The Corona virus is on the loose in Israel and the number of people infected by the virus has increased sharply and is now in the order of 12% of those tested. As a result, the government has taken rather drastic measures and a “lock down” has been imposed, which restricts the movement of people significantly and has imposed very strict limits on (especially) indoor gatherings with no more than ten people allowed and with mandatory wearing of facemasks.
Unfortunately, the autumn is also the time of the Jewish Holydays, with first the New Year (in the middle of September), followed by the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the holiest day in the Jewish calendar (ten days later) and now the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) which lasts for a full week. All three holydays result in a significant increase in synagogue visits, and many people who do not go to synagogue at all during the year, will go during these holydays (something like Christmas in the West).
There has been endless debate (a lot of it politically motivated) over the Corona rules that should be applied to synagogue visits and in the end a decision was made (with the reluctant agreement of the Religious parties) that during Yom Kippur the synagogues will be open but prayer will be limited to thirty worshipers only with the rest praying outside, while during Sukkot, the synagogues would be closed.
While these rules were hard to accept for many people, they were mostly followed, except (of course) in the Ultra-Orthodox communities, such as Bnei Brak, Mea Sha’arim (in Jerusalem), Bet Shemesh, Beitar Ilit and others. In these localities, many incidents were recorded whereby hundreds of people would crowd in small synagogues and totally ignore rules like wearing facemasks. When footage of these incidents (and there were many) started circulating on social media, and also the regular TV channels started broadcasting them, very quickly questions arose why the police did not interfere in these blatant violations of Corona rules, which are meant to safeguard all of us.
Consequently, in the past days, strong and sometimes violent intervention of the police began, and heated discussions followed after some incidents where police were excessively violent.
Of course, the Ultra-Orthodox community claims that they are penalized and even stronger than that, that they are protected by God from the virus when they pray.
But rather surprisingly, the intervention of the police to enforce the Corona rules, did not raise questions regarding Religious Freedom. In Israel of today, indeed you would expect that at least, as far as the Jewish Religion is concerned, there are no limitations as to what they can do or not do and the control over daily life that religious authorities have in Israel is way beyond any reason or accepted norm. But the general issue of Religious Freedom in Israel is (as so many things) complicated at best. While the Declaration of Independence is very clear about religious freedom, (and Israel does not have a constitution, and makes do with “Basc Laws”) subsequent rulings by the Supreme Court have cast doubt upon the strength of the Declaration as far as the law is concerned, and only in 1992, the Knesset adopted a Basic Law: “Human Dignity and Liberty”, which, while Religious Freedom is not mentioned explicitly, it is generally considered to be part of this Basic Law and court rulings have strengthened that status. However, there is a so-called “Limitations” clause which states :
“There shall be no violation of rights under this Basic Law except by a law befitting the values of the State of Israel, enacted for a proper purpose and to an extent no greater than required, or by regulation enacted by virtue of express authorization in such law.”
This clause is the legal basis upon which the police is entitled (and required) to operate against the crowding in synagogues, since the Corona law, which imposes limitations on the public, is a law “Befitting the values of the State of Israel” and enacted for a “proper purpose”, to an “extent no greater than required”.
Then, two days ago, news items appeared in Dutch media about church services in Staphorst with six hundred people attending services in the main church in the village. Staphorst is a very strict religious Calvinistic community, which became world news fifty years ago when forty children became ill with Polio of which five died. The Calvinists in Staphorst do not believe in vaccinations, and maintain that when a child catches a disease it is “the Will of God”.
While there was quite some indignation among politicians as well as the general population about the infringement of the Corona rules in Holland, which allow indoor gatherings up to thirty people, the police did not act and no legal actions followed the infringements, and the Staphorst church claimed they were within their rights.
In the Netherlands, which does have a Constitution, Article Six deals with Freedom of Religion. The article is short and very to the point, it has two statements only: the first one states that everyone has the right to exercise his religion, alone or together with others, but this does not release him from his responsibilities under the Law. The second statement maintains that the Law may impose limitations on this freedom of religious expression when it is outside of buildings or closed spaces, when this is required for reasons of Health, Traffic or the prevention of general disturbances. In the Netherlands, the Corona limitations are taken within the framework of what is called “Emergency Regulations” and thus they are legally speaking not “Law”. Thus the Staphorst church is correct when it states that it handles within its rights (albeit questionably moral), and that the second part of the first statement of the Amendment (release from his responsibilities under the Law), does not apply because there is no law.
And indeed, Dutch Justice Minister, Fred Grapperhaus, could do not much more than “enter into discussion” with the various church organizations and request that they adhere to the limitations as imposed on the general population. It must be said that most churches (as well as synagogues and mosques) do understand the importance of the regulations and have adjusted their activities accordingly, but it does seem problematic that in a period like this, recalcitrant organizations, like the church in Staphorst cannot be forced into adherence. And indeed, the Dutch government is working on a “Corona Law” which would enable complete enforcement, also on the Staphorst church.
The discussion surrounding “Religious Freedom” in general, has gone through many stages and there will always remain controversy, simply because of the sensitivity of the subject. In a modern State though, with legally based separation of “Church and State”, it is inconceivable that, basing itself on religion, a group of people can be allowed to endanger the general public and ignore the law for its own purposes or beliefs. Holland would be wise to move forward with the “Corona Law” as quickly as possible, because, if the results of mass religious gatherings in Israel are any measure, Staphorst, and probably its surroundings are in for a spike in Corona infections within a week to ten days and while they may accept it as “an Act of God”, the rest of the population should not have to suffer because of their beliefs. Of course this is not an endorsement of the violent police behavior that characterized the enforcement of the law in Israel, the more since it is reasonable to assume that also this violence has a political background, but that is a different story.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
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