As he does every year, President Reuven Rivlin this morning, Sunday, sold chametz, foodstuffs which may not be consumed or owned during Passover, in a video call to the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Shlomo Moshe Amar, and Director-General of Beit HaNasi Harel Tubi.
In their conversation, the president commented on the harsh remarks against the haredi community regarding coronavirus:
“Today, I want to speak out strongly against the voices I hear criticizing the haredi community: we are brothers and sisters and mutual responsibility is our guiding light. We must not make false accusations that one or another group is spreading the disease, and we must certainly not attack a whole community because of the bad deeds of individuals, which happens in every society,” he said, adding, “we must also not make generalizations about a whole community, the vast majority of which is carrying out the instructions of the Ministry of Health in these difficult days leading up to Pesach.”
(Hebrew video)
The president told the rabbi that in recent years, like many homes in Israel, Beit HaNasi has also sold it’s chametz ahead of Passover and that it would not skip the mitzvah this year. “I want to thank you, Rabbi, and the religious leadership as a whole, for making an effort to ensure all preparations for the holiday are in line with the Ministry of Health's guidelines.”
“Let us wish for better days ahead, of health and quiet. Chag Pesach Sameach, a kosher and healthy holiday,” wished the president to the rabbi.
Earlier in the day, the president and his aides made the blessing for the trees said in the [Hebrew] month of Nisan in the gardens of Beit HaNasi.