The minister of a major North-West London community has spoken of the “surreal experience” of conducting funerals under social distancing rules.

Nine of Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet’s Mill Hill United Synagogue congregants have died from coronavirus and, for the rabbi, the burial restrictions were “the single most emotionally difficult” part of the pandemic.

“It’s a surreal experience because it’s so lonely,” he told the JC.

“It only compounds the sadness when there would normally have been hundreds there.”

But there was also “an unusual serenity to it. It’s very personal without the usual background noise of masses of people.”

If there was not a minyan, Rabbi Schochet had offered mourners a moment of silence rather than saying Kaddish, which he said they had found “exceptionally meaningful”.

He also reported that between 100 and 400 people had been “attending” shivahs held via Zoom, for which the shul has additionally been using for Kabbalat Shabbat services.

Mill Hill would normally have hosted a communal Seder for around 100 people. This year, Rabbi Schochet prepared an online Seder DIY guide to help those making Seder night at home for the first time.

“The feedback from the community has been absolutely phenomenal in terms of how everyone feels continuously connected,” he said. It was “quite moving” seeing congregants singing along — “obviously on mute” — during its Zoom services.

Rabbi Schochet also reported that the shul has an “action team” making phone checks on elderly members. He has been phoning all doctors in the community to thank them for their efforts.

Health-wise, other members of the 1,800-family shul were in a “desperate situation” in hospital.

There was an “unquestionable trepidation in the air” but “people are hanging in there”.