Ultra-Orthodox religious leaders on Sunday night said Haredi schools would remain open Monday, but said they would divide the students into groups of ten to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the chief rabbis and other ultra-Orthodox representatives on Sunday evening to convince segments of the Haredi community to shutter their schools, after they defied Health Ministry directives designed to contain the virus. All other schools in the country have been shut down by the state to stem the spread.
Following the meeting, Rabbis Chaim Kanievsky and Gershon Edelstein, prominent leaders venerated by hundreds of thousands of followers in the Lithuanian sect, agreed Sunday night to a proposal backed by Netanyahu that would see no more than 10 students learning in a single classroom. Kanievsky last week had ordered his followers to ignore the Health Ministry’s coronavirus restrictions by keeping schools open.
Israel on Saturday night limited all gatherings to 10 people.
It remained unclear whether the institutions, many of which suffer from overcrowding, would find sufficient space to split up the students. The agreement referred to Talmud Torahs, or elementary schools, yeshiva high schools, and yeshivas of post-high school learning.
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