Life in Israel: Corona and taharat hamishpacha in the Coronatels

Oct 14, 2020

Corona and taharat hamishpacha in the Coronatels

Here is an issue, an aspect of life, that Corona messed up but you surely didn't read about it in the regular news sites or hear about it on the radio or television.

According to Haredim10, a new problem has arisen that is mostly not realized or spoken about, and of course they only speak about it vague terms, but "Admoring and Rabbonim" are shocked by the new issue.

What is the problem?

The Ministry of Health is not allowing husband and wife, infected with CornaVirus to "fulfill their halachic obligations regarding family purity, taharat hamishpacha, out of health concerns".

Obviously the Ministry of Health cannot legislate away sexual relations between a married couple and would have no way of enforcing this in a normal situation. The issue is really with the Coronatels - the Corona Hotels controlled by some sort of combinations of the IDF Home Front Command, the Kupot Cholim and the Health Ministry.

The problem is that nobody is allowed out of the Corona Hotels. People who "escaped" have been fined very heavy fines. So, women who are scheduled to go to the mikva while they are holed up in a Corona Hotel recuperating are unable to do so.

According to the report, until recently, twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, an ambulance would come to the hotel and take women out so they can go to the mikva. For some women it isn't ideal, as it is only twice a week and not on the correct day, but at least it happened and was better than nothing.

This week the IDF Home Front Command and the Ministry of Health decided that this can no longer continue. Nobody is allowed out, as per the official rules.

Obviously affected residents are upset and grumbling about the administration not understanding their needs, and they are trying to change our lifestyles, and all the regular anger and grumbling, etc.

People in the Health Ministry said we never banned such an excursion, because they never allowed it in the first place. People are simply not allowed to leave the Corona Hotels, or from their homes if they are in home quarantine, for any reason. Any such allowance would need an individualized granting of permission for a specific case.

It seems four of the Coronatels have mikvas on premises, so anyone staying in those were ok. The other affected Corontels took care of it on the sly, sneaking people out in ambulances against the rules. When people started to find out, they got nervous and stopped the service, saying the Ministry of Health banned it, but in the first place they never actually allowed it.

According tot he report, the Ministry of Health is looking to approve such a service, working with two mikvas that will be designated for these women.

According to the report, this issue is one of the reasons taken into consideration by some groups of haredim and chassidim to not get tested for Corona, so as not to end up in a Coronatel and be unable to perform their mitzvas and tahara requirements.

Interesting

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7 comments:

AnonymousOctober 14, 2020 6:21 PM
Since when is this referred to as "Taharat Habayit"? I've always heard it referred to as "Taharat (or Taharas) Hamishpacha".
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Michael SedleyOctober 15, 2020 11:52 AM
If there is a Mikva on premises, or a Mikva nearby used exclusively for the people in Quarantine that should be OK.
However, if people who have tested positive and are still infectious are using a public mikva which is also used by other people, there is a real threat to the healthy people using the Mikva.
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YehoshuaOctober 15, 2020 4:28 PM
People can't last two weeks without it? They should grow up.
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