(JTA) – In the latest dustup between New York authorities and Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, police broke up a gathering of at least several dozen men at a Hasidic synagogue on Wednesday morning.
Videos circulating on the messaging app WhatsApp showed police officers holding the doors of a synagogue on South 8th Street in Williamsburg as dozens of men exited the building. A New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed that officers responded to a tip and observed a large group at the synagogue at around 8 a.m. The group dispersed peacefully and there were no arrests or summonses issued.
It is unclear if the men had gathered for services or for yeshiva studies, but several of the men carried tefillin, a ritual object used during morning prayers. Both kinds of gatherings are barred under an executive order aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
The gathering comes as New Yorkers grow increasingly weary of social distancing after two months under a stay-at-home order, and as other parts of the state begin to reopen. Within the haredi Orthodox community in Brooklyn, several breaches of social distancing, including a large Hasidic funeral that drew thousands into the streets, have led to tensions with city authorities.
This week, Mayor Bill de Blasio called out Jewish violators of distancing rules for a second time in a tweet that his political adversaries, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, are criticizing as unfairly targeting Jews at a time when many New Yorkers are breaking the rules. The mayor also vowed Tuesday to shut down underground schools that he said tipsters had been warning city officials about.
Several parents told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency this week that yeshivas have reopened with altered schedules and sometimes in different locations, apparently to evade notice. On Monday, police shut down one yeshiva after officers found more than 60 students in the school, many of whom were without masks and not practicing social distancing.
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