Saturday, November 21, 2020

New York mass wedding organized in secret

A Hasidic synagogue in Brooklyn planned the wedding of a chief rabbi’s grandson with such secrecy it was able to host thousands of maskless celebrants without the city catching on.

Despite a surge in COVID-19 cases, guests crammed shoulder-to-shoulder inside the Yetev Lev temple in Williamsburg for the Nov. 8 nuptials — stomping, dancing and singing at the top of their lungs without a mask in sight, videos obtained by The Post show.

Organizers schemed to hide the wedding of Yoel Teitelbaum, grandson of Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelman, from “the ravenous press and government officials,” says a detailed account in the Yiddish newspaper Der Blatt, the publication of the Satmar sect.

Read the rest here.

The arrogant and callous disregard for the public safety on display here is simply breathtaking. It is clear that these people believe they are somehow special and above the law, and free to endanger their neighbors and fellow citizens at will. If I were a New Yorker I would be furious. This is not a minor infraction of indoor accommodation limits or failure to space adequately between tables in a restaurant. Criminal charges should be filed. And if somebody dies as a result of being infected via this event, those charges should include negligent manslaughter.

6 comments:

Archimandrite Gregory said...

I agree with your assessment but also the civil authorities, who often are less than civil, have some blame in this matter as well. Would that cooler heads would prevail.

unreconstructed rebel said...

Do I hear correctly that His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej presided over the funeral Metropolitan Amfilohije who died from complications of COVID? And that the the funeral was rather large, did not practice social distancing or wear masks, and Amfilohije's casket was open during the service?

You are starting to sound like Gavin Newsom.

John (Ad Orientem) said...

Fair point. The Serbians handled that funeral about as badly as they could. But they were not deliberately conspiring to evade public health regulations.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

In 50 years, American Orthodox parishes will be white-haired book clubs and the Hasidim will be more numerous than ever. Probably enough to effectively have their own State.

unreconstructed rebel said...

My spies tell me that City Hall is tagging the synagogue in question with a fine of $15,000.

John (Ad Orientem) said...

That is depressing.