“No, Minyanim Restrictions Must Stay in Place” Say 350 Frum Doctors Across the Country

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As physicians who are שומרי תורה ומצוות and on the frontlines of the active COVID-19 pandemic, we implore all fellow Jews to continue strict adherence to isolation guidelines WITHOUT exceptions.

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Our Jewish communities require unique consideration and are at higher risk for rapid disease transmission. We live in close knit, multigenerational and interconnected communities with frequent overlapping contact in our religious commitments and in our neighborhoods, shuls, schools, and shops.

הלכה has never looked towards government guidelines alone as a measure for נפשות סכנת. Government guidelines consider political factors, financial impacts, and enforcement capabilities. We do not believe that any of these weigh more heavily than the concept of פיקוח נפש. It is painfully obvious that government guidelines must be tailored to keep our communities safe.

It is our unanimous medical opinion that prematurely loosening the restrictions is highly likely to result in further disease transmission and loss of life, חס ושלום.

We must remind everyone that COVID-19 can be transmitted asymptomatically and that those who have had COVID-19 may be contagious for weeks, even after resolution of all symptoms. In addition, people who have had COVID-19 may NOT be immune. Any outing from the home must be limited to essential needs and performed with the strictest social distancing regulations. The prohibition on all forms of group gatherings including simchos, levayos, and minyanim must remain in place.

Just as we empathize with patients undergoing difficult treatments, we also understand the difficulty that these guidelines impose. These temporary measures are not easy to follow, but are medically necessary and life-saving. In the coming weeks, new information and advancements will become available which we hope will allow for loosening of restrictions, as the concerns for נפש פיקוח allow.

May it be the will of the ריבונו של עולם that our קהילות be spared any further pain and tragedy.

We the undersigned unanimously support the above statements:

COLORADO Matthew Harris, MD Shevie Kassai, MD Michael Milobsky, MD

CONNECTICUT Anna Bader, MD Eric Bader, MD Hiam Naiditch, MD DC Moshe Levi, MD

FLORIDA Yonah Bardos, MD, MBE Jordan Ditchek, MD David Eleff, MD Joshua D. Fox, MD Suzanne Hagler, MD Edward Hirsch, MD David Kay, MD, MPH Harold Landa, MD Howard Levine, MD Jonathan Rosman, MD Andrew Scheinberg, MD Carmi Stadlan, MD Rivka Stone, MD PhD Neal Weinreb, MD Jonathan Winograd, DO Raphael Yechieli, MD

GEORGIA Moshe Shapiro, MD ILLINOIS Jennifer Berkovich, DO David Grinblatt, MD Hertzkeh (Jeffrey) Grinblatt, MD David Marmor, MD Boruch Zucker, MD

LOUISIANA Menachem Nagar, MD

MARYLAND Reuven Abraham, MD Daniel (Chaim) Ambinder, MD Levi Atanelov, MD Itzi (Brian) Barr, MD Yaniv Berger, DO Bernhard Birnbaum, MD Justin Cohen, MD Hal Crane, MD Menachem Cooper, MD Moshay Cooper, MD Ari Elman, MD Michael Elman, MD Dov Frankel, MD Mordy Gardyn, MD Daniel Grove, MD David Hackam, MD Jonathan Aryeh Henesch, MD Yoel Jakobovits, MD Yitzy Kaplowitz, MD Shalom Kelman, MD Yosef Levenbrown, DO Elizabeth Loeb, MD Judah Minkove, MD Nicole Minkove, MD Sam Minkove, MD Yehuda Mond, MD Daniel Poliakoff, MD Elie Portnoy, MD Aaron Rapoport, MD Barry Reiner, MD Chana Richter, MD Jonathan Ringo, MD Avi Z. Rosenberg, MD PhD Josh Rosenbloom, DO Yonah (Jonah) Rubin, MD Ron Samet, MD Netanel Schwob, MD Dani Sova, MD Ethan Spiegler, MD Joshua Steiner, MD Chana Weinstock Neuberger, MD Edward Wolf, MD

MASSACHUSETTS Joshua Brown, MD Jonathan Ludmir, MD Miriam Segura-Harrison, MD

MICHIGAN Gedaliah Cooper, MD Jay Idler, MD Marc Murinson, MD Allen Stawis, MD Yudi Weiss, MD Josh Younger, MD

NEW JERSEY Ronny Chadi, MD Jonathan Cohen, MD Shimon Cohen, MD Moshe Cohn, MD Isaac Ezon, MD Alexander Feldman, DO Shimon Frankel, MD Dovid Friedman MD Neal Gittleman, MD Binyomin Greenberg, MD Mira Hellmann-Ostrov, MD Oren Herman, MD Aton M. Holzer, MD Jeffrey (Yehuda) Kaminetzky, MD Baruch Kassover, MD Abraham Knoll, MD Philip- Pesach Ledereich, MD Aliza Leiser, MD Allen Lempel, MD Micah May, MD Nathaniel Montag, DO Dovid Moradi, MD Maureen Nemetski, MD, PhD Dovid Ogun, MD Hillel Peltz, DO Steven Reich, MD Estee Robin, MD Daniel Roth, MD Debbie Rybak, MD Robert Shanik, MD Aron Schwarcz, MD Devorah Segal, MD, PhD Luba Stein, MD Jack Stroh, MD Mordechai M. Tarlow, MD Aleksey Tentler, MD Miro Ukraincik, MD Adinah Wieder, MD Yaacov Zamel, MD

NEW YORK Baruch Abittan, MD Chaim S. Abittan, MD Jenny Apsan, MD Yakira Abramowitz, DO Marina Baine, MD, PhD Charles Bigajer, MD Elliot Bigajer, DO Robin Bobo, MD Raphael Bollag, MD Shira Burnstein, MD Ellie Carmody Stone, MD David Chadow, MD Hal Chadow, MD Hymie Chera, MD David Chabbott, MD David Diamond, MD Steven Diamond, MD Stuart Ditchek, MD Victor J. Douek, MD Elizabeth Edelstein, DO Yoel Ehrenfeld, MD Solly E. Elmann, MD Eddie Esses, MD Gary Esses, MD Faraj Faour, MD Sherry Farzan, MD Benyamin Friedman, MD Shani Fruchter, DO Eliyahu Fuchs, MD Jonathan Garellek, MD Dov Ginsburg, MD Karyn Ginsburg, MD Rabbi Aaron E. Glatt, MD Joseph E. Glaser, MD Ari Goldwaser, DO Yitzchok Greenberg, MD Dovid Z. Gunsburg, MD Moshe Gunsburg, MD Anna Gutman, MD Dovid Halpern, MD Joseph Hanono, MD Albert Harary, MD Oren Herman, MD Shari Hirsch, MD Sandra Hoenig, MD Judah Horowitz, MD Hillel N. Isseroff, MD Abraham Kalikstein, MD Joseph Kaplovitz, DO Ron Kastner, MD David Khaski, MD Yakov Kiffel, MD Asaf Klein, MD David M. Klein, MD Michael I. Klein, MD Mark Kirschenbaum, DO Eric Kupferstein, DO Aharon Lauterpacht, MD Lazer Leifer, MD Eli Levitansky, DO Miriam R. Lieberman, MD Hylton Lightman, MD DCH(SA) Arthur Lowy, MD Marc Lustig, MD PhD Larisa Malisova, DO Benjamin Mann, DO Shira Marder, MD Daniel Matalon, MD Alisa Minkin, MD Shlomo Minkowitz, MD Mark Neuman, DO Sherrie Neustein Orzel, MD Ilana Pister, MD Raymond Reich, MD Sarah Rosanel, MD Alan Rothberger, MD Marina Rubin, MD Gabby Saadia, MD Tehila Saadia, MD Joshua Schechter, MD Alyssa Scheiner, MD Jonathan Schulhof, MD Naomi Schwartz, MD Jacqueline Segelnick, DO Libbat-Tzion Shaham, MD Daniel Shtraykher, DO Hal Sitt, MD Jimmy Sitt, MD Mariya Stratilatova, MD Jeffrey Teitelbaum, MD Sima Terebelo, MD David Turner, DO Joseph Wahba, MD Shimshon Wiesel, DO David Zelman, DO Shimshi Zimmerman, DO Zvi Zisbrod, MD Israel Zyskind, MD OHIO Akiva Diamond, MD Michael Grinblatt, MD Shmuel Margolin, MD Michael (Meir) Pollack, MD Michael Silverman, MD Anya Kleinman, MD

PENNSYLVANIA Gary Applebaum, MD Ilana Rachel Baltuch, MD Charles (Shaya) Barax, MD Deborah Bernstein, MD Melissa Bleicher (Malki Dvir), MD Moshe Chasky, MD Tami Danilewitz, MD Robert Den, MD Daniel Eisenberg, MD Ian Gleaner, MD Harold Gordon, MD Rachel Hachen, MD, MPH Daniel Hirsch, MD Tamar Katz, MD Jack Ludmir, MD Hillel Maresky, MD Jeremy A. Mazurek, MD Shana Miles MD, PhD Stephen Moster, MD Rachel. Niknam, MD Levi Ocken, MD Andrew J. Paris, MD Pia S. Pollack, MD Steven Raikin, MD Mindy Rosenblum, MD Aaron M. Rosenthal, DO Jack Rychik, MD Yedidya Saiman, MD Yecheskel Schneider, MD Elana Den Schwartz, MD Jonathan Tanner, MD Ari Weintraub, MD Elaine Zackai, MD

TENNESSEE Shimon Harary, MD Joshua Morris, MD

TEXAS Julia Grossman, MD

ONTARIO, CANADA Ari Greenwald, MD FRCPC-EM

Maintaining Restriction Guidelines.pdf


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21 Comments
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KShomron
KShomron
3 years ago

I think this puts matters to rest. These doctors have no self-interest in giving their professional medical opinions. Their opinions are based on decades of experience in their fields. Unfortunately I’m finding that a good number of the so-called US poskim and rabbonim have their own agendas, change their minds to please their audiences and are always looking over their shoulders in case some other posek it’s being more מחמיר then they are. Any medical knowledge they have probably comes from a 15 minute crash course in how a pandemic spreads. A times like this we sorely miss Rav Yisroel Belsky ZT”L.

sam hirschh
sam hirschh
3 years ago

they should allow rabbonim of shuls to sign on to this list. then people would know which rabonim closed shuls…

Larry Lennhoff
Larry Lennhoff
3 years ago

I’d like to suggest adding a comma to the headline: “No, minyan restrictions must remain in place” means one thing. “No minyan restrictions must remain in place” means the exact opposite. Or maybe drop the leading No? “Minyan restrictions must remain in place is unambiguous.”

InFlorida
InFlorida
3 years ago

Frum doctors say no more restrictions on Minyanim needed?

An added punctuation in the headline is desperately needed!

LBK-new
LBK-new
3 years ago

This list is a bit interesting. I don’t question the content at all, but there are plenty of frum doctors who aren’t on the list, and it makes you wonder whether they have a different opinion. Also, some of names that are on the list are doctors that would not seem to be involved in COVID-19 altogether. For example, there are a few eye doctors, including a pediatric ophthalmologist. Why would they include eye doctors, but not some frum internists or emergency medical professionals?

Mr.Magoo
Mr.Magoo
3 years ago

The word “No” in the headline should be omitted.

mobile
mobile
3 years ago

This is wrong. Whether there should be minyanim or not is question of halacha. Questions of halacha should be decided by Poskim, not doctors. Obviously the Poskim will get all the medical information from the doctors.
I don’t have any agenda here. In fact, I almost never missed a minyan before COVID, yet I haven’t davened with a minyan in a month. I just have a problem with doctors issuing halachic rulings.