The frum community in Melbourne, Australia wrote a letter to the local authorities requesting a permit to daven in minyanim for Rosh Hashanah in accordance with social distancing regulations, even offering for all participants be tested for the coronavirus prior to gathering if necessary.

As YWN reported last week, the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, is currently under severe regulations following a coronavirus outbreak. The restrictions preclude gatherings of even ten people and anyone who violates the regulations are subject to huge fines of thousands of dollars.

“We are marking Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year,” the letter stated. ” In the Jewish faith, Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment, the day when G-d sits to judge the whole world and the fates of individuals and peoples alike are determined for the coming year.”

“For thousands of years, Jews around the world have fulfilled their religious duties to honor the day with prayer and praise to G-d, while praying for their lives and the lives of their countrymen and the well-being of the countries in which they live. Jewish prayers are comprised of community prayers, and the essential and important parts cannot be said without the presence of ten men over the age of thirteen. For thousands of years, the Jews overcame the greatest hardships, and often risked their lives, to gather for Rosh Hashanah prayers.”

“We are grateful for your tireless efforts to protect everyone’s safety. We pray for your success in this matter and all the issues you face. We are clearly in the midst of a pandemic. We pray to G-d that it will end quickly. Most religious duties in Judaism, including prayer, do not apply in cases of danger to life. G-d also does not require us to fulfill most obligations when there is danger.”

“As of right now, we have not been given permission to hold Rosh Hashanah prayers in the state of Victoria. It should be clear that if this decision was necessary for public health, we would have no pangs of conscience and would accept it with love as the will of G-d. However it seems to us that this not the case.”

The letter continued to say that there only isolated cases of the coronavirus in the frum community and that the community is willing to hold minyanim of ten men in adherence to regulations and even have all the participants tested beforehand to ensure no one is positive for the virus.

The letter also noted that “[to the best of our knowledge] there is no other Jewish community in the world who is being prevented from gathering this year for Rosh Hashana prayers. The coronavirus outbreak is undoubtedly not the worst in the world in the state of Victoria.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)