By COLlive reporter
Tens of bochurim of Yeshiva Chassidei Chabad Lubavitch in the holy city of Tzfas, led by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Wilschansky, were recently tested positive for coronavirus, turning the yeshiva into a ‘Covid hotel’.
The outbreak occurred in the Yeshiva Gedola as Israel faces a second wave of infections and will be imposing another national lockdown on Rosh Hashana.
Bochurim of the Yeshiva Ketana (Mesivta) of Tzfas were sent home out of fear of being infected as well. There are a number of people infected in the Chabad community of Tzfas. The Chabad girls school Or Menachem has been closed with its 550 students remaining home.
Rumors claimed that the source of the local infections were girls from Crown Heights who recently arrived to spend the upcoming school year at the Bais Chana Seminary of Tzfas.
Speaking to the Hebrew news website COL, the seminary’s longtime director Rabbi Yosef Chitrik said the claims were “utter absurdity” and that “I am sorry to disappoint those who slandered, but the facts are completely different.”
“The foreign students in question only end their isolation period of two weeks tonight (Tuesday), exactly according to the health regulations,” he stated.
“They have not seen the light of day, and certainly could not be blamed for the said outbreak in the yeshiva and among the Chabad community in the city,” he said.
In fact, Rabbi Chitrik said, the seminary does not have a single verified case of exposure to someone who is a verified patient.
He said that there is a teacher who works both in the Yeshiva and in the Seminary who has been exposed to a Covid case and as a precaution “the entire class went into self-quarantine.”
“The outbreak is caused by not following the guidelines, and there is no need to look for culprits elsewhere,” Rabbi Chitrik stated.
It would have been so much more reasonable to open up after this thing calmed
The fact that you made yourself vulnerable for blame in No ones problem but yours
There are teenage girls who need to be in seminary NOW, you clearly dont have kids or siblings because one cant just stay at home for ANOTHER 6 months “till things calm down…”
You have to be realistic
The Israelis who came and are still coming in for tishrei Who anxiously anticipate tishrei to be with the rebbe meant well
But unfortunately there is a significant spike in CH
Obviously I feel your distress but you have to use brains over feeling
So please be a responsible parent and do what’s right
The type of girls (not all) who go to chitrik I think have the strength and motivation to do just fine until this thing is over….just an opinion.
I beg to disagree. As a parent to students in several mosdos chinuch, Rabbi and Mrs. Chitrik have been a very rare source of confidence and responsibility and enabling the students to actually salvage a seminary experience after having lost most of their 12th Grade experience.
What a chutzpah of a comment! Rabbi and Mrs Chitrik have been extremely responsible about this and have done everything 100% correctly with mesiras nefesh. I know because my daughter is there. They worked so hard to make this work for the girls. They didn’t want to open up later because they were told Israel may not allow them in later… and it was the right thing to do.
So what you’re saying is Let’s smuggle in the virus before the border Closes.Was everyone checked out when they left and when they came there that they had no issue
You’re an idiot who has ZERO idea of the facts. Rabbi Chitrik did everything RIGHT and he has NOTHING to do with ANY virus cases let alone an OUTBREAK!!!
Don’t be stam a hater.
There are girls sitting at home for months on end itching to get out
So the need for the seminary to open is real
I cannot wrap my head around the thought process of sending girls for seminary especially that they were in camps and for sure exposed to the Coronavirus and there is a spike in Israel…hashem yerachem
How exactly is being an camp a 100% chance of being exposed?
Stop spreading none sense, the virus doesn’t have wings!!!
Quaranteen doesn’t work. And it’s not necessary. How many deaths in American came from our President’s many indoor rallies – not one! It’s a shame that chabad mosdos are listening to the proclamations of the haters instead of looking at our president – who wouldn’t be president if Hashem didn’t decree it, and following his sensible leadership.
Let us daven like mentchen in 770! Let us learn like mentchen in yeshiva and in seminary! Let us put our trust in Hashem and not in the politicians who only want what’s good for them and their pockets!
With that said the president is still saying that people have to do the responsible thing and be a grown-up about it.
Our daughters in sem in Tzfat literally just finished 2 weeks of quarantine that was started immediately upon arrival from the airport. Stop looking for someone to blame and trust that Hashem has a plan.
You already can acknowledge that the seminary is making terrible decisions by having a teacher in both the yeshiva as well as the seminary when they should be having a stricter quarantine lockdown. In regards to the people that say the girls need to get out of the house, so is it better for the virus to spred and have the whole Israel shut down, or God forbid for jews to die because your daughter is bored at home??? The seminary should not have opened in the first place !
The teacher was teaching the girls from “green countries” who did not need to quarantine. Those girls are now being separated and are not coming into contact with the girls who had to quarantine
Rumor has it that the Tzfas Bochum are deliberately going around acting foolish & reckless so they can all get positive to develop antibodies and go to NY.
The sem girls just came out of quarantine and are located in a different part of Tzfas.
That’s funny. When Drs stated that only ppl with antibodies can come to CH i was actually thinking the young would do that to come
Most of the girls are americans! Why can’t they find a place in America and please don’t bring up a lack of money cause they charge plenty! No reason to go to israel and especially the country is now locking up so they are not even getting the “isreal experience”
Maybe because the TEACHERS are in Eretz Yisroel? Do you propose bringing the teachers and their extended families to America to try to recreate sem here?
Also, part of the “Israel Experience” is literally the air of Eretz Yisroel, which is awfully hard to replicate in the USA. Maybe by the Ohel, but I don’t think they want a sem there.
It’s interesting because our community is actually suffering from the fact that they weren’t responsible and sent there bochurim here
Don’t blame the Israeli bochurim (who did a full two week quarantine) for the recent uptick in cases, unless you’re sure that that’s where it came from. I think its more likely that it came from a few crown heights residents who went to mexico and then tested positive.
They did not quarantine for a full weeks. This is precisely the issue.
its the same story on this side of the pond in crown heights. with the outbreak being blamed on people from tsfas
These are the Israeli girls who are studying in the Hebrew program
By the way, on Tuesday morning they were sent home
Just before the students from abroad leave the isolation in order to minimize the risk of infection
After the holidays the Israeli students will be quarantine for two weeks and only afterwards will there be a full reunion
Not easy process
It is amazing how people are spewing nonsense and those that don’t know any better actually believe it. The sem girls were taken straight from the airport to their apartments where they were quarantined for 2 weeks until today. They were not allowed to step over their threshold the entire time! There would be no conceivable way to spread the virus unless they spit out the window. Yes! A ridiculous idea but shows how ridiculous some of the comments are.
The schools have to open and life must go on, with that being said we still need to follow guidelines, even if it seems pointless sometimes. To say rabbi chitrik is to blame, is simply foolish, he followed protocol as he states, the girls are yet to see the light of day. Everyone can make their own decisions to send or not to send, if you feel it’s irresponsible to send than don’t send, and perhaps that is very noble of you, but don’t shame the schools or the students that attend, they are following everything the government is making… Read more »
Seems like most people don’t want to blame the seminary girls for taking it there but everyone is very quick to blame the Bochorim for bringing it to crown heights
The bochur who brought it to crown heights did NOT quarantine for 14 days like these girls just did!