Chief Rabbi Harav Yitzchak Yosef wrote a letter on Thursday instructing people to be stringent in fulfilling the Health Ministry’s instructions and regard them as halacha.
Harav Yosef also wrote that: “according to the request of Israel Police, there should be no mass tefillah gathering at the Kosel at this stage. Instead, each man and woman should daven near their homes until the fury passes and there will be rachamim from Shamayim.”
“Large shuls should also not hold tefillahs with a large tzibur but should divide the tzibur in a way that will accord with the Health Ministry’s instructions,” Harav Yosef added.
“Regarding weddings, they should not be pushed off under any circumstances and should be held on time in a minimized way according to instructions.”
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“In accordance with the situation and in light of the risk of the spread of the coronavirus… we must plead with Hakadosh Baruch Hu in tefillah that He will stop the mageifah and will stand up from the Kisei H’Din and sit on the Kisei H’Rachamim, to plead for the cholim and for the mageifah to be stopped. At the time of ‘petichas ha’heichal’ it’s appropriate to say Tehillim and a special tefillah that we wrote regarding halting the mageifah and the healing of the sick.
“Since there have been many inquiries with different shailos regarding the related halachos, I have come forward to clarify that there is no halachic ruling which supersedes the Health Ministry’s instructions,” Harav Yosef stressed. “The only halachic ruling on this issue is to completely adhere to all the Health Ministry’s instructions without any exception and any of their instructions is like a halachic ruling for every matter.
“Our Torah is a Toras Chaim and commands us ‘V’nishmartem Meod L’Nafshoseichem.’ The Torah also says: ‘V’Chai Bahem’ and and the Chachamim explained in Yomah 85: ‘And you shouldn’t die for them. And therefore pikuach nefesh is docheh the entire Torah…”
“The Tosfos already wrote (Bava Kama 23:71): ‘A person should be even more careful not to harm others than avoid harming himself’ and surely included in the prohibition to harm his friend, is also the obligation to prevent a situation which is liable to infect his friend with an illness, chas v’shalom.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
until the fury passes Has this fury come because of:-
1) The obstinacy of Lieberman to form a coalition and government, to force the MK’s into settling into a coalition?
2) The insistence of the NY state department for Yeshivas to have 7 hours each day of their secular studies, so now with this Corona Mageifo, schools are closed and their subjects are being taught zero hours?
147, the words of chazal about current recipients of the powers of prophecy do not need to be reinforced.
To 147
Is this how we make silly assumptions out of heshbonos HKBH?
Reshoyim afilu a’pischa d’gehenom ainum chozrim
As we cannot visit the Makom HaMikdash, we should perform the high-level Mitzvah of learning about the Bais HaMikdash HaShlishi YVBV”A [Sefer Yechezkel/Ezekiel, Chap. 40-43]:
https://ourspecialmitzvah.org/
https://ourspecialmitzvah.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Key-to-Prophesy.pdf
A few people have pushed off weddings in eretz yisroel until after sukkos. They don’t want to get married with only 10 people in attendance and we can’t judge. These people have waited their whole lives for their wedding day:(