COVID-19 fears close two West Island synagogues

Two West Island synagogues have decided to cancel their celebrations for the Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Just a day after signalling they would be holding ceremonies, the sister congregations of Beth Tikvah and Or Shalom, both in Dollard-des- Ormeaux, decided to cancel, in part because of reports of parents who tested positive for COVID-19 at a local school.

“We were monitoring the situation closely and we were concerned that the numbers were on an upswing and were such that it could be troublesome for us,” said Rabbi Mark Fishman of Beth Tikvah. “We wanted to focus on the values of safety and preservation of health.”

The plan had been to hold a smaller indoor service, along with multiple services in tents, in order to limit the number of congregants to less than 150 at one time.

“We had hundreds and hundreds of people who had reserved spots and we were just looking at ourselves, the leadership team, and saying `Is this really what we want to be doing right now, bringing hundreds of people together?' ”

Reaction from congregants has been overwhelmingly positive, Fishman said.

In a Facebook message to congregants, Fishman said an increase in cases among Montreal's Jewish community also played into the decision.

“The upswing is empirically significant and growing in the Jewish community necessitating the closure of a major Jewish school and creating an atmosphere of anxiety and fear amongst parents in all the other schools including HFS.

“The upswing in cases in the Jewish community once again has become the focus of the media and is putting the reputation of our community at risk.”

As orthodox congregations whose members avoid the use of technology during the Sabbath, the Dollard-des- Ormeaux synagogues could not hold online celebrations, as many synagogues are doing. But an online event prior to the onset of the Sabbath Friday afternoon organized by Beth Tikvah drew 400 participants, Fishman said.