The Jerusalem District Court on Friday upheld a ban on Jewish prayer at Jerusalem's Temple Mount compound, upending a lower court's decision that had sparked fury across the Muslim world.

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Several Israeli officials praised the decision, saying it would prevent disturbances to public order, including Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, who had warned that a change in the status quo at the flashpoint site would "endanger the public peace."

Jews are allowed to visit the site but may not overtly pray or engage in rituals there.

Arie Lipo, an Israeli rabbi, was slapped with a two-week ban from the compound last month after praying there, but last Tuesday, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court struck down the decision, saying Lipo's whispered prayer did "not violate police instructions."

The Israel Police appealed the decision, and Jerusalem District Court judge Arye Romanov on Friday upheld the ban, saying officers had acted "within reason."

"The fact that there was someone who observed Lippo pray is evidence that his prayer was overt," Romanov wrote. "I restore the decision of the police commander."

Palestinians, as well as officials in Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia had condemned the lower court's decision.

This article was first published by i24NEWS

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A book about faith and prayer by Israeli Rabbi Shalom Arush that is popular in Israel has recently been translated into Mandarin, a language spoken by 1.4 billion people worldwide.

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The Universal Garden of Emuna (Hebrew for "faith") was originally written by Arush in Hebrew and for an Israeli audience. Nevertheless, thanks to its universal message, it has since been translated into more than a dozen languages, including Portuguese, German, French, and Russian. 

Arush is the founder of the Chut Shel Chessed religious learning institutions and is a member of the Breslov Hassidic movement, which was founded by Rabbi Nachman in the 18th century. Rabbi Nachman's grave in Uman is a popular pilgrimage site among Breslov followers who travel to the small Ukrainian city every Rosh Hashana. 

The book attempts to answer a variety of life's questions: What is the purpose of life? How to achieve happiness? What is the proper way for a person to live? What does the future have in store for humanity? Will everything be good in the end?

Since The Universal Garden of Emuna was written in Hebrew and for an Israeli audience, the translation into Chinese posed quite a challenge for translator Noam Aurbach, who studied Hebrew and Talmud in China and has a doctorate in Asian studies. 

Certain words and concepts that are common and well-known by Breslov followers and Israelis in general, did not only had to be translated but also explained, like the subject of family purity or hitbodedut, a common Breslov practice of secluding oneself for meditation and prayer to God. 

"I worked on the translation with a Chinese translator named Eden for several years," Aurbach told Israel Hayom. "The process was lengthy and the text was proofread several times. Actually, the first person to read and proofread it was a Chiese convert to Judaism who immigrated to Israel and became a Breslov follower herself." 

With regard to the translation challenges, Aurbach said, "There is a great debate in China over the translation of the word "God," a debate that has divided Chinese churches for years because each is loaded with meaning. We decided to translate "Creator of the World" [as God is referred to in The Universal Guide of Emuna] word for word."

According to Aurbach, the word "Torah" was not easy to translate either. One option was to translate it as "Bible," but that would also include the New Testament. Another option was to use the translation of "Five Books of Moses," but this term is most often used in China in scientific discourses on religion. The word "Torah" does exist in China as "Tou-la," but might not nececcarily imply, as it does in Hebrew, the study of Mishna, Gemara, commentary, and books on Jewish law in addition to the Pentateuch. 

Such translation challenges resulted in a years-long translation process. In addition, designing and printing the book was no easy task either, as the book was written entirely in Chinese, but printed in Israel. As is known, in Israel, texts are written from left to right, whereas in Chinese, they are written vertically in columns going from top to bottom and ordered from right to left. 

"The book speaks about teshuva [repentance or return] in the spirit of Breslov," Aurbach explained. "The language is very Jewish and Israeli, and it is understood by both secular and religious Israelis, but is foreign to someone who comes from a completely different background.

"The book speaks to a secular Israeli who is looking for his true self. It invites him to do teshuva, to return to what he is already familiar with, to return to his tradition. Directly translating such a book into Chinese, with no additions and explicitation, is not easy. It is challenging, and in my opinion, even precedent-setting, as there are almost no direct translations from Hebrew into Chinese, and certainly not of texts like this." 

Nevertheless, despite Aurbach's hard work in making sure nothing got lost in translation, the book is unlikely to hit the Chinese markets any time soon.

"There is hostility towards religion in China," Aurbach explained. "Eden [the second translator] decided to remain anonymous for that reason. And from the time we started working on the translation, the situation has only gotten worse. We are not even planning to print or sell the book in China."

Instead, the book will be available for purchase in Israel and online.

With every translation of The Universal Garden of Emuna, the aim is to bring the knowledge of God to all corners of the world.

"During the lengthy process of translation, I sometimes wondered how such a specific [Breslov] text would present Judaism to a Chinese person who might have never heard about our religion," Aurbach said. "After all, there are so many ways to describe the foundations of Judaism, none of which have to include the unique Breslov concepts. 

"I still do not have a good answer to that, other than simply acknowledging the fact that there are so many kinds of texts in the world that show so many different perspectives [of Judaism], and each one is worthy of being translated. Is it possible that the Chinese person will read this book and think that this is all there is to Judaism? Perhaps. But he might also become more interested and discover that Breslov is only a part of Judaism and not its entirety." 

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Turkey and Egypt issued statements Thursday condemning an Israeli court that a day earlier had ruled that Jews were allowed to pray silently on the Temple Mount.

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The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and houses the third-holiest site for Muslims – Al-Aqsa Mosque. Jews have until now been banned from praying at the flashpoint site in an attempt to maintain the fragile status quo in the capital.

"We strongly condemn the Israeli court's ruling that Jews are allowed to pray silently in Al-Aqsa Mosque," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding it worried the decision might "undermine the status quo in Al-Aqsa Mosque and cause renewed tensions."

"We call on the international community to strongly oppose this wrong, illegal and dangerous ruling, and all provocations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque," the statement read.

Echoing similar sentiment, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the ruling was "a violation of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, a site for Muslim worship only. We condemn the decision and stress the need to respect the historical and legal status of Jerusalem, as well as its holy sites for Muslims and Christians, in accordance with the legitimate international decisions of the United Nations and UNESCO."

It called on the Israeli government to refrain from taking steps that would go against the status quo.

The last time Turkey criticized the Israeli legal system was in April – which coincided with Ramadan this year – when Ankara condemned Jerusalem for its actions in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket launches by Hamas into Israeli territory.

"It is worrisome that the policy of repression and violence against the Palestinian people is intensifying during Ramadan," Ankara said in a statement at the time. "The Israeli government is making it difficult for the Palestinian people to pray during Ramadan."

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Jews in Germany wishing to attend synagogue over the High Holidays will need to abide by the government's "3G" policy that came into effect in late August: Geimpft, genesen, getestet – "vaccinated, recovered, tested."

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As Germany's version of the Israeli "green pass" system, "3G" allows individuals to take part in public events and activities, such as celebrations and indoor restaurant dining, only if one of the three conditions is met.

Each of Germany's 16 federal states varies in the policy's implementation. In Berlin – home to some 100,000 Jews – "3G"  does not apply to religious worship as long as distancing is adhered to, though most synagogues base their own systems on it.

"Every synagogue decides for itself how they want to deal with it," said Rabbi Boris Ronis, leader of the Conservative-liberal Rykestrasse synagogue, one of the oldest and largest shuls in Berlin. It was spared destruction during the Kristallnacht pogroms thanks to its location in the heart of a residential area; now, the trendy, café-lined neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg.

"It's difficult. It's the coronavirus. Nobody knows," Ronis said. "We ask the people for '3G,' and that's it. We wear masks and socially distance. That's what we can do."

For large synagogues like Rykestrasse, walk-ins are allowed, but smaller synagogues may require registration to abide by regulations given the limited space – a habit some synagogues have already implemented for security purposes during Shabbat and holidays.

"On normal days, only every second seat in the synagogue is occupied. For the holidays, we've come up with something special. Last year, we were the first synagogue in Germany to inaugurate an open-air shul for the High Holidays. Services will be held there this year as well," said Jana Erdmann, head of press and communications for Chabad's Jewish Educational Center in Berlin. The open-air synagogue consists of a large tent, heated when necessary.

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However, it might be more difficult for parents with small children to attend. This year, sensitivity to the spread of infection has made playgroups impractical, both at Chabad and Rykestrasse. At the height of the last lockdown (from November 2020 to May 2021), singing liturgy – as opposed to reciting – was not allowed, but now worshippers can belt out prayers from a fixed seat and at a distance.

An added obstacle to German synagogues, which serve a Jewish population of some 200,000, is security. In 2019, a Syrian refugee wielded a knife in front of the New Synagogue of Berlin, shouting "Allah Akbar." Days later, on Yom Kippur, a right-wing extremist attempted to shoot worshippers at the synagogue of Halle but could not make it through the bolted gate.

"The police presence is generally higher than usual during Jewish holidays, and tighter security measures are in place because of repeated attacks in recent years," Erdmann said. "The pandemic has further fueled antisemitic sentiment. Both our security and the police – who are positioned in front of our building – are attentive to this."

Rykestrasse has not changed its security concept this year, believing the threat is omnipresent. "This is Germany," Ronis said.

Security guards at synagogues usually screen people who enter for any red flags. This year, synagogue-goers might also have to wave their "3G" status before entering.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Facebook already asks for your thoughts. Now it wants your prayers.

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The social media giant has rolled out a new prayer request feature, a tool embraced by some religious leaders as a cutting-edge way to engage the faithful online. Others are eyeing it warily as they weigh its usefulness against the privacy and security concerns they have with Facebook.

In Facebook groups employing the feature, members can use the feature to rally prayer power for upcoming job interviews, illnesses, and other personal challenges big and small. After they create a post, other users can tap an "I prayed" button, respond with a "like" or other reaction, leave a comment or send a direct message.

Facebook began testing it in the US in December as part of an ongoing effort to support faith communities, according to a statement attributed to a company spokesperson.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic we've seen many faith and spirituality communities using our services to connect, so we're starting to explore new tools to support them," it said.

The Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas, a Southern Baptist megachurch, was among the pastors enthusiastically welcoming of the prayer feature.

"Facebook and other social media platforms continue to be tremendous tools to spread the Gospel of Christ and connect believers with one another – especially during this pandemic," he said. "While any tool can be misused, I support any effort like this that encourages people to turn to the one true God in our time of need."

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union of Reform Judaism, said he understood why some people would view the initiative skeptically.

"But in the moment we're in, I don't know many people who don't have a big part of their prayer life online," he said. "We've all been using the chat function for something like this — sharing who we are praying for."

Adeel Zeb, a Muslim chaplain at The Claremont Colleges in California, also was upbeat.

"As long as these companies initiate proper precautions and protocols to ensure the safety of religiously marginalized communities, people of faith should jump on board supporting this vital initiative," he said.

Under its data policy, Facebook uses the information it gathers in a variety of ways, including personalizing advertisements. But the company says advertisers are not able to use a person's prayer posts to target ads.

The Rev. Bob Stec, the pastor of St. Ambrose Catholic Parish in Brunswick, Ohio, said via email that on one hand, he sees the new feature as a positive affirmation of people's need for an "authentic community" of prayer, support, and worship.

But "even while this is a 'good thing,' it is not necessary the deeply authentic community that we need," he said. "We need to join our voices and hands in prayer. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other and walk through great moments and challenges together."

Stec also worried about privacy concerns surrounding the sharing of deeply personal traumas.

"Is it wise to post everything about everyone for the whole world to see?" he said. "On a good day, we would all be reflective and make wise choices. When we are under stress or distress or in a difficult moment, it's almost too easy to reach out on Facebook to everyone."

The Rev. Thomas McKenzie, who leads Church of the Redeemer, an Anglican congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, said he wanted to hate the feature – he views Facebook as willing to exploit anything for money, even people's faith.

But he thinks it could be encouraging to those willing to use it: "Facebook's evil motivations might have actually provided a tool that can be for good."

His chief concern with any internet technology, he added, is that it can encourage people to stay physically apart even when it is unnecessary.

"You cannot participate fully in the body of Christ online. It's not possible," McKenzie said. "But these tools may give people the impression that it's possible."

Crossroads Community Church, a nondenominational congregation in Vancouver, Washington, saw the function go live about 10 weeks ago in its Facebook Group, which has roughly 2,500 members.

About 20 to 30 prayer requests are posted each day, eliciting 30 to 40 responses apiece, according to Gabe Moreno, executive pastor of ministries. Each time someone responds, the initial poster gets a notification.

Deniece Flippen, a moderator for the group, turns off the alerts for her posts, knowing that when she checks back she will be greeted with a flood of support.

Flippen said that unlike with in-person group prayer, she doesn't feel the Holy Spirit or the physical manifestations she calls the "holy goosebumps," but the virtual experience is fulfilling nonetheless.

"It's comforting to see that they're always there for me, and we're always there for each other," Flippen said.

Members are asked on Fridays to share which requests got answered, and some get shoutouts in the Sunday morning live-streamed services.

Moreno said he knows Facebook is not acting out of purely selfless motivation – it wants more user engagement with the platform. But his church's approach to it is theologically based, and they are trying to follow Jesus' example.

"We should go where the people are," Moreno said. "The people are on Facebook. So we're going to go there."

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It's hard to remember the last time the members of the national-Haredi organization Liba came under such widespread and stinging criticism, even in conservative, Orthodox circles, as they did after members of the group disrupted prayers and a reading of Lamentations at the Ezrat Yisrael plaza near the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av. At this plaza, south of the Western Wall, men and women pray together, and Reform, Conservative, and modern Orthodox Jews take part. 

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On Tisha B'Av this year, a little more than two weeks ago, Liba set up a curtain there to separate the men from the women as part of what they called "the battle for the Jewish identity of the Western Wall." The result was a fight and clashes on a day when many in Israel were talking about the heavy price we pay for baseless hatred. 

The criticism that carried the most weight, it seems, came in the form of a "bombshell" released a few days after the incident by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed of Har Brakha, a leading figure in religious Zionism who is generally identified with its more observant, conservative wing. 

While Melamed stressed that he was not versed in the events of Tisha B'Av as observed at the Ezrat Yisrael plaza, and his statement was one of principle, he called on the general public and Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinovitch in particular to promote visits by and welcome the Reform and Conservative Jews who come to pray there. Melamed's statement challenges rabbinical conduct that from time to time adopts tactics of exclusion and instilling fear, especially when it comes to Reform and Conservative Jews. 

The explanation for his statements lie in a seemingly minor incident that took place about a month ago, when Melamed devoted one of his halachic-current events columns in the Besheva newspaper to the halachic aspects of the IUD method of birth control. Rabbis who a month later were to be "shocked" by his remarks about the Western Wall and Reform Jews, were already appalled at such a sensitive and intimate issue as an IUD being discussed publicly. 

But that criticism, which had to do with the aspects of niddah (the part of the woman's menstrual cycle during which husbands and wives are not allowed to have marital relations), apparently released something in Melamed. Close associates say that his reaction to his critics about the column was correct when it came to the controversy about Reform and Conservative prayer at the Western Wall. 

"The reality is," Melamed wrote, "That unfortunately, too often there is pressure that threatens rabbis so they do not dare express their positions when it is different from that of the most stringently observant. The pressure comes mainly from zealous students … who stir up a dispute about the rabbi who appears to have stepped out of line. 

"Disputes like these can damage their [the rabbis'] public standing that embitter their lives with accusations and slander, and who has the energy to spend his time disproving them … Because of this, they have retreated and been deterred, and the Torah has become lessened and obscured, and the people have seen more troubles. Therefore I have decided that every time I feel that I am being threatened, I will gather up my courage and have my say in the most public manner possible … to make my modest contribution to stopping the approach of violence and boycotts in centers of learning … in my opinion, the commandment that prevents rabbinical judges from acting out of fear is so vital to the existence of the Torah that it takes precedence over the unpleasantness of addressing this issue publicly," Melamed wrote. 

Melamed chose not to be interviewed for this article, but his family members sent Israel Hayom recorded lessons as well as some of his writings, which are no less than revolutionary, at least from a national-Haredi perspective. These materials lay out a coherent worldview about the appropriate attitude to adopt towardReform and Conservative Jews, which is already causing debate among Orthodox rabbis. 

On the other hand, for the first time in years, leaders of the other two streams of Judaism feel that they have a chance of breaking down the Orthodox establishment's boycott of them. 

"Sometimes the clearest, simplest, most elementary things are the most moving," CEO of the Conservative-Masorti Movement Rakefet Ginsburg said last week. 

To sanctify, not desecrate 

Melamed thinks that "the religious and Haredi public who observe the commandments and customs" should not feel badly that Conservative and Reform Jews visit the Western Wall. The opposite – they should "rejoice that more Jewish brethren are connected to the place where the Temple stood, and that more Jewish brethren want to pray to our heavenly father." He suggests that they "look at it as something positive, even though we disagree with what they changed in Jewish law. We know how to respect and value all that is good in them. Praising God is greater than taking his name in vain," Melamed explains, suggesting that Rabinovitch "honor Jews from all streams" and welcome those who come to pray at the Ezrat Yisrael plaza. 

Although the Ezrat Yisrael plaza does not come under Rabinovitch's "jurisdiction," Melamed argues that "it should be a place to which he accords the greatest respect … despite the fact that he would not pray with them because he adheres to Jewish law, he should be very happy if they came to pray at the Western Wall itself and should encourage them to visit the Western Wall regularly and in the biggest groups possible, and even instruct the ushers to help them as much as possible … and if they need Bibles, to provide them with the greatest respect … and direct the women who want to read from the Torah on Rosh Hodesh to the Ezrat Yisrael plaza and ensure that all their needs are respected." 

Melamed hasn't "gone AWOL" or "switched sides," but his words about the Western Wall reflect a clear decision to fight against the exclusionary approach. He makes it clear that he will not take part in Reform prayers or weddings, and even thinks that doing so gives them tacit approval. But "even though these are Jewish movements that do not reflect the tradition of the Torah … they are Jewish movements that observe Jewish customs. The Jewish aspects of life are important to them. They have important ideals about tikkun olam, and they try to strengthen their friends' Jewish identity and thereby hold back the process of assimilation, in the broadest sense of forgetting Judaism," he writes. 

Melamed even holds the opinion that no distinction can be drawn between bans on the leaders and representatives of the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism and the members of those movements. "There is no way of boycotting only the representative and not boycotting the individuals," he states. "Just like we do not boycott other movements whose members include Jews and which deal with education, culture, ceremonies, and activity in Jewish communities, and feel commitment to and responsibility for all the Jewish people and the residents of Israel." 

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Melamed's statements come after he held a series of meetings and conversations with leaders of the "banned" movements. Close associates say that these meetings strengthened the rabbi's "familiarity with these people's good intention and their desire to maintain some kind of contact between their communities and Judaism." He has held at least two such meetings in recent years. 

Also present at one of these meetings was Dr. Moshe Weinstock, former chairman of the Education Ministry's pedagogical secretariat. 

"It was a two-hour conversation with Sharon Brous, the Conservative rabbi from Los Angeles," Weinstock says. Brous is a left-winger who opposed the settlements, and eight years ago Newsweek named her one of the most influential rabbis in the US. In January 2013, she was invited to pray when former US President Barack Obama was sworn in for a second term. 

According to Weinstock, in November 2020, Brous "poured criticism" on Israel's policies in Judea and Samaria. "Rabbi Melamed visited her, shaking with anger, looked her right in the face, and told her, 'You are hurting me. I'm a settler, and I live near Nablus. I'm a man of halacha and a very moral man, and you are calling me evil." Weinstock says that Brous grew pale, and looked at Melamed for a long time, and then began a dialogue with him. 

"They held a long, in-depth conversation," Weinstock says. "At first, he showed her she was wrong, and she listened. Then they discussed a lot of things about which they didn't agree, but she was listening. At the end of the discussion Brous promised him, 'Rabbi Melamed, the next time I'm in Israel, I'll spend a day or two visiting you and your wife, Inbal, at Har Brakha. I'd like to truly get to know you, and listen to what you have to say. I don't know if I'll change my mind, but at least we'll get to know each other." 

Together, with no separation 

After Melamed's statements about prayers at the Ezrat YIsrael plaza, a series of photographs from the end of the Ottoman Empire were republished online, in which men and women can be seen praying at the Western Wall together, or at least standing near each other at what used to be the Western Wall alleyway. 

These pictures, to, have a place in the renewed dispute about the Ezrat Yisrael prayer area, and the question about whether men and women prayed together at the Western Wall 100 years ago. 

Lenny Ben-David of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and an expert on photographs of the Land of Israel taken in the 19th and 20th centuries, says that toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, the authorities prevented Jews from setting up any kind of separation between men and women. Moreover, at the time, the Western Wall was a "narrow, crowded alley, where it was hard to maintain separation. People, men and women, were pushed together toward the fence of the Mughrabi neighborhood delineated the Western Wall alley. 

"You also need to remember," Ben-David says, "that the photographers of the time sometimes moved the subjects around according to their desire. The shawls the women wear that cover their heads and shoulders are also part of the story. The old women of Mea Shearim have given testimony about it. They said that those big shawls were their 'separation.'" 

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Old books can be a treasure, not just for their words but also what can be found between their pages. And in the case of one yellowing page that fell from a very old Gemara, this entails a newfound discovery of a long-lost prayer chanted by the Jews of Krakow.

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The page in question contains a prayer recited by Krakow's Jews at the grave of Rabbi Moses Isserles, a renowned Ashkenazi posek (the term in Jewish law for a legal scholar who determines the position of Jewish religious laws) in the 16^th Century, on the Lag B'Omer holiday – the day of his passing. On every anniversary of his death (yahrtzeit), the Jews of Krakow would visit his grave and recite a special prayer.

This prayer does not appear in the prayer book. Unlike the customary prayer and textbooks that were printed in numerous editions, passed between communities and preserved on shelves and in libraries across the globe, this prayer was printed on pages that were distributed locally. Only a limited number of these pages were ever printed, for the specific purpose of marking a very local event, solely at Isserles' cemetery, one day a year, and were immediately discarded following the event.

Berl Shor, 94, who was born in Krakow, is a descendant of Isserles and still remembers the custom of visiting his grave on Lag B'Omer. When Shor was 12 years old, the Second World War erupted. He and his sister managed to escape Krakow before the Germans conquered it, but their parents and many other relatives remained in the city. Before they were murdered, Shor's parents were able to give a Polish neighbor by the name of Prof. Tadeusz Kowalski at Jagiellonian University in Krakow their library of ancient Jewish texts.

Kowalski safeguarded the library and after the Holocaust returned it to the surviving relatives. Today, this library belongs to Shor.

The library contains hundreds of books, from the inception of the printing press onward. Along with books are lone pages and manifests that by nature normally aren't saved and become lost. One of these pages, it emerged, was of particular historical value.

A rare account of the event at Isserles' grave was documented by a young Jewish resident of the city, Ze'ev Aleksandrowicz, who later became a well-known photographer. For years, no one knew what the Jews in his photograph were reading, until the aforementioned Gemara was dusted off.

Shor and his son, attorney David Shor, sent photocopies of the prayer to the current head of Krakow's Jewish community, in the hope of reviving the old and unique custom, practiced by one of the largest Jewish communities in Poland before the Holocaust.

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Shlomo Galster, a Chabad Hassid from northern Israel, contracted COVID-19 more than a month ago and was hospitalized at Ha'emek Medical Center in Afula. On Thursday morning, his family was informed that he was on his deathbed and it was time for them to say goodbye.

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Medical workers on the medical center's COVID unit realized that time was short, and it was unlikely that his family would arrive in time to recite the traditional "Shema Yisrael" prayer.

Then head nurse on the COVID unit, Ibrahim Maher, who had been treating Galster since he was hospitalized, stepped in and recited the Shema for him, without knowing by heart the precise wording of the Hebrew prayer.

"I knew he was a religious man and it was important to him that his family pray with him," Maher told Israel Hayom. "I don't know the entire prayer exactly, but I knew how important it was that he hear the words 'Shema Yisrael.' We knew him and his family. We were fond of him. We prayed with him, for his own sake and his family."

"It was clear to me that he wanted us to recite the Shema prayer for him. We have one God," Maher continued.

Maher said that when Galster's family arrived at the hospital, they already knew that he had passed.

"It was important to me that his daughter would know, and maybe it would console her and the family a bit that at least we managed to recite the Shema," he added.

Galster's daughter told Israel Hayom: "It was a difficult, sad day. My father never stopped talking about the devoted care he received and how thankful he was to Maher and the entire team."

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The World Organization of Orthodox Synagogues has warned of a dangerous combination of increased activity inside synagogues due to the growing number of people inoculated against the coronavirus and lax adherence to pandemic guidelines among those who have yet to receive the vaccine.

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The organization called on the government to open synagogues to worshippers that have either been vaccinated, recovered from COVID-19, or tested negative for the virus 72 hours before entering the temple to pray.

According to existing lockdown guidelines, up to five people are allowed to gather in a closed space, and up to 10 are allowed to convene in open areas. In effect, these restrictions prevent worshippers from praying in a minyan – a quorum of 10.

As a result, the organization noted, many people have begun to either ignore or bend the rules on the number of worshippers allowed to gather in one place.

"Unfortunately, we are seeing worshippers, including those who do not have a green passport, beginning to pray in closed spaces. We fear the phenomenon will grow and threaten the health of many," the organization said in a statement.

"Worshippers must adhere to the guidelines and immediately get vaccinated as all the experts have advised. This is both a halachic and moral obligation," the organization said.

According to the framework, the number of worshippers allowed inside the synagogue would be determined by experts to maintain the necessary distance between people. In addition, mask-wearing and hygiene would be enforced. Each synagogue would appoint a coronavirus chief with enforcing the guidelines and limiting entry to green passport holders. Those without a green passport would be allowed to pray outside and in adherence with social-distancing and other pandemic guidelines.

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The question was put to Rabbi Baruch Efrati: "Dear Rabbi, Is it permissible to pray for Trump to make a recovery, given his worsening medical condition?"

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Efrati responded that such prayers could be made and advised that anyone seeking to pray for Trump should recite "Mi Shebeirach," the Jewish prayer of healing, with Trump's name added.

Trump went through a "very concerning" period Friday and faces a "critical" next two days in his fight against COVID-19 at a military hospital, his chief of staff said Saturday – in contrast to a rosier assessment moments earlier by Trump doctors, who took pains not to reveal the president had received supplemental oxygen at the White House before his hospital admission.

Trump offered his own assessment Saturday evening in a video from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, saying he was beginning to feel better and hoped to "be back soon."

Hours earlier, chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters outside the hospital, "We're still not on a clear path yet to a full recovery."

In an update on the president Saturday night, his chief doctor expressed cautious optimism but added that the president was "not yet out of the woods."

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