Encouraged by the dwindling Covid-19 infection rate and hoping to revitalize its economy and give its citizens a much-needed psychological boost, Israel has begun easing its quarantine restrictions.
More and more people are being allowed to work, stores are reopening, and shopping centers and open markets hope to welcome back masked shoppers this Friday. Prohibitions surrounding family visits have also ended, and grandparents can once again enjoy their grandchildren “with the necessary caution.”
Already last week, children registered in special education frameworks gradually returned to their normal schedule in groups of three and four. This week, 11th and 12th graders returned to their classrooms, along with children in grades 1-3, where attendance was reported to be about 50 percent as many parents remain fearful of sending their kids to school.
Pre-schoolers have received permission to return to nursery and kindergartens this coming Sunday. Beginning May 31, if all goes well, grades 4-10 will be resumed in groups of 15 students each, with students sitting appropriately apart from each other and wearing masks.
The future of yeshiva learning is less certain. Rav Asher Weiss, rosh kollel of Machon Minchas Osher L’Torah V’Horaah, declared that even though yeshiva learning is the “oxygen of the Jewish nation,” opening Torah study halls is dangerous and absolutely forbidden.
“The intensity of learning Torah with a chavruta for hours on end, with the excited pilpul and discussion that accompanies it, cannot be compared to an office situation where people have their own cubicles. You cannot expect Torah students to wear masks and engage in heated debate with fellow students throughout the day. The Ministry of Health should not equate one situation with another, and it should not adopt leniencies when the health of the public is at stake.
“Rather, we are called upon to follow the wisdom and command of our Talmudic Sages…and remain in our homes when a plague lurks outside on the streets. It must be stressed that we have not stopped learning Torah, as some people claim. Klal Yisrael is forever attached to Torah. Our yeshiva students have been continuing their learning at home.
“Meanwhile, the danger remains very real. There is no justification for leniencies. The situation could worsen in a moment. … The guarding of life supersedes everything else. We have waited patiently until now, and we can wait patiently some more.”
Other charedi leaders, however, have encouraged finding ways to open yeshivot. In accordance with directives of Rav Chaim Kanievsky and Rav Gershon Edelstein, yeshiva students from grades 7 and 8 started attending school again on Monday, observing Ministry of Health rules.
Large advanced yeshivot have adopted the “Capsule Plan,” which calls for students to be divided into “capsules” – groups of 26 who will live exclusively on one floor or area of the yeshiva. Access between capsules is forbidden, and each capsule will have someone charge of making sure everyone obeys the rules. After 11 days, the capsules can merge with the main yeshiva.
Dvir Cohen, manager of the Elisha pre-army yeshiva academy, said half the students returned on Monday for a month. “If all goes well, when the month is over, the remainder of the mechinah’s students will return.”
Rabbi Danny Shochertan, the mashgiach in charge of students at Machon Meir Yeshiva for baale teshuvah stuents in Jerusalem, told The Jewish Press that he doesn’t envision the commencement of learning in the near future. “We simply don’t have the facilities,” he explained. “First of all, our dormitory houses more than 50 students from Israel and around the world on a regular basis, even throughout the corona shutdown.
“In addition, a good share of our 600 students, young people and retirees alike, don’t live on the premises, but come from all over Jerusalem, as well as from cities and settlements around the country to learn for a few hours a day, some in classes and some in chavrutot. We have no way of knowing whether they are carrying the virus or not.”
Rabbi Hillel Plesser, head of the Talmud Torah Morasha in the Kiriat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem, told The Jewish Press, “This week only about 30 percent of the younger children returned to their classrooms because many parents are wary.” Asked when other students will return, he said, “When Bibi decides and the Supreme Court doesn’t throw out his decision.”
“In the meantime,” he said, “my main function has become the school’s fundraiser.… When I’m not on the phone shnoring, I’ve been busy writing and sending shiurim to the older yeshiva students. So even though the beit midrash has been totally empty, the learning has continued in a surprisingly consistent and gratifying manner.”