Ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel, whose gatherings were forcibly broken up in recent days up by police and the army, suffer more from COVID-19 lockdowns that the rest of Israeli society because of their lifestyle. This fact is not appreciated by secular Jews and an ’empathy gap’ is quickly widening.

According to The Forward, that’s the view of Yakov Eisenthal, an ultra-Orthodox journalist in Bnei Brak. Eisenthal said that even if the ultra-Orthodox had obeyed social distancing orders, he believes they would have still been hard hit, due to the number of large families who live in cramped quarters.

Even if we had adhered strictly to the rules from the beginning, even if the Health Ministry had forbidden synagogues and religious schools to open, there would still be a high infection rate. I think that secular Israelis would still be mad at us and hate us.

Eisenthal argued that secular Israelis have “an empathy gap” toward their Orthodox brethren, with many Israelis not fully embracing the fact that living through Coronavirus restrictions means something very different for Haredim. With no Internet permitted, their children cannot do remote schooling, and few have smart phones to distract them.

He said of the lockdowns:

It is a psychological catastrophe. It is a deep sense of loneliness, a sense of boredom and complete helplessness.

Some ultra-Orthodox Israelis are also pointing fingers at their own – but for a different reason. Signs have popped up in Haredi neighborhoods blaming the Coronavirus on women wearing … wigs made with non-Jewish hair!

With that kind of thinking it’s little wonder that secular Jews have “an empathy gap.”

The ultra-Orthodox account for about 12.5 percent of Israel’s population, but health officials say they make up a third of the country’s COVID-19 cases. In Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox area outside of Tel Aviv, up to 40 percent of residents may be infected.

Health officials now say that Haredim are mostly falling into line with regard to regulations. The health ministry sent vehicles into ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods with loudspeakers broadcasting warnings against the virus in Hebrew and Yiddish. And there’s been a concentrated police crackdown. The photo above shows a young man being ejected from a synagogue by a cop wearing a hazmat suit.

In Bnei Brak, the army is also there, handing out food and supplies. Police have set up checkpoints around the city, restricting who is let in and out.

Meanwhile it’s reported from Kentucky that disgruntled locals in Bullitt County scattered buckets of nails and other sharp objects outside Maryville Baptist Church in a bid to stop an Easter service yesterday (Sunday).

But it didn’t prove a deterrent. Rev Jack Roberts, above, had volunteers clear up the nails before proceeding with the service in defiance of lockdown measures.

Roberts said Governor Beshear’s orders were illegal, and he questioning why churches weren’t considered essential.

The US now now has the world’s highest number of deaths from COVID-19, with at least 21,692 losing their lives to the virus as of Sunday afternoon.

Americans will continue to die in large numbers until our country mounts a coherent response to the epidemic. President Donald Trump has failed. The US still lacks even a basic plan for controlling the epidemic and restarting the economy.

While services continued as scheduled Kentucky State Police troopers wrote down the churchgoers’ licence plate numbers and placed notices on vehicles ordering the owners to self-quarantine for 14 days.

One worshipper, Bevelyn Beatty, who came from New Jersey to visit Maryville Baptist Church, said:

It’s one thing to keep us safe, it’s another when it’s starting to feel like a takeover. I’m starting to feel like I’m in a communist country. We really wanted to be together for Easter. I have never not went to church for Easter and I refuse to do it even with the situation going on my Lord is more important.

Edmee Chavannes, from New Jersey said:

The one right that I have is freedom of assembly and that’s what we did this morning. We got to go to the store because it’s essential and everybody understands it and no one’s questioning, ‘are you putting your neighbor in danger’ at Walmart. This is the same when it comes to this building or any building of faith.

Frank Harris said he doesn’t usually attend church, but he and his wife showed up to stand against the strict rules the Governor has put in place.

We just believe that it’s a giant overreaction by the state. They don’t have the authority to tell businesses or people what they can do, and what they can’t do in the situation the most they should be doing is giving advice and allowing people to make up their own minds.

Some churchgoers said that they were there as a symbol of protest against the “governor’s infringement of constitutional rights”, and they would not follow these quarantine guidelines.