V Parts of the Charedi community in London have come under fire after some members were caught flagrantly breaking government guidelines on Covid-19 safety over the past week.
Last Thursday, police launched an investigation to find out those responsible for arranging a 150-strong wedding that took place on the premises of an Orthodox girls school in Hackney.
Over the course of the week, hundreds of shoppers were seen entering and leaving a kosher supermarket in Stamford Hill without wearing protective masks and failing to observe social distancing rules.
On Saturday, meanwhile, police imposed a 48-hour dispersal zone on an area of Golders Green after visiting a synagogue where they said there had been too many worshippers.
The state-aided Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls High School said it had been unaware of the wedding taking place and its hall had been leased to an external organisation.
The organiser of the event — condemned as a “shameful desecration” by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis — faces a £10,000 fine.
But in an update, the Met said it had launched an investigation to identity “those others responsible for organising and who attended the wedding.”
Police had found steps had been taken to “mask” the function by covering windows. Footage sent to the JC showed heavy police presence in the area. One person tweeted in response: “As an NHS worker I am utterly lost for words! We will never be out of this pandemic with events like this. PLEASE, follow the guidelines and stay at home! NHS workers are exhausted!”
Detective Chief Superintendent Marcus Barnett, Central East BCU Commander, said: “This was a completely unacceptable breach of the law, which is very clearly in place to save lives and protect the NHS. An NHS that is under considerable pressure at a time when Covid 19 has killed nearly 100,000 people. This is a deadly and very dangerous disease. We can all see that and we must act responsibly.”
The Chief Rabbi commented about the wedding: “This is a most shameful desecration of all that we hold dear,” Rabbi Mirvis wrote on Twitter about the event at Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School, which was broken up by police.
“At a time when we are all making such great sacrifices, it amounts to a brazen abrogation of the responsibility to protect life and such illegal behaviour is abhorred by the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community,” he added.
A spokesman for the state-aided Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School said that it had no knowledge of the event, which was organised by a third party, and was horrified.
In a statement, the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations said, “We are shocked and deeply saddened by last night’s events which are shameful for our community. There are no excuses for anyone to endanger the community and the wider public in such a careless manner.
“We will continue to work with the police and the community and we reiterate the importance everyone has to play in order to protect the NHS and save lives.”
Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl condemned “this flagrant and disgraceful breach of Covid-19 regulations, which goes against Jewish teaching that preserving life is of the highest value.”
She added that “the reckless and dangerous behaviour of those behind this event does not represent the attitude of the vast majority of British Jews, including from within the strictly-Orthodox community, who are fully aware of the terrible toll of this pandemic.”
A manager of one of the most popular kosher supermarkets in Stamford Hill said on Friday there were “doing our best” to implement Covid -19 prevention methods — after the JC witnessed hundreds of customers and several staff members entering the premises without wearing protective masks and failing to observe social distancing rules.
The JC observed activity at the entrance of the Breuer and Spitzer store on two separate days last week — Tuesday and Friday — and witnessed a constant procession of men, women and children walking into the north London food shop with an apparent disregard for any of the government’s guidance on preventing the spread of Covid-19.
While some staff members could be seen to be wearing protective masks while working inside the store, others were clearly not.
On Friday, as locals shopped for produce ahead of Shabbat, the entrance doors to the upmarket store became so crowded that people needed to push past one another to get inside.
Even on the quieter Tuesday afternoon, a steady stream of customers inside the Dunsmure Road premises passing each other down the aisles made it clear that social distancing measures were not being applied by the management.
On both days, it was clear that only around one in ten customers entering or leaving the store had bothered to wear protective masks.
When the JC asked to speak to a manager of the shop on Monday and pointed out that there appeared to be no proper application of coronavirus prevention measures, a female said: “I hear what you are saying.”
She then stressed that Breuer and Spitzer do provide free masks for everyone inside the shop at the tills.
The woman, who did not give her name, then added: “Listen we do have our rules in place. There are signs all over the doors.
“The majority do listen to the rules. We can’t be in charge of everyone.”
When asked why some Breuer and Spitz staff members had not worn masks on both Tuesday and Friday, she added: “It is those that are exempt from something.”
Asked why there was no security at the door of the shop, the woman said: “Why do you want to know? Is it a legal requirement?”
She added: “Look basically we are doing our best.
“We are giving out masks at the front and we have hand sanitising by the till.
“We try to tell customers to listen.”
On Saturday, police imposed a 48-hour dispersal zone on an area of Golders Green, giving them extra powers to break up gatherings of people, after visiting a synagogue where they said there had been too many worshippers.
Officers went to the Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Leeside Crescent on Saturday morning with Barnet Council officials following what the Metropolitan Police said were “concerns raised about potential Covid breaches”.
“They observed 80 to 100 people exiting the building — too high a number to be able to comply with social distancing guidance in the space available at the venue,” police said.
The dispersal zone, covering an area bordered by Princes Park Avenue, Golders Green Road, Ravenscourt Avenue, Templar Avenue, St George’s Road and Finchley Road, was authorised later in the day and will last until 5pm on Monday.
Met said a second visit had been scheduled to Ohel Moshe later on Saturday.
According to local community sources, officers prevented a minyan taking place for the afternoon minchah service.
Police also said they had visited Yeshivas Chayei Olam in Finchley Road on Saturday lunchtime after concerns about potential Covid breaches but they found it closed and no action was taken.
