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In addition to the swastika, pictures of Shira Banki, who was murdered by an ultra-Orthodox man while attending the 2015 Jerusalem Pride Parade were also strewn about at the entrance to the synagogue.

In a statement, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the vandalism a "grave act of hatred and incitement."

He said: "Such contempt for the holy of holies in Israel, including the criminal use of the picture of the young woman who was murdered, Shira Banki, is a contemptible and evil act. We will not remain silent. The police will hold the perpetrators accountable and we will settle the score with them. Ahead of the [Hebrew] month of Elul [in which Jews repent in spiritual preparation for the High Holidays], the Jewish people must come together and show blind love to one another."

Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev condemned the incident on Twitter, saying: "The vandals who vandalized the synagogue in Bnei Brak with swastikas and further dared to defile the image of Shira Banki, a girl who was full of light, beauty, and love of the other, we will get our hands on you and you will pay the price. For shame!"

Worshippers at the synagogue were in a state of shock, representatives for Rabbi Asher Landau, who heads the synagogue, said in a statement.

Noting many worshippers at Young Israel are Holocaust survivors, they said the synagogue had raised the banner of unity and rapprochement and its worshippers included congregants from many different ethnic backgrounds and circles of life.

"Rabbi Landau calls on everyone to respect and love one another and to honor the sanctity of the Torah and the land, and he added he expects this shocking and unfortunate incident to be condemned by all rabbis and leaders in a dialogue that contributes to unity and not, heaven forbid, sectarianism.

United Torah Judaism MK Yakov Asher said the "unruly hooliganism and spray painting of swastikas at the synagogue in Bnei Brak on Shabbat are the rotten fruits of ongoing and unrestrained incitement against anything that smells like Judaism, and Haredim are dripping in it. I hope I succeed in advancing the amendment to the anti-racism law so that inciters are punished and effective deterrence is created."

Yaakov Vider, chairman of the Bnei Brak Municipality's Likud faction, said: "We take the incident very seriously! Spray painting swastikas on a Zionist synagogue in the city is reminiscent of very dark days in the Jewish people's history."

Vider said he expected the Israel Police to quickly handle the incident so that those responsible for the incident are quickly caught and face the full severity of the law."

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The Jewish world in the age of coronavirus – A special Israel Hayom project

Part XVI: The unlikely alliance of soldiers and Haredim during the pandemic 

The relationship between the secular and the ultra-Orthodox sector in Israel has always been strained. But thanks to the coronavirus, the two parties are starting to be exposed to each more, and therefore understand each other better.

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Israel instituted its first lockdown in March. Soldiers were stationed all over the country to enforce the Health Ministry guidelines.

"As soon as the IDF soldiers came to Bnei Brak, the dynamics of the relationship between them and the Haredim changed," explains Ben Barber, a public activist and member of the Bobov Hassidic dynasty.

"The Haredi community has come to understand the coronavirus better, and the soldiers were exposed to the religious community and learned how much they support each other.

"Because the two parties interacted directly, and not through the media, each one changed the way they thought about the other."

Barber aims to ease the ever-present tension between the ultra-Orthodox and secular population in order to create a better communication with the government.

"When two sides do not understand each other, it is only natural that there will be tension between them. We need to remember that we are all brothers and each one has its own unique way. I believe that in the long run, this idea will seep into the depths of our consciousness. There is a great opportunity right in front of us."

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United Hatzalah officials on Tuesday condemned the arson attack on its COVID-19 testing station in Bnei Brak perpetrated the day before, calling it "unacceptable" and "deeply saddening."

The station was burned down shortly after 10 p.m. on Monday evening, causing material damage but no casualties.

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Effi Feldman, head of United Hatzalah's Bnei Brak chapter, said that while everyone was entitled to their beliefs, "burning down a corona testing station, or any other act of violence, is unacceptable. Aside from the destruction caused, which came at no small cost to an organization 100 percent supported by donations, these extremists are preventing other people who wish to get tested from doing so, and that, too, is unacceptable."

The destroyed equipment, he said, would be replaced as soon as possible.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Kanievsky came under fire in the first COVID wave for refusing to order yeshivas to close their doors, although he later changed his stance.

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Meanwhile, ongoing mass demonstrations outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem have caused a number of Hassidic sects in Israel to turn their backs on public health regulations put in place to stem the tide of coronavirus, Health Ministry officials told Israel Hayom this week.

"We don't get into politics, but we can say one thing – if the protesters wanted to cause anarchy, they succeeded," one official said.

"A Haredi person says, 'If protests are a right, then prayer with the rebbe is also a right – it can save the world.' People believe that by learning Torah and praying, they are saving the world. Truth be told, we are running out of tools with which to handle some parts of the Haredi public who are refusing to follow the instructions," the official said.

Avi Blumenthal, who is in charge of outreach for the Haredi sector in the Health Ministry, explains that the ministry is trying to touch on these arguments in its contact with the sector.

"We tell that there are sacred values, but if they put someone's life in danger because you were walking around without a mask, no prayer will help," Blumenthal says.

After police officers clashed with Vizhnitz Hassidim in Bnei Brak on Tuesday, an event that ended when Vizhnitzer Rebbe in Bnei Brak Yisroel Hager spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone, the Health Ministry is preparing for more clashes after Haredi residents of Modi'in Illit protested the ban on public gatherings, and some people in the sector continue to refuse to wear masks.

"We intend to take a harsher tone in our outreach. If thus far the dialogue was friendly, new we intend to take an aggressive tone – accusations of murder and taking human lives for those who don't follow the instructions," Blumenthal.

"You need to understand, the is a lot of discontent in the Haredi communities that follow the rules and look at the people who ignore them. You can see the numbers, 30% of the confirmed cases are among Haredim. They understand that the situation is very serious, so the ones who follow the rules are getting very upset," he adds.

The Bnei Brak event may have been a watershed event. Unusually, the rebbe himself left the premises to face off against the police who arrived to break up the traditional "tish," which violated COVID regulations both by the number of people who were gathered at the sect's main synagogue and their failure to wear masks.

"They should prepare for an all-out war. We should have been prepared to prevent them [the police] from coming into the study hall," the rebbe fumed. He also ordered his Hassidim to open mikvehs, against Health Ministry orders.

"I will not allow mikvehs, synagogues, and schools to be closed," he declared.

Netanyahu spoke with the Vizhnitzer rebbe and presented him with the facts and figures about COVID in the Haredi population and explained the government's policy.

A source in the Hassidic community told Israel Hayom that the issue was a particularly sensitive one: "No one wants to be the first rebbe who closes down prayers and tishes. A rebbe who doesn't hold a tish for two months will lose his followers," the source said

On Wednesday, Health Ministry Director-General Hezi Levy told members of the Haredi media in a Zoom meeting that one-third of new confirmed COVID cases were among the country's Haredi population.

Levy also said he would not be surprised if the number of cases continued to rise in that sector due to illegal gatherings, such as a celebration by Vizhnitz Hassidim at the end of Yom Kippur. Police intervened to break up the event, sparking the aforementioned clashes.

"Gatherings like the ones we've seen that violate the Health Ministry guidelines can cause the virus to spread and more cases," Levy said.

Levy also addressed concerns that Israel would not see herd immunity, either among its Haredi population or the population at large.

"Herd immunity is not something we want … We haven't seen that it did much in countries that took that approach. It didn't reduce mortality," Levy told the media.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Roni Numa, who has been appointed to oversee the government's handling of COVID in the Haredi sector, has expressed concern about a spike in cases after Sukkot, which begins on Friday. After the Sukkot holiday, Haredi schools are expected to re-open.

In meetings this week, Numa said he expected to see a jump in new COVID cases among Haredi Israelis in the next few weeks as a result of the mass prayers in some synagogues on Yom Kippur. Numa praised the many Haredi communities who followed the public health restrictions, but said that many localities had handled themselves badly. Numa pointed out one synagogue in his own neighborhood of Ramat Gan, where he said worshippers gathered inside, as well as the Great Vizhnitz Synagogue in Bnei Brak, into which some 3,000 Hassidim crowded on Yom Kippur.

"That's much better than the 6,000 who pray there on normal days, but still, it's very bad," Numa said.

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Unlike most of Israel's coronavirus fatalities, Torchin did not suffer from pre-existing medical conditions. He was hospitalized at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center – Ichilov Hospital, where his condition declined rapidly starting Monday evening when he was both put on a ventilator and an ECMO machine.

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Torchin, a resident of Bnei Brak, served as head of the Ohr Yitzhak Yeshiva in Yehud. He was the son of Rabbi Yona Torchin, the chief rabbi of Yehud.

Torchin's students described him as friendly and said he reached out to them. Speaking to the ultra-Orthodox news site Kikar Hashabbat, Rafi Ohana said that "the rabbi got to the boys' hearts, especially boys who were having a hard time. I have no doubt that thanks to him, hundreds of boys stayed in the world of the Torah and raised families of Torah scholars."

Relatives said that Torchin was "devoted to others" and had lived "simply and modestly."

Torchin was laid to rest in Bnei Brak. A number of his family members and students attended the funeral, while observing social distancing guidelines.

"He was at his peak. The Lord took him because he wanted him. A public sacrifice," his father, Rabbi Yona, said at the ceremony.

"What has God done to us, such a precious soul. A dear, wise scholar. And gentle," the bereaved father said.

One of Torchin's sons said, "Dad, I didn't prepare a eulogy. Who would have thought of having one ready? We can't believe it – [For] 48 years you prepared, you achieved what people don't manage in 120. You didn't leave anything undone. There were never any worries. You never let anyone see that it was hard or you were hurting.

"I called Dad on Saturday night [after Passover], and I spoke with him. He was weak. It was hard for him to talk. He asked how seder night had been and said: 'Keep being happy, the kids shouldn't be sad during Passover,'" the son said. 

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According to updated figures released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday morning, 149 people are in critical condition, of these 117 are on ventilators. Across the country, 189 patients are in moderate condition and about 8,000 are experiencing mild symptoms. Thus far, 683 Israelis have recovered and have been released home. Some 820 people are currently quarantined in converted hotels and another 6,484 at home. 

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On Tuesday evening, a 37-year-old man died due to complications from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. The man, who had pre-existing medical conditions which made him more prone to the illness, is the youngest Israeli to have died so far from the pandemic. In the week leading up to his death, he was connected to a ventilator.

Three more deaths were reported Tuesday morning. A man in his 90s who had been living in a nursing home passed away at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon after he was hospitalized about a week ago in critical condition. At Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov) a 95-year-old woman died due to complications from pre-existing conditions, and at Hasharon Hospital in Petah Tikva an 80-year-old patient, also with pre-existing conditions, died after being on a ventilator for several weeks.

HaEmek Medical Center in Afula reported there are 24 coronavirus patients in the hospital's isolated wing, among them an 85-year-old man in critical condition with a  history of pre-existing ailments. The hospital said six patients are in moderate condition and 17 in mild condition.

Wolfson hospital also said it was treating 21 coronavirus patients, two supported by ventilators and in medically induced comas, nine in moderate condition and the rest in mild condition.

Meanwhile, Prof. Itamar Grotto, deputy director of the Health Ministry, told Kan News on Tuesday morning that "Israel's situation is good from the perspective of the spread of the coronavirus. There isn't a significant rise in the number of severe cases. Our mortality rate is among the lowest in the world."

Grotto addressed the situation in Bnei Brak, saying that: "As of now thousands of tests have been administered there and hundreds of sick people have been identified." At the moment, he said, testing in the city was less crucial than finding other potential hotbeds of the virus.

Also on Tuesday, the cabinet finalized the newest measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Beginning Tuesday at 3 p.m. until Saturday night at 8 p.m. the government is expected to ban movement between cities. From Wednesday at 2 p.m., just before Passover begins that evening, until 7 a.m. on Thursday, Israelis will have to stay within a radius of 100 meters (330 ft.) of their homes.

Grotto told Army Radio on Tuesday that "it still isn't clear when the general lockdown will end."

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On Wednesday, Rabbi Akiva St, the city's 5th Avenue, was nearly empty. So were the other streets.

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 "The city has gotten used to the new reality, albeit late," says Avraham Kagan, who lives in central Bnei Brak.

"For example, look at the advertising leaflets that are stuffed in mailboxes. They're all full of ads for Passover sales, but each ad has a circle saying that the store is shut and offers delivery only. There are also a lot of ads about one-time holiday sales by shop owners who are stuck with a huge amount of stock but have no customers," Kagan says.

Meanwhile, prayers in public or at synagogues was officially stopped as of Sunday, when Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky announced that no prayer minyans must take place in the city.

In effect, as of Wednesday, a small group of worshippers was still trying to flout the instructions. A riot even broke out on Dessler St. when a few worshippers who entered a synagogue for morning prayers were greeted with shouts of "Murderers! Murderers!" aimed at them from nearby balconies, as well as threats to call the police. City workers welded shut the doors of a synagogue on Hashomer St. that belongs to the extremist Jerusalem Faction sect, which was still trying to hold minyans there.

'The majority are being careful'

"But even with the Jerusalem Faction, most people are being careful," says Yehuda Rapaport, who lives in the west of the city.

"At the funeral of the sect leader on Saturday night, there were hundreds of people, and they caught it. [On Tuesday] there was another funeral for the wife of a well-known rabbi from the 'Faction,' and it took place according to regulations," Rapaport adds.

"You need to realize that most [Bnei Brak] residents aren't online and don't listen to the radio," says ultra-Orthodox journalist Yisrael Cohen, also a resident of the city.

"They don't know about the Health Ministry regulation. Last week a few police cars went through the city, warning people, and it worked. Now everyone is staying home," Cohen says.

Shlomo Margaliot, who heads a Chabad synagogue in Bnei Brak, says that he and his family have not left their home in two weeks except to shop for food.

"When we saw what was happening in Crown Heights in Brooklyn, we internalized that the situation could get very complicated very quickly, and we kept at home. Still, we're Chabadniks, so we're informed, and this week we saw for the first time that the rest of our haredi neighbors don't understand how serious this story is. We explained how dangerous it was. There are those who understood and those who didn't," he says.

According to Margaliot, as of last Saturday there were still prayer minyans in the streets, but starting Sunday, after rabbis banned prayers in a minyan, "it was over."

People are disciplined, he says. "It's just that until last week, they didn't understand the extent of the problem. In my opinion, there is now no need to quarantine Bnei Brak. The residents aren't stupid, and the moment they realized the situation, they behaved like everyone else in the country. You don't see people in the streets," Margaliot says.

In Bnei Brak, like other haredi cities, an alternative has been found to minyans: Prayers on balconies, each worshipper from his own home. One resident of Hashomer St. put a giant loudspeaker on his balcony for afternoon prayers.

In the city's Pardes Katz neighborhood, two residents who ventured out to purchase food for the weekend, wearing masks, were arguing about the preparations the city was making.

"The city was too late in taking up the reins. At first, they dismissed the regulations, they didn't think it would be serious. Now, Bnei Brak leads in the number of corona cases," argued Shlomo Benin.

Benin's friend Kobi Anavi explained that the residents were cut off from the media: "Most of the people didn't know what was happening in the world, didn't realize lives were at risk."

But both men agree that this Passover, which begins on the evening of Wednesday, April 8, will be the most unusual one the city has known.

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This might not be a popular opinion these days, but Litzman has been a good health minister. He has boosted the list of government-subsidized medications by millions of shekels; added medical equipment; built hospitals; introduced reforms that benefit the elderly and programs like subsidized dental treatment for children. Now, in the midst of a global pandemic, a pandemic that will go down in history, a pandemic that has wreaked havoc in powerful Italy and Spain, the healthcare system in little Israel is in good shape. If there were thousands of bodies here, you would be blaming Litzman, wouldn't you? But there aren't, so give him some credit.

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You don't agree? That's fine, but tell the absolute truth – isn't the criticism of Litzman especially venomous because of his Yiddish, his beard, and his attire? The criticism of him indicates something about the public's feeling about everything that is happening in haredi city of Bnei Brak. There is a feeling that it goes beyond concern for the city's residents themselves. The discourse about Bnei Brak reeks of prejudice.

 If there had been an outbreak in the relatively secular Givatayim, no one would call the residents "polluted" or "infected," or call to "lock them up in their ghetto."

One young haredi man tweeted on Thursday: "I went to a supermarket in a non-religious area. I was standing in line, with everyone, myself included, keeping a distance of two meters or more. An old man who was standing in front of me with his wife turned to me and complained that I was too close to him. I told him I was more than two meters away, just like everyone else. He answered, 'Yes, but you're haredi. You need to stay farther away.'"

 Even if the criticism is just, the venom is dangerous.

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The move came hours after the cabinet approved emergency measures that allow the state to effectively put the city, which is one of the poorest and most dense in Israel, under quarantine in an attempt to contain its high infection rate. 

The unprecedented step was taken due to unsuccessful efforts to make its residents comply with the nation-wide shelter-at-home ordinances that had been introduced earlier this month. 

Dozens of roadblocks were set up on major arteries in the city environs, with at least 1,000 officers taking part in the operation, using drones and various technological means to prevent non-residents from entering the city. 

Starting Sunday, the IDF will be put in charge of the quarantine on the haredi city, which was ‎placed under strict lockdown on Friday morning, top officials decided Friday in a meeting with Prime Minister ‎Benjamin Netanyahu.‎

Maj. Gen. (res.) Roni Numa will oversee the logistics of having the Israel Police – which operate under ‎the Public Security Ministry, not the Defense Ministry – enforce health regulations under the ‎command of the IDF Home Front Command.‎

City residents were told they would not be allowed to leave, except in the rarest of circumstances, and that food and medical supplies would be provided all through the Friday and Saturday, to make sure the residents – the overwhelming majority of whom – are ultra-Orthodox, could properly observe Shabbat

Israel had more than 6,800 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Friday morning, with at least 36 patients who had succumbed to the respiratory disease linked to the outbreak, COVID-19. Some 340 patients have recovered, but several dozen remain in serious condition. 

According to the new directives for Bnei Brak residents living in restricted areas, a person can only leave, among other reasons, to receive vital medical care unavailable in the city; attend legal proceedings requiring his or her presence; a funeral of a first-degree relative; or to transfer a minor whose parents live separately. Conversely, the only people allowed to enter a restricted area are, among others, on-duty paramedics, police, IDF soldiers and other emergency service providers. Permanent residents of such areas are also permitted to enter, as are social workers and welfare officials; journalists with the proper government-issued credentials; electricity, water and sanitation workers; and people transferring a minor whose parents live separately.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered into self-isolation on Thursday after Health Minister Yakov Litzman tested positive for the virus. Litzman had been meeting with key with Israeli officials leading up to the diagnosis, forcing a whole slew of key aides to go into self-isolation, including the Health Ministry's director general. 

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The scrolls, worth tens of thousands of dollars, were stolen on June 10 from the Orot Hatorah synagogue on Rabbi Akiva Street, one of the oldest synagogues in the city which was used by the famed Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, the Chazon Ish.

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The synagogue itself was vandalized, with holy books strewn across the floor.

The scrolls were located in a barn housing sheep in the Palestinian town of Aqraba. Five men in their 20s from Aqraba and east Jerusalem have been arrested in connection with the theft.

A hunting rifle, ammunition and fireworks – which are often used as weapons due to their explosive capabilities – were also discovered in the barn.

The scrolls will be returned to the synagogue following a police investigation.

This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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