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Thousands Join in Jerusalem Funerals, Flout Pandemic Rules

Associated Press

   JERUSALEM - Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis thronged a pair of
   funerals for two prominent rabbis in Jerusalem on Sunday, flouting the
   country's ban on large public gatherings during the pandemic.

   The initial funeral procession, for Rabbi Meshulam Soloveitchik, who
   died at age 99, wended its way through the streets of Jerusalem in the
   latest display of ultra-Orthodox Israelis' refusal to honor coronavirus
   restrictions.

   The phenomenon has undermined the country's aggressive vaccination
   campaign to bring a raging outbreak under control andthreatened to hurt
   Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuin March elections. Two challengers
   accused Netanyahu of failing to enforce the law due to political
   pressure from his ultra-Orthodox political allies.

   Densely packed throngs of people gathered outside the rabbi's home,
   ignoring restrictions on outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people.
   Many did not wear masks.

   Thousands of black-garbed ultra-Orthodox funeral-goers coursed past the
   city's main entrance toward the cemetery where Soloveitchik was to be
   buried. A handful of police officers blocked intersections to traffic
   to allow participants topass butappeared to take no action to prevent
   the illegal assembly.

   Israeli media said Soloveitchik, a leading religious scholar who
   headedseveralwell-known seminaries, had recently suffered from
   COVID-19.

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