Rabbi David Lau, the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, stated on Wednesday morning that he has come to the conclusion that the country’s synagogues can be closed on Yom Kippur – on condition that the same rules are applied to all forms of public gatherings.
“The moment the government reaches a decision on the matter, I will support the closure of the synagogues on Yom Kippur,” he told Galei Tzahal, “but other things have to happen too. If the government does not reach a decision on related matters such as demonstrations, the general public will not abide by the directive to close the synagogues.”
Rabbi Lau added that, “The real problem here is that people are not willing enough to follow orders. When it comes to questions of life and death, however, we have no right to play games.”
Rabbi Lau’s opinion as stated on Wednesday echoes a report in the media from Tuesday that appeared on Kan News. According to that report, a meeting was held on Tuesday between Prime Minister Netanyahu, the head of the National Security Council Meir Ben Shabbat, and the Health Minister, Yuli Edelstein. The three held an urgent telephone discussion with the participation of Rabbi Lau, and asked his opinion on the question of synagogue closures on Yom Kippur.
According to Kan News’ account, Rabbi Lau replied that there was no way that synagogues could be closed on Yom Kippur, as long as similar restrictions were not imposed on other public gatherings – notably demonstrations.