More children in cities, towns, and local authorities coded "green" under the Health Ministry's stoplight plan will go back to the classroom after the Corona cabinet on Monday approved a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz to send fifth and sixth-graders back to school in those communities.

The fifth and sixth-graders will return to school starting next Sunday, and as of Monday, the decision was to send 11^th and 12^th graders back to school a week later.

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Meanwhile, outdoor shopping centers in communities coded "green" will be allowed to open. Another closed shopping mall will be allowed to reopen as a test case, and based on data about whether or not it becomes an infection hotspot, the government will make a decision about other enclosed shopping areas.

"We support sending fifth and sixth-grade students, as well as 11^th and 12^th graders, back to school and opening businesses in green communities," Gantz said.

"In 'orange' towns we will wait until the number of cases drops. In red towns we will instate closures, with help from the people from the Defense Ministry, until the number of cases drops. We will launch a framework for cultural events in green areas," Gantz said.

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As the number of new coronavirus cases in Israel's Arab sector continues to mushroom, more officials are criticizing the decision to continue to allow public prayer on the Temple Mount every Friday, which is attended by some 12,000 faithful.

The Muslim Waqf, which is charged with enforcing Israel's public health regulations, does make sure that worshippers on the Temple Mount wear masks and maintain social distancing. The prayers themselves are held in the open air.

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However, this past Friday, the weekly prayers turned into a mass demonstration against France and French President Emmanuel Macron, part of a backlash throughout most of the Muslim world against the government taking a stance in favor of upholding free speech and allowing the republication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Worshippers at the Temple Mount crowded together, against the Health Ministry instructions, and police forces were forced to disperse the gathering. Three people were arrested for allegedly disturbing the peace.

Both the Arab leadership in Israel and the Health Ministry are worried about the spread of coronavirus in that sector. Outgoing coronavirus chief Professor Ronni Gamzu announced that the next two weeks would be devoted almost entirely to stopping the spread of the virus in Arab communities.

"We will devote most of our resources this coming week to the Arab sector. Dozens of coronavirus testing stations will open in Arab communities, and residents will not have to provide a doctor's referral or any payment. We want everyone in the Arab sector to be tested," Gamzu said.

Ayman Saif, the official who oversees the government's fight against coronavirus in the Arab sector, confirmed that wedding season had led to a spike in coronavirus cases among Israel's Arab population.

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A group of several dozen Druze men took part on Friday in a mission to snatch the body of dead religious leader Shiekh Abu Aladdin Hassan Halabi of Majdal Shams from Sieff Hospital in Safed, where he had died of COVID-19.

The men, all residents of Majdal Shams, wrangled with security guards but eventually left the hospital carrying the sheikh's body.

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The men brought his remains to their Golan Heights community and held a funeral, which thousands of people attended despite the public health restrictions that put limits on the number of people allowed at public gatherings.

Majdal Shams is coded red under the Health Ministry's stoplight plan and is under lockdown due to the high number of new COVID cases identified there.

MK Idur Kamal Mariah, a member of the Druze community, responded to social media reports about the incident, writing on Twitter: "I absolutely condemn the incident at Sieff Hospital in Safed an hour ago. This behavior is not appropriate for the honored departed sheikh's stature. We must all behave according to Health Ministry regulations."

Meanwhile, Sieff Hospital is criticizing the police, claiming that police officers stood by while the sheikh's body was taken.

"Dozens of impassioned Druze started to shove in, and there was only a security guard and a security officer to fend them off. On the other side, there were three police officers who stood to the site and watched what was happening without doing a thing," a hospital official said.

"They [the Druze] broke a metal barrier, smashed the guard booth, went down to the basement, broke into the morgue, and took the sheikh's body," the official continued.

Earlier Friday, it was reported that a 76-year-old confirmed COVID patient from the Golan Heights had been rushed to Sieff Hospital in very serious condition. The man was already in a coma and on a ventilator, and paramedics were trying to resuscitate him. Doctors at the hospital continued attempts to save his life, to no avail.

It later became apparent that the man was one of the most revered sheikhs in the Druze community in Israel. Originally, members of the community planned to lay his body out on a soccer field in Majdal Shams to allow people to pay their last respects. Outgoing corona chief Professor Ronni Gamzu and Health Ministry Deputy Director-General Professor Itamar Grotto were informed of the plan and objected to it on the grounds that people would flock to the location.

Hospital director Professor Salman Zarka, himself a member of the Druze community, spoke to Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, who eventually agreed to call off the planned final respects out of concern for public health.

Later Friday evening, the group of Druze men took the law into their own hands and removed the sheikh's body from the premises.

The funeral took place on Saturday, attended by thousands. However, footage taken shows that participants appeared to have followed social distancing guidelines, with chairs set far apart.

A commission has been appointed to investigate the incident of the hospital rain and the conduct of police officers at the funeral.  the incident and evaluate the conduct of police

Tarif has made it clear that neither the leaders of the Druze community nor the family of the deceased were linked to the break-in at the hospital.

"The incident that occurred at the Sieff Medical Center in Safed is not linked to a decision by the leaders of the community or the family of the deceased," Tarif told the Kan public broadcaster.

Part of this article was first published by i24NEWS.

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According to ministry data, 1,165 new cases had been identified in the past 24-hour period, with 3% of the tests returning positive results.

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The number of seriously ill patients is also down, with 591 patients hospitalized in serious condition as of Wednesday morning, including 229 on ventilators. Since midnight Tuesday, no new COVID deaths were reported, and Israel's death toll from the virus remained at 2,278.

The number of active or symptomatic COVID patients in Israel as of Wednesday morning stood at 21,010.

There were 1,042 medical workers in quarantine, including 139 doctors and 263 nurses.

The Corona cabinet was due to meet at noon on Wednesday to discuss a framework for the safe reopening of the lower schools grades (1^st to 4^th). Children in these grades were slated to be back in the classroom a week and a half from now, pending the number of new cases identified, but the return to school could still be postponed.

In related news, the Health Ministry published a report on Wednesday that noted that children contract coronavirus and spread it to others easily, and can even be "super-spreaders."

Because most children who contract COVID are asymptomatic, the report said, many of the children who have it go undetected, but can still spread the virus to others.

The report concludes that "Children's presence in schools, especially in a state of infection that is broad both in terms of space and time, could accelerate the spread of the virus from place to place and among different age groups."

Experts cited by the report warn that Israel must return children to school gradually, based on the numbers of confirmed cases in different age groups in the children's communities.

The report noted that 8% of children tested for COVID since the end of January 2020 through the end of September 2020 turned out to be positive for the virus, compared to 6% of adults, a figure that led experts to conclude that the virus is more prevalent among children.

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Mother of two and head of the parental leadership in Ra'anana Odelia Shindorf told Israel Hayom: "This is a lost school year. Distance learning is causing despair. It's not effective. But the main issue is loneliness. Parents are reporting tough feelings. We hear that from every home where there are high schoolers."

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"It's obvious to me that the numbers show that high schools are hotspots for outbreaks. On the other hand, they don't need babysitters, so they are the last to go back. But the reports forget to take into account the long-term damage, the kids' emotional difficulties, the lack of effective teaching, the sense of despair, and the system's lack of preparedness," Shindorf said.

Eyal Levanon, chairman of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa parent-teacher association and the father of an eight-grade student, said, "The biggest concern is the emotional issue. The kids have been cut off from their environments, from their friends, from their classes and groups. The distance learning solution doesn't meet emotional needs. We are raising a generation that could be hurt beyond the pedagogical [loss], in terms of emotional and mental health, as well."

"The country has to understand that it is losing a generation. It needs to put all the money it has or doesn't have into bringing them back to school," Levanon said.

School administrators are also facing new challenges – especially the main issue of how to run a school when both students and teachers are at home.

Moti Arbel, principal of Amit High School #10 in Ashdod, says "It's a difficult feeling. On one hand, we really do understand that we are fighting an existential battle for life itself. On the other, the physical distance from the students is hard."

"More than 40 teachers were quarantined over the holidays, and two teachers got sick because of exposure to sick students, and nevertheless it was clear to all of us that we aren't giving up on them," Arbel said.

Meanwhile, high schools students are worried about their matriculation exams. Students who don't have computers or tablets, as well as learning-disabled students, face a particularly tough road.

"If Zoom school goes on, there's no way we'll be ready for the winter exams," said Noa Hasson, a 12^th-grade student from Petah Tikva.

Hasson pointed out that she has not yet received grades for the matriculation exams she sat last year.

"We don't know whether or not to study for the winter exams," she said. Hasson added that this past year, the school system has been "destroyed."

"I'm supposed to be enjoying the last few minutes of 12 years in school, and instead, I'm worried all the time," she said.

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As of Wednesday, there were 31,011 active or symptomatic cases, including 257 patients listed in serious condition, of whom 77 were on ventilators. Another 128 corona patients were listed in moderate condition. A total of 22,983 Israelis have recovered from coronavirus since the start of the epidemic.

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At the current rate of spread, the number of cases nationwide could double in 22 days, the center reported. If the rate of infection does not change, the Corona National Knowledge and Information Center report warned, the number of patients listed in serious condition could reach dozens per day, with hundreds of dead.

"The rate of infection in Israel in the second wave is widespread, in a manner that makes it very difficult to control and stop. Israel is doing particularly poorly when it comes to this, in comparison to other western countries," the report stated.

Researchers from the center noted that the comparative leveling-off in the number of new cases seen in the past few days was not a "real" number and instead reflected the lower number of tests carried out.

The Haredi cities Bnei Brak, Betar illit, and Beit Shemesh, which were listed as "red" cities because of the spikes seen in the number of cases among their residents, continued to lead the list in Wednesday's report. A total of 2,334 active cases were reported in Bnei Brak; 1,121 in Betar illit, and 818 in Beit Shemesh.

Jerusalem, where 4,651 active cases were reported as of Wednesday, has seen a decrease in the number of new cases and is no longer classed as an infection hotspot.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry recommended Wednesday that the mandatory quarantine time for asymptomatic carriers be cut from 14 days to 10, and that symptomatic carriers be quarantined for 13 days.

The ministry's new recommendation came in response to new research from the World Health Organization. Only doctors will be authorized to change patients' status to "recovered" and release patients from quarantine.

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The moves come as cases of the novel coronavirus have continued to increase with nearly 140,000 ‎people infected worldwide before the start of Shabbat. In the United States, more than 1,260 people ‎have been diagnosed with the virus as of Friday.‎

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Representatives for the various streams of Judaism, along with the Jewish Federation of North ‎America, have created webpages advising congregations and communities of how to deal with the ‎virus. The guidelines come as rabbis, clergy and communal leaders try to reassure and provide ‎sustenance for already jittery members, particularly those with young children, while ensuring that the ‎elderly and others at risk remain at the top of their concerns.‎

Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told JNS, "We are ‎focused first and foremost on helping the most vulnerable populations, especially those isolated and ‎cut off from community-based programs, those struggling with mental health issues, people who are ‎losing income and whose living situations may become compromised. 

Together, 146 Federations and ‎‎300 network communities support a network of social-service agencies and organizations that deliver ‎to these populations locally and globally, and they need urgent support."‎

Among those working to ensure that people have what they need is the Jewish Federation of ‎Cleveland, where Jewish day schools are closed and some members of the local community are in ‎quarantined.‎

‎"Caring for one another and helping to keep our community safe are the top priorities of the Cleveland ‎Federation," said Robert Berick, the JFC's marketing director. "To that end, we are working closing with ‎local agencies to ensure the vital programs and services continue with minimal disruption. Similarly, we ‎are actively looking for new and creative ways to maintain a strong sense of togetherness and ‎connection in a time when so many feel isolated."‎

Beyond the Federation, leaders of major Jewish denominations – Orthodox, Conservative, Reform ‎and Reconstructionist – were issuing statements and guidance to members.‎

Both the Reform and Conservative movements are planning to hold virtual service options so that ‎people who are under quarantine or are immune-compromised or otherwise don't feel comfortable ‎being out in a group setting have a way to participate in Shabbat services.‎

‎"Live-streaming can be a literal lifeline for such community members who can't be at synagogue ‎physically, but still want to connect with their place of worship," said an online post from the United ‎Synagogues of Conservative Judaism. ‎

‎"When using live-streaming, it's recommended that clergy and lay leaders acknowledge the presence ‎of the virtual community."‎

The Central Conference of American Rabbis, the rabbinic arm of the Union for Reform Judaism, urged ‎people to utilize technology to stay in touch.‎

‎"As we collectively fight to save lives and eliminate this virus, we encourage all who are able to avail ‎themselves of online gatherings and conventions, virtual learning and classes, live streaming of ‎worship services, even pastoral care via telephone or video conferencing," said the CCAR memo. ‎

‎"While human touch undeniably adds meaning to our relationships and our lives, these efforts are ‎necessary to preserve our health. As Jewish tradition counsels: 'Each of us is enjoined to guard our ‎lives' (Joshua 23:13) and 'Saving even one life is tantamount to saving the entire world' (Sanhedrin ‎‎4:9)."‎

Similarly, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) announced online resources for ‎members.‎

‎"USCJ, together with our partners at the Rabbinical Assembly, has compiled an extensive list of ‎resources on our

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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