The coronavirus outbreak has forced Jewish communities around the world to adjust to the new reality, making the practice of Judaism that much harder – and dangerous.
An Israel Hayom reporter received updates from the Israeli Foreign Ministry on how Jews around the world were dealing with the situation and decided to check for himself what local Jewish leaders had to say on this sudden crisis.
In the UK, the almost-total lockdown that was announced earlier this week meant than British Jews had to be extra vigilant.
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"We managed to adapt rather quickly," the director of public affairs for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Philip Rosenberg, told Israel Hayom.
"Online prayer services have now become more popular with all streams," he noted, adding that a group of volunteers has been in charge of helping older Jews with grocery shopping and food.
He added that there was particular concern over the fact that many older Jews live in London, which is the UK's largest cluster of the virus.
French Jews have been particularly outraged over Israel's decision to shut its borders, which forced many to cancel their visits.
In France itself, the virus has been a source of concern for the Jewish community because it led to the death of a principal of a Jewish school, and to the hospitalization of the president of the Israelite Central Consistory of France, the state-founded organization in charge of coordinating religious matters for Jews. He is now in serious condition. Strasbourg's chief rabbi has also been diagnosed with the virus.
Ruth Dureghello, the president of Rome's Jewish community, said Italy's Jews have never had to deal with a crisis of such magnitude over the past 100 years except for World War II.
She noted that the lack of medical equipment for old-age homes and various Jewish institutions have made things particularly hard.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the UJA-Federation of New York (UJA) said it would give more than 23 million dollars in "immediate financial aid" to help New Yorkers cope with the impact of the outbreak.
"This first round of grants is a critical part of UJA's broad effort to support the most vulnerable New Yorkers during this crisis," UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric S. Goldstein said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry told Israel Hayom that it maintains close contact with the Jewish communities around the world. "Israel's representatives abroad constantly engage them, participate in emergency discussions (via the app 'Zoom') and help resolve specific matters that arise," Director for Jewish Communities Hamutal Rogel said.
