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LAKEWOOD - As the first positive tests for coronavirus in New Jersey came back, local Orthodox Jews were preparing for Purim.

But this year, Purim was different. It's a Jewish holiday often compared with Halloween or Mardi Gras. In most years during Purim, Lakewood is host to countless parties — the holiday is taught as "days of drinking and rejoicing" — with families going door-to-door in costume, exchanging gifts, food and charity with friends and neighbors.

But this was not most years. Some of the biggest parties were canceled. When going door-to-door, men rarely shook hands.

And as the news of New Jersey's first coronavirus-linked death trickled out, a one-mile containment area was being established surrounding a synagogue in New Rochelle, New York, that was linked to dozens of coronavirus cases.

It was becoming clear that Orthodox Jews' commitment to tradition and gathering would have to change.

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"It's difficult. It's definitely difficult," said Avi Schnall, state director of Agudath Israel, an Orthodox Jewish advocacy group. "But it's something we have to do, and we're doing it. The community is taking this seriously."

Just a few hours after the Asbury Park Press spoke to Orthodox Jewish leaders about how the community was handling coronavirus, Lakewood police shut down two weddings, Lakewood Police Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith said in a statement.

"The staff and attendees dispersed without incident," he said.

The weddings were held despite Gov. Phil Murphy's executive order mandating social distancing, including a ban on any gatherings of over 50 people.

Murphy's order also requires nonessential businesses to close at 8 p.m. each day, restaurants to close except to offer takeout or delivery, and shutters the state's racetracks, casinos, gyms and movie theaters. On Tuesday, he also ordered the closure of malls and amusement parks.

Many local municipalities also have passed their own curfews to limit the public gatherings.

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Murphy also ordered schools to close as of Wednesday, including public, private and religious schools. Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, the largest yeshiva in the world outside of Israel, closed Wednesday, Rabbi Aaron Kotler, the college's president, said.

"Human beings, in general, are social beings — whether it's someone of a religious inclination or not," Kotler said. "This is a big change for everybody and it's important for anyone in a leadership role to recognize that."

"Change is not easy and for us, as a community, we have to get out there and reinforce these concerns."

The area's various Orthodox Jewish private schools also closed as of Wednesday, said Rabbi Moshe Weisberg, a spokesman for the Lakewood Vaad, a group of rabbis and business leaders who advocate for the Orthodox community and give guidance and advice on community issues.

"The established institutions are very, very serious about doing whatever they can to contain this," Weisberg said.

Many of those schools will continue to teach students through teleconferences, Schnall said. Students can listen to recorded lectures by rabbis, and they were sent home with "a lot of paperwork," he said.

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Tashbar of Lakewood, a Jewish boys' school, said students would report to class via conference call and listen to study sessions recorded by rabbis, the school wrote in a letter to parents published on hyperlocal website The Lakewood Scoop.

Some learning among smaller groups could occur, the school said. Some students will also receive two weeks' of daily lessons in English and math in the mail, the letter states.

According to the letter: "We will not allow ... the present challenge to stop our talmidim (disciples) from their precious learning of Torah!"

'Moving target'

Orthodox Judaism is a religion and community centered around gathering.

Hundreds of students gather in huge study halls at yeshivas, studying rabbinical texts. When someone dies, a week of gatherings at the homes of their immediate surviving family — "sitting shiva" — is standard practice.

One of the religion's most basic tenets is the minyanim, the required quorum of at least 10 Jews — men only, in traditional communities — in order to represent a "community of Israel" during prayer services.

It's a practice that's been around for thousands of years but seems to fly in the face of social distancing.

"We do have to understand that it's a very concentrated and compressed community, and we're struggling with it," Weisberg said. "People are confused, but they're confused everywhere because this is a moving target.

"The guidance changes from day to day, so there's a little bit of a lag until it filters down."

Orthodox Jewish organizations and advocacy groups have begun calling for drastic measures among the Jewish community. The Orthodox Union, which oversees hundreds of synagogues, recommended the complete closure of shuls in communities where cases of coronavirus are confirmed.

In Lakewood, shuls and synagogues are scheduling multiple prayer services in order to spread out the crowds, Schnall said.

"The community is fully on board to do whatever they're asked," he said.

The Rabbinical Council of Bergen County closed all shuls. The council also recommended limiting any gatherings during Sabbath meals. Instead of sitting shiva, the council recommended mourners make phone calls or video chats instead of in-person visits.

There's been no formal instruction from rabbinic leadership, Schnall said. But the community as a whole has been instructed to follow the various social distancing guidelines set by the state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Schnall said he's fielded hundreds of calls this week from Orthodox Jews — parents, religious leaders, school leaders — looking for clarification on what those regulations actually mean.

"But not one person has even hinted at asking 'do we have to do this?'" Schnall said. "It wasn't a question of yes or no. It was a question of 'what do we do?'"

Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and basically whatever else is happening. Contact him at 732-643-4223, mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.