It’s obvious from the comments that most people aren’t familiar with this shul and think it’s just another Young Israel.
Century Village is a gated retirement community located in Deerfield Beach, FL with 30,000 senior citizens residing on its square mile property. The Young Israel of Deerfield Beach, located just outside the gate, is the only shul serving that community. Rabbi Yisroel Edelman, a Lubavitcher chasid, has led their 1,200 members for more than a decade with great dedication, especially to the health and safety concerns of his aging membership. Two months ago, the Rabbi and the Board wisely decided that they must close the shul and forbid all private minyanim since all of their members are at-risk seniors. Any breach of social distancing presents an imminent threat not only to their lives but to those of tens of thousands of other senior residents, many of them Jews.
The breach that occurred has no similarity to what might be happening in any other community. One can only imagine the nightmare scenario if ch”v the virus would begin to spread there. The Rav and the Board were correct to send this letter informing their members that such dangerous behavior has serious consequences and can’t be tolerated.
The sore loser who decided to publicize this letter beyond the shul membership will have to answer for it.