A New Jersey couple have been charged with violating a ban on gatherings to stop the spread of coronavirus by hosting a massive party in their yard.
The event with 50 people on their front lawn is one of five gatherings police in the Jewish community of Lakewood have broken up in just two weeks.
Eliezer Silber, 37, and Miriam Silber, 34, on Sunday were charged with five counts of child endangerment and violating Gov Phil Murphy's executive order that outlaws all social gatherings, including parties and weddings.
The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said police were called to the Silbers' home on Alamitos Drive on Sunday following complaints a crowd were blocking a street.
Responding officers found 40-50 guests, including children, milling about on the family's front lawn and in front of their house.
Police dispersed the crowd and issued summonses to the homeowners, who will be required to appear in court at a future date to answer the charges against them.
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'As I have previously stated, it is my sworn duty to protect all of the residents of Ocean County. That obligation applies across the board,' stated Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer. 'My Office will prosecute any individual who defies or breaks the law, State of Emergency or otherwise. Everyone must respect and follow the law.'
Just hours later, police in Lakewood had to break up another event involving dozens of people, reported NJ.com.
Cops responded to Bais Horaah, a school for talmudic study, early Monday morning and found 35 people gathered inside.
'After several unsuccessful attempts by the Officers to clear the building, the crowd was eventually dispersed,' police and prosecutors said in a statement.
Building owner David Gluck, 42, and building manager Abraham Haberfeld, 32, were each charged with maintaining a nuisance.
Last month, Lakewood police dispersed three weddings hosted by members of the city's burgeoning Orthodox Jewish community for breaching the state's social distancing rules.
William Katzenstein, 39, last week was issued a summons after around 40 guests gathered to celebrate nuptials.
The wedding was broken up and the guests were asked to leave.
News of Orthodox Jewish residents flouting the governor's ban on gatherings has led to anti-Semitic threats.
Eliyohu Zaks, 49, was summonsed by police after authorities said he hosted a pop-up wedding in his home on Spruce Street in Lakewood, according to the Asbury Park Press.
The event was attended by more than 50 people.
Another local resident, 43-year-old Shaul Kuperwasser, was also cited by police after a large crowd was seen gathering at his home two weeks ago.
Lakewood officials said they have received dozens of angry phone calls from local residents who have reported mass gatherings, according to Patch.
The authorities said they are acting with a sense of urgency after Lakewood reported a confirmed 371 cases of coronavirus as of Monday.
Across New Jersey, at least 161 people have died of coronavirus infection. Statewide, there have been 13,386 confirmed cases.
The recent sightings of public gatherings have already exacerbated long-running tensions in Lakewood, where a large Orthodox Jewish population has relocated in recent years.
As wedding halls were ordered to shut down, residents simply moved the ceremonies to backyards on their residential properties.
Orthodox community leaders in Lakewood said that all 200 local synagogues and 130 yeshivas in the area have either shut down completely or limited prayer to small groups.
wedding in his home on Spruce Street in Lakewood, according to the Asbury Park Press.
The event was attended by more than 50 people.
'This is a very concentrated close-knit community,' Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg told NJ Advance Media.
'Many day-to-day activities and religious customs are done in group settings, so it's a bit of a learning curve.
Rabbi Abe Friedman, a chaplain for the State Police and a member of the governor's interfaith advisory council, told New Jersey 101.5 most Lakewood residents are following Murphy's order but it is difficult for some Jewish residents who are used to gathering together for prayers three times a day.
'This is a community, I believe, gathers and lives tight knit. The average family with five to eight children. Then when they grow older, marry off and then they have children, so the average household has about 20, including their own children, grandchildren and a son- or daughter-in-law,' Friedman said.
'It's very difficult to pull the plug on the routine of daily prayer and say 'you've done this for the past 10, 20, 30, 50 years. Now just go home pray at home with no other people with you,'' Friedman said.
6 comments:
News 12 reporting that Silber was also charged with endangering the welfare of children who were there.
Chalk up some more "victories" for the Shmuel Kaminetzky cult who will not rest until everyone is infected with measles, coronavirus, etc
I was there. I live down the block.
there were NOT 50 ppl gathered on his lawn! he had his relatives IN THEIR OWN CARS {about 6 different vehicles} stopped around his house - each family IN THEIR car - being misameach the Bar Mitzvah boy!!!
Please RAV S. Kaminetzky out of this!! There should NEVER be mevazeh Talmidei Chachomim {even if you disagree with them}.
It's very hard not to doven with a minyan. It's even harder to breath without your lungs. Idiots.
Dumbest Charge ever. How can you endanger a 12 yr old child with Covid-19. Itally as of 3/26/20 Zero deaths inder 30. Spain Zero deaths under 10 as of 3/30. NYC Zero deaths under 17 as of 3/31/20. There have been millions of kids infected and every child will have to get infected to flatten the curve so how is this child endangerment. I will defend this couple in court while sleeping
bmokom sheyesh chilul Hashem ain cholkin kovod l'rav
besides the fact that the halacha of not being mevazeh talmidei chochomim is only when the person is truly Toradik
Old Sam Kaminetzky lost his status years ago when all the gedolim got together to put him in cherem over his money to sanitize mamzerus scandal. At zero hour he claimed he is backing down. So he weaseled out of the cherem but he was lying then & he continues to speak out both sides of his mouth while backing the mamzerus. He tells his own groupies + the feminist modern orthodox that he's still all in for the zoyna having two husbands. But he tells the oylam Hatorah with a straight face that he defers to R' Dovid Feinstein.
How much blood does old Sam Kaminetzky have on his filthy hands, first from his vaccine meshugassen & now from the virus as the body bags pile up?
He is not even playing with a full deck. He let Margulies get away with it in the Kolko scandal. He covered up for Margulies. This despite that his own father R' Yaakov Kaminetzky ztl thoroughly despised the rishus of Margulies & his genayvos from Torah Vodaas even before he got into the molester protection racket.
https://matzav.com/watch-former-ny-assemblyman-dov-hikind-issues-strong-statement-on-coronavirus-rules/
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