CORONAVIRUS

Rabbis OK video sedarim for families

Senior Orthodox rabbis have given permission for the use of Zoom video conferencing service on Seder Night to allow families separated by the coronavirus pandemic to connect to one another.

Rabbi Eliyahu Abergil, who served as the head of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court for a decade, together with several other municipal chief rabbis said that it would be possible under certain restrictions due to the “time of emergency”.

The rabbis wrote that families who want to connect to each other for the Seder could use Zoom if they turn on their electronic devices and the app before the festival begins. The rabbis’ permission to allow the use of Zoom for Seder Night, even with the stipulation that it must be already working before the holiday begins, is a significant ruling given that Orthodox Judaism has prohibiting the use of electricity and electronic devices on Shabbat and the festivals.

The rabbis, who are Sephardi, began by noting that many Sephardi and North African rabbis had permitted the use of electricity on Jewish holidays, including the first Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel.

They said that although there is concern that someone would turn the device off when finished, which is also generally prohibited, the position of the Sephardi rabbis meant that this concern could be ignored and their ruling relied upon.

The rabbis said that a second concern of permitting something associated with the regular days of the week, such as use of electronic devices, could also be dismissed since use of Zoom was for the sake of a religious commandment of performing the seder, adding that it was “for emergency times only”.

The rabbis said that allowing the use of Zoom was all the more important since many Jewish youth “might not have a seder if not for their connection with their grandfather and grandmother”.

The rabbis wrote that it was important “to remove the sadness from seniors and the elderly and to give them motivation to keep fighting for their lives, and to prevent depression and mental weakness which could lead them to despair of life”.

Other signatories to the decision were Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Gat Rabbi Shlomo Ben Hamo, Rabbi Yehudah Shlush, of east Netanya, Chief Rabbi of Shlomi Rabbi Moshe Elharar, Rabbi Refael Daloiah, Rabbi David Zano, and Rabbi Daniel Boskilah.

The decision aroused controversy immediately, with Chief Rabbi of Safed Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu saying that the rabbis who gave the permission to use Zoom had been “mistaken”.

Rabbi Ariel Abel, of Liverpool’s Princes Road Synagogue, welcomed the ruling, declaring: “This clear-headed ruling exemplifies the approach of classic Sephardi halacha: fearless and pragmatic, primarily concerned with the realities of life and achieving what the Torah requires, unafraid of what naysayers will say or do.

“Hopefully this approach will gain momentum at a time in history which commands us to become both sensitive and responsive to each other.”

(Jerusalem Post)

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