In a letter on Thursday, the Crown Heights Beis Din Rabbonim Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba and Rabbi Yosef Braun reiterated the guidelines issued on Wednesday, for those wishing to visit Crown Heights for the upcoming Tishrei month.
The letter is “In response to the many inquiries regarding visiting Crown Heights, for the coming school-year and for the Tishrei season,” they said.
A free translation of the letter is as follows:
1. We hereby reaffirm that which was previously stated, numerous times, not to visit Crown Heights for the foreseeable future, unless meeting the medical requirements set forth in the guidelines provided by the community doctors. These guidelines were made public in a separate document, along with an endorsement from the undersigned.
2. Please do not call the Beis Din offices to further inquire about this matter, for our opinion in this matter has already been clarified many times, both verbally and in writing: everything depends upon the opinion of the community doctors and all matters should be decided by them.
3. Needless to say, one must be cautious in listening to medical instructions, and not try to outsmart or circumvent them in any way Chas Vesholom. The importance of following doctors’ orders is stated in many of the Rebbe’s Sichos and letters. This is especially true now, when we are faced with a potential concern of endangering lives R”L, regarding which the Torah states that one is not allowed to (directly or indirectly) place himself and certainly not others in a situation of even remotely potential danger, since the laws pertaining to the prevention of danger are even more stringent than those regarding outright prohibitions (Issurim).
4. The words of Rabbi Akiva Eiger regarding such matters have already been publicized (Igros Sofrim ch. 30): “I have issued warning after warning that their conduct etc. must be in accordance with the rulings set forth by the doctors, [that one be extremely cautious] and distance oneself from this [danger] as one would distance himself from prohibited food, and that one should not stray from the doctors instructions, not even one hairbreadth, as is inferred from the verse “Guard yourself from all that is bad”. One who transgresses the doctors ruling of how to conduct oneself in this matter is a terrible sinner in the eyes of Hashem, since laws pertaining to the prevention of danger are even more stringent than those regarding outright prohibitions, especially in a situation of potential danger to oneself and others, which can C”V cause a spread of disease in the city, for which the sin is too great to bear.”
[It should also be noted from the Tzemach Tzedek’s responsa, who mentions many medical directives with regard to protecting one’s health, and issues many halachic leniencies in order to prevent the spread of a plague, and writes: “there is absolutely no room for Chumros [in this matter] for being Machmir is considered a leniency when it results in even a remote possibility of danger, for it is written “you should live by them [the Mitzvos]” and not that they [the Mitzvos] be erroneously used as a source of even remote potential (a Safek of a Safek of) danger.
May it be the will of Hashem that we merit the fulfillment of the beracha “All of the sickness that you have known will never reach you” and there should not remain even a remnant of this sickness, as if it was never here, with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, Mamash now! With blessings to be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year
Lack of social distancing, most of Crown Heights members go maskless, the crowds at S’machot, people traveling to “hotspots”, not quarantining when they return, well what do you expect will happen?
Right. It has no connection to guests.
If you’re afraid or immunocompromised, stay home. Or wear a mask if you’d like. Don’t take away our freedom and force a mask (which is honestly so stupid if you think that protects you) for a virus with a 99.96% survival rate.
It’s not only the immunocompromised or elderly at risk, plenty of completely healthy and young people got severely ill, even right here in CROWN HEIGHTS! If you don’t want to wear a mask then you should stay home! The street goes 2 ways in the case.
Why do those who do not want to wear a mask get to own the streets!!! They don’t want to follow protocol and could care less about getting people sick then let them stay home.
“The key to defeating COVID-19 already exists. We need to start using it!”
Professor Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD
Department of Epidemiology
Yale School of Public Health
I fully agree
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Dr. Zev Zelenko
@zev_dr
·
20h
Please contact White House via website and share this Tweet. Lets make noise. https://whitehouse.gov/contact/
You are clearly uneducated.
You are allowing them to force you to be on lockdown “for just 15 days to lower the curve”, then to wear a mask, then to get a mandatory vaccine, which will lead to digital ID, etc. They start slow.
Sheep..
ditto. Thank you for saying it so clearly. People – wake up and realize how your freedom and rights are being taken away…in the name of “for your safety.” Stop being so afraid. Yes, there was a virus. Yes, people died – r’l including some young people – however, remember that the malach hamaves always worked full-time and visited the young and old alike. Many gov’ts, the WHO, the CDC, etc jumped on the bandwagon to declare this virus a pandemic and scare the world, into following like sheep, any ridiculous and non-science/medical based decisions they thought of that will… Read more »
Let’s stick to facts. There are not plenty of young people severely sick in crown heights, thank GD.
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Dr. Zev Zelenko
@zev_dr
·
Aug 23
Tx EARLY-If #HCQ is suppressed then use this for #Covid19 tx- #Quercetin 500mg 3 a day x 7 days or #EGCG 400mg 2 a day x 7 days. With either one also take elemental #Zinc 50mg a day x 7 days; #Azithromycin 500mg 1 a day for 5 days. May also need #Ivermectin and #Dexamethasone
Do you take it upon yourself to tell everyone to just stop listening to the very strong message of our community rabbonim???
I’m gonna go with yes
Click link to sign petition: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/please-give-zelenko-protocol-eua
Read my article on these studies that I sent to Dr Bouware who didnt reply and clarify. Data has been tortured to make it confess against #Hydroxychloroquine
http://covexit.com/hcq-in-covid-19-under-trial-with-rcts-in-witness-box/
“The key to defeating COVID-19 already exists. We need to start using it!”
Professor Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD
Department of Epidemiology
Yale School of Public Health
Dr. Zev Zelenko Retweeted
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Dr. Zev Zelenko
@zev_dr
·
Aug 23
IDSA are misguided with inadequate understanding of cell biology. #HCQ works WITH #Zinc in prehospital stage of #Covid19. Their recommendations are misleading. They offer no alternatives except for death. Treat #Covid19 with #ZelenkoProtocol and live.
By Gimmel Tammuz, Crown Heights seemed like a full house, and that’s three months before Tishrei…
Did anyone die in crown heights in the following two weeks?
It’s amazing….presumably the rabbonim who signed the above article know about the gimmel tammuz/present day situation. Presumably they wrote the above having informed themselves.
No?
“The key to defeating COVID-19 already exists. We need to start using it!”
Professor Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD
Department of Epidemiology
Yale School of Public Health
Actually, it didn’t feel like a full house at all. I specifically went outside of 770, and noted how you wouldn’t even know it was Gimmel Tammuz by just looking around. It was empty
There were so few guests for Gimmel Tammuz this year. Most who came to NY went to the Ohel but did not come to CH at all. The picture this poster presented is false. Tishrei will be a whole different scenario – people from around the world are already purchasing tickets and planning to come in droves. Unless we do something as a community we are in trouble.
Dr. Zev Zelenko Retweeted
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Dr. Zev Zelenko
@zev_dr
·
Aug 19
#Covid19 has very effective treatment in the prehospital setting. Big-pharma and anti-Trump forces have created artificial obstacles to access to care. Some consequences of the shutdown are: 600% increase in suicide; huge increase in child and spousal abuse
That is the only way this will somewhat work. And I repeat somewhat, because people there do as they wish regardless of authority.
The Rabbonim need to say NO to all guests. If they dont put their foot down we will all suffer. Scary
Click link to sign petition: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/please-give-zelenko-protocol-eua
YOUR AND MY OPINION DOESN’T COUNT WHEN IT COMES TO HALACHA. THE TZEMACH TZEDEK, RABBI AKIVA AIGER AND ALL THE RABBONIM WORLDWIDE SAID THE HALACHA DICTATES TO DO AS YOUR DOCTORS ARE ADVISING TO DO DURING THIS PANDEMIC. IF YOU CAN EVEN SAVE ONE LIFE ITS AS IF YOU SAVED THE WHOLE WORLD. AND HOW ABOUT, IF BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS, ONE PERSON BECAME SICK AND CH”V….SO ARE YOU MOCKING WHAT OUR REBBEIM AND RABBONIM SAID WE SHOULD DO AT THIS TIME, EVEN IF IT’S NOT CONVENIENT?? THE LACK OF AHAVAS YISROEL FOR ANOTHER PERSON IS SO UNBELIEVABLE!!! HOW ARROGANT… Read more »
And it is right before Rosh Hashana = how can these people even look in the mirror?
Why are you yelling?
Maybe they are feeling the rage I feel when I read comments about how wearing a mask makes you a sheep? Comments about how it’s all fake news? Comments about how anyone who is “scared” or “at-risk” should just stay home? When did we become the alt-right?
Dr. Zev Zelenko Retweeted
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Dr. Zev Zelenko
@zev_dr
·
Aug 23
Lets reframe our position. It is not about hcq. It is about EARLY prehospital tx. There are several non-hcq options: quercetin, egcg, ivermectin, dexamethasone, budesimide, zinc, Azithromycin, blood thinners. This is the art of medicine. You need a doctor who can improvise.
Is anyone aware how many people from CH travelled this summer? Did people from CH visit “hot spots”? They mingled with people from everywhere.
You are right residents of CH did put themselves at risk and were exposed to corona but they live here. We should ban them for safety purposes but we can’t. Does that mean that we should open our community up to exposure from an extra thousand or two people just because we have some people already who are a danger? It is not the same thing. Why must we import trouble? We have enough local trouble to deal with.
Cuz that worked out so well for the bungalow colonies under quarantine right now…
With fast results available why don’t guests just get tested upon arrival, and if they are negative let everyone get back to life.
Any reason to quarantine or not welcome someone that has 0 symptoms + tests negative seems ridiculous to me.
In the beginning we were lacking testing but now that it’s readily available and we have results in 15 min we should utilise it.
By the way that 15 min test alway comes back false. You take the swab with in 24 to 48 hours you have the results
You actually think a thousand people are going to line up with their suitcases when they get here from overseas, before they go anywhere else, and they are going to wait to be tested? Then when they test positive or do not show antibodies they will say thank you so much let me go back to the airport now and fly home. What is wrong with you? People from overseas or anywhere for that matter will be here for yom tov and not leave because of a test that they failed. You are ridiculous!
YOU DONT WANT MASKS, SOCIAL DISTANCING, OUTSIDE MINYONIM, NO JOBS, EMPTY SHOPS AND SHULS, NO SCHOOLS, NO VACATIONS, AND THE CHINA VIRUS? THEN VOTE TRUMP 2020!
BIDEN AND HARRIS (OBAMA) KOWTOWS TO CHINA AND WILL DECIMATE THE ECONOMY, EMBOLDEN IRAN AND OUR ENEMIES, DEFUND THE POLICE, AND REVERSE THE DECISIONS OUR PRESIDENT HAS MADE FOR ISRAEL
TRUMP/PENCE 2020
4 MORE YEARS
You are all permitted to express your opinions. However, please remember that there are people that will be reading your post that suffered greatly because of the pandemic. I know we were all affected one way or another, And are very frustrated. Please keep this in mind when you share your thoughts. May we all be blessed with health, wealth and happiness.
I am glad to see this officially come out, with more strength and less hemming and hawing.
NOW: the task is to prevent people from showing up at the airport at the eleventh hour.
For example, is the word out in Eretz Yisrael, France, and the other countries that tend to converge on Crown Heights during Tishrei?
What’s being said to renegade Crown Heightsers who plan to host foreign orchim anyway this Tishrei — to truly motivate them to cancel hosting?
What can be done to ENFORCE this? Effective ideas are NEEDED NOW!
You can’t come into the country at the moment as just a tourist. The only concern is out of state.
Out of country students? Just tell the schools not to sponsor their visas.
I’m not finding that this is the case when I search for this info on the Internet.
If it’s for sure true, great. But where did you find this out?
Thank you.
My wife recently returned from out of country. No tourists allowed.
I cry for how Crown Heights is destroying itself over this pandemic. Zoom schools, no guests, no fabrengens, no community events and more.
Is that Halachicly required? It is hard to believe, but an expert to would need to say.
The destructive side effects are a fact, whatever you think the Halachic requirements are.
Clearly you do not live here and did not suffer endless weeks of funerals and months of loved ones in the hospital. Good for you. I would not wish it on enemies. But keep your mouth shut.
I have lived here for over 23 years (almost my whole adult life) and was here through all of the pandemic, and I still live here.
The terrible deaths don’t change the terrible effects of the things I listed above.
If Crown Heights residents do not open their homes to guests, whether they are paying or not, that could prevent many guests from coming.
Everybody knows that people from 31 states have to quarantine for 14 days if they come into NYC, otherwise there is a fine of up to $10,000. How come no one realizes this.Until Covid goes away, we can all be as safe as possible if we just follow the simple rules. No people coming into CH from hotspot states and certainly not from foreign countries where the virus is out of control, avoid large crowds in indoor enclosed spaces, and practise social distancing. Why is there such a freak-out about masks? When I was sick in the hospital, all the… Read more »
Just don’t host anyone. If relatives or friends call u to ask for a place for Tishrei, just say that u are so sorry but this year you are not taking anyone in your home from abroad.
If everyone will refuse politely to their guests, then they won’t come bc they won’t have where to eat or sleep.
That simple!
As Dovid HaMelech proclaims in the nigun-kapital, ” And we are (proud to be) YOUR PEOPLE, and the FLOCK (of sheep) in YOUR pasture-land, we are acknowledged to be YOURS, forever and ever.” Are you ashamed to be a Yid??