Rav Shmuel Ashkenazi was a 98 year old man loving in Meah Shearim. He was known as "the man of the books" due to his custom to purchase a new torah book every single day.
Rav Asheknazi initially davened at home during the first period of Corona, but when the public sense was that it is all over, he decided to go back to shul.
Sure enough, recently someone with CoronaVirus went to shul, the same shul as Rav Ashkenazi, and sat down near him and davened. This person, it turns out, had Corona and knew he had Corona, and went to shul anyway. Shortly after that Rav Ashkenazi developed symptoms of CoronaVirus and yesterday died. According to the article it is clear he died of Corona that he contracted from this other person in shul and he had no pre-existing conditions or ailments.
This person is a murderer and should be tried for murder. Instead of looking for a gun, the mruder weapon is his CoronaVirus.
I don't want to blame the victim, but 98 year old men should not be going to shul right now. Especially because so many people are not ebing careful and treating it as if Corona is finished. No matter how careful you might be, if you are in a high risk group it is a risk you should not be taking.
The rabbi of my parents shul, and I have heard of many rabbis saying similarly, has told the elderly members of the shul to stay home, daven with an outdoor minyan if possible (or daven at home), and not return to shul. It is too risky.
If you are in a high risk group, daven outdoors in an outdoor minyan, or at home if an outdoor minyan is not possible, and keep all the distancing rules. Go for your walks in quiet areas, get some fresh air without coming into contact with others. Do what you need to do, but don't go spend an hour or two indoors with a bunch of people who you do not know where they have been or what they are carrying.
And that shul should be shut down and sealed up because of this incident.
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someone wrote to me and asked me to add the comment that Rav Ashkenazi was a humble talmid chacham who knew kol hatorah koola כל התורה כולה.
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