Efforts to Accommodate Those in Quarantine on Purim

By COLlive reporter

Chabad of New Rochelle, NY, the epicenter of New York’s coronavirus outbreak, is asking for help from the Chabad community to bring the Megillah reading to those in quarantine.

Fear of the spread of the coronavirus — 82 people have been infected in Westchester County, has upended Purim plans in the entire area.

“Schools are closed, and Purim parties and Megillah readings are all canceled, with hundreds of residents in quarantine,” Mrs. Rochel Butman, Shlucha in Westchester County, NY which is based in New Rochelle, told COLlive.

As the numbers of those in quarantine grew, Butman knew she had to do something to help residents to fulfill the Mitzvah of hearing the Megillah.

“The other Mitzvos can be done remotely – Shalach Manos can be sent by delivery and Matanos L’evyonim can be put in a Pushkah,” she said. “But Megillah posed a different problem,” she says.

Original plans to have the Megillah read via online feed were discarded when Rabbis said it did not properly fulfill the Mitzvah.

So Butman came up with another solution: volunteers armed with Megillahs will visit quarantined residents, and read the Megillah for them.

Working with medical professionals, they devised a set of guidelines for volunteers to make sure they stay safe and protected while doing this Mitzvah.

All volunteer readers will remain outside of the home of the quarantined individuals and will maintain a distance of 10-15 feet. Being outside will ensure proper ventilation so nothing will be passed between people, Butman explains.

Together with a group of volunteers, Chabad of New Rochelle has organized home visits for dozens of people.

“We’ve received over 130 requests already, and we are in need of more volunteers for both tonight and tomorrow,” Butman says.

“These are people who want to fulfill the Mitzvah, and they can really use your help, they have no other option,” Butman says. “If you are able to read the Megillah, and have your own Megillah, please volunteer for this great Mitzvah a 45-minute drive from Crown Heights.”

To volunteer contact [email protected]