members every day, starting with morning prayers and continuing with community learning, weddings and celebrations. This is especially true on holidays like Purim, which took place this year as the epidemic was just beginning to spread in Israel and the United States. ” Finally, Meyer Labin also evokes the traumas of the past: “The closing of synagogues and schools inevitably brings up dark memories in a community which is made up mainly of descendants of survivors of the Holocaust and the persecution. It is therefore natural that leaders are extremely reluctant to accept such measures. ”
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In 2018, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in New York had already had to deal with another health crisis affecting it particularly: a measles epidemic. Families then refused to have their children vaccinated. The mayor had to declare the neighborhood of Williamsburg in a state of health emergency on April 9, 2018 and impose compulsory vaccination, with the threat of fines of up to $ 1,000. Several nurseries and schools had to be closed, with the United Talmudical Academy refusing to provide documents specifying that those who were not vaccinated had been excluded. Measles was officially eradicated from the United States in 2000.
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