Ecosystem

Rabbi Reuven Fink, who serves a suburban New York congregation, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, The Associated Press reported on Friday. Rabbi Fink, of the Young Israel of New Rochelle, was among the confirmed cases of COVID-19 previously announced by state officials, according to a statement posted Friday on the website of Yeshiva University, where he teaches two courses. Many members of Rabbi Fink's congregation were asked to self-quarantine earlier in the week, when one person in the synagogue's community, a New York lawyer, was hospitalized . Since then, some people who were friends or relatives of the lawyer have tested positive . The local outbreak has been responsible for all but a few of New York's 23 confirmed cases of the illness, including another positive test announced Friday by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Rabbi Fink had isolated himself as a precaution earlier in the week, telling congregants in a Facebook posting that following the quarantine order is “a sacred obligation that we all must take very seriously.” “This is a very emotionally trying time for us all. When we first heard of the coronavirus it seemed so remote. It has now come not only to our doorstep, but has pierced our lives,” he wrote. The upper Manhattan campus of Yeshiva University was closed through Friday because the stricken lawyer's son is a student there and has also tested positive for COVID-19. The university said it was advising Fink's students to self-quarantine until further notice. The synagogue will remain closed through Sunday. Health officials had said earlier that people who attended services there on February 22, and a funeral and a Bat Mitzvah on February 23, must self-quarantine until at least Sunday. (Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

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