On Friday, the Belgian authorities issued a directive to close down all Christian, Muslim and Jewish prayer houses, as a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Rabbi Aharon Schiff, the Av Beit Din of the Haredi community in Antwerp, Belgium, issued a halachic ruling to obey the authorities, which most of the 40 synagogues in the city followed, moving services and celebrations (there were 4 Aufruf simchas this past Shabbat) to limited quarters in private homes (which is still permissible in Belgium).
Seven shuls, however, did not obey both secular and religious authorities’ instructions, according to reports on Rotter, possibly because the drastic instructions came so suddenly, and the congregations in question did not have time to prepare accordingly.
