Professor Eliyahu Sorkin, the head of the ICU in Ma’anyei Hayeshuah Hospital of Bnei Brak, had to take a difficult step for a Lubavitcher chassid in the fight against the coronavirus – he shaved his beard so his protective mask would fit properly.

As Dr. Sorkin said on an interview with Channel 12 News, he’s now on the battlefront against the coronavirus, tending to extremely ill coronavirus patients all day, and at the age of 72, he’s in a high-risk group himself.

Dr. Sorkin was told by medical authorities that he had to shave his beard in order for his protective mask to properly fit on his face. After consulting with Chabad Rabbanim, he was given permission to shave his beard, which he did with tears running down his face.

In the interview, he said that “it was a very difficult blow and I cried like a child.” The secular interviewer seemed puzzled. “Can you explain why you cried like a child?”

“Because I’m Chabad chassid and the significance of a beard in Chabad is one of the most essential foundations of Yahadus,” Prof. Sorkin replied. “There are many explanations in the sifrei Kodesh, in the Zohar, and that’s why I felt that way.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)