Shabbat 2020, an iconic program run each year at Binghamton University in New York State and conceived by the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton University, was expected to bring together as many as 2,000 students, alumni, family members and faculty for Shabbat dinner and prayers this past Friday night—and it did, […]
Houses of worship, forced to close due to COVID-19, get inventive because people need prayer, they say
For the last 15 years, only the occasional blizzard shuttered the 24/7 perpetual adoration chapel at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church in Park Ridge. But then COVID-19 struck. The quiet chapel, where volunteers normally offer up prayers day and night before the consecrated host that Catholics believe is the body of Christ, is […]
In Brooklyn’s Hasidic Jewish community, a socially distant wedding
As soon as a run-of-the-mill soundtrack to New York’s streets, automobiles honking their horns is a method to throw a socially distanced wedding ceremony reception within the time of the coronavirus outbreak. On the eve of a ban on all gatherings within the state battling the fast-spreading COVID-19, a handful of individuals gathered for a […]
How Coronavirus Hit New York’s Orthodox Jews
The rampant spread of COVID-19 continues to skyrocket, and nowhere in the U.S. has been more affected than New York, the state with the most cases. As of press time, the state had recorded 15,800 positive cases — nearly 50% of the national total. To put this in perspective, New York’s total is now more […]
Yehuda Yaakov Refson, senior UK Chabad rabbi, dies of coronavirus
Rabbi Yehuda Yaakov Refson. (Courtesy of Chabad.org) JTA — Rabbi Yehuda Yaakov Refson had been a vital part of the Jewish community in the British city of Leeds for more than four decades, earning a reputation for being “devoted, caring and principled.” On Sunday, Refson died of the coronavirus, The Jewish Chronicle reported. He was […]
Rabbis Call for Half-Day Fast Wed. March 25 on COVID-19
The global rabbinic leadership has called on the House of Israel to observe a half-day fast on Wednesday, March 25 (Erev Rosh Chodesh Nissan) as the Jewish world – indeed, the entire planet – continues to struggle with the COVID-19 coronavirus that has attacked one country after another. In Britain, the country’s most senior rabbi […]
France: Growing number of people in the Jewish community infected with coronavirus
The list of people infected with coronavirus is growing in the French Jewish community, causing countless requests to read tehillim on social networks, reported Actualité Juive, the country’s main Jewish media, on its website. In the group “Jewish Help”, in particular, there is a sad updated list of the sick people. Everyone is asked by […]
Briefing 3/24: Desperate For More Ventilators. We Need 30k. We Got 400.
Another day of quarantine! While you are quarantined at home, don’t forget to fill out your online census. Here’s your coronavirus briefing for today: The new numbers: As of 10 a.m. this morning, there are 14,776 positive cases of the coronavirus and 131 fatalities in NYC. In Brooklyn, the number has gone up to 4,237. […]
An Isolation Meditation
Feeling boxed-in due to the Corona pandemic restrictions? This is for you! I’d like to share a meditation for anyone who is feeling boxed-in, whether in general, or currently due to the Corona pandemic restrictions. The meditation herein presented is based upon the Six Constant Mitzvot of the Torah.1 These six are central to Jewish […]
At least 65 yeshiva students returning to Israel from Crown Heights test positive for coronavirus
More than half of a group of 114 students who returned to Israel from a yeshiva near the Chabad world headquarters in New York have tested positive for coronavirus. The Hasidic students returned after the headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighbourhood of Brooklyn was closed for the first time ever. They were […]