Scot takes swipe at worship policy

V THE DIRECTOR of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities has accused the Scottish government of putting “pubs before prayer” as shuls north of the border await a decision on a date for religious services resuming.

Ephraim Borowski is highly critical of the “irrational and discriminatory” guidance which has allowed places of worship in Scotland to reopen for individual prayer or contemplation — subject to physical distancing and hygiene safeguards — while communal prayer remains prohibited.

Scottish pubs and restaurants can reopen from July 15.

Mr Borowski said he and other faith leaders could see “no difference between congregational prayer and individual prayer that happens to have several people in the same space at the same time.

“They seem to have created a situation where, assuming your building is big enough, you can have lots of people praying individually.

“But they’re not allowed to answer each other. What we want them to say is where congregational prayer is nothing other than responding to somebody else, then that is permitted.”

Mr Borowski said a number of shuls in Edinburgh and Glasgow — for example Giffnock and Newlands Synagogue — were large enough to accommodate people for socially distanced communal prayer and he had been making that case to the government for the past month.

A Scottish government spokesperson told the JC on Wednesday: “We must ensure people that enter places of worship to undertake congregational activities will be safe.

“We are working to ensure places of worship can reopen for congregational activities as soon as is safely possible.

“While we have been clear that we do not want these difficulties to last any longer than is necessary, we equally will not act in a way that puts our progress against this virus at risk.”

V MANCHESTER’S STENECOURT Synagogue will be opening “very early next week”, reported its president, Paul Abeles, using its multiple spaces to conduct staggered minyans, enabling social distancing and adequate cleaning between services.

Leaders had hoped that all four of the shul’s halls could be deployed. But flooding last week rendered two temporarily unusable.

“A lot of our membership are used to coming to shul every day,” Mr Abeles said, citing the four minyans that would normally take place on Shabbat. He claimed that pre-lockdown, the majority of its 600 members passed through its doors every week.

He added that it would be “a pleasure to be back in the sense that it marks something monumental in terms of the recovery from Covid and moving forward”.

Stenecourt has been livestreaming all but its Shabbat services online — as well as barmitzvahs and shivahs – and will continue to do so.

Mr Abeles was aware of the problems a two-tier operation might cause but pointed out the Chief Rabbi had “recommended a hybrid service” to cater for all.

In Liverpool, Childwall Synagogue will be opening for a Shabbat service this week to allow third-generation member Adam Jacobson to have his barmitzvah. Rabbi Avinoam Czitron said that instead of the regular Shabbat attendance of around 100, the maximum would be 30.

Childwall has implemented a oneway system for entrance and exit, as

The Scottish government is putting pubs before prayer ’