Seven Jewish schools in Baltimore, Maryland, have announced that all events surrounding the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim would be cancelled amid coronavirus fears.
Separately, up to 100 attendees at a shiva — a gathering to comfort mourning relatives — in Montgomery County were exposed to coronavirus from someone diagnosed with the disease after contracting it on a cruise in Egypt came to pay their respects.
Purim is an annual holiday commemorating the story of the Book of Esther, in which the Jews of Persia were saved from destruction. It is one of the happiest days on the Jewish calendar, and typically features large parties, communal readings of the Megillah (the Book of Esther), and even special plays, or spiels, for the holiday.
Representatives from Bais Yaakov School for Girls, Bnos Yisroel, Cheder Chabad, Ohr Chadash Academy, Talmudical Academy, Torah Institute, and Toras Simcha in Baltimore sent a joint letter to parents explaining the decision to cancel Purim activities.
“After taking into consideration nationally published information by the CDC, state and local health departments, Johns Hopkins University’s recent precautionary measures to cancel public events, the precautions of other communities and institutions, and Torah Umesorah’s recent recommendations for schools provided by their medical consultants and [rabbinical authorities], we have decided that it is unfortunately necessary to cancel all upcoming extracurricular Purim events for our schools,” the letter said.
Three students at Bnos Yisroel were sent home on Thursday after possibly coming into “indirect contact” with a New York resident who was diagnosed with the disease, according to the Baltimore Sun.
“We have been made aware of possible indirect contact between three of our students (sisters) and someone who tested positive for the Coronavirus in New York. We have been in touch with the Baltimore City Health Department, the CDC, the Department of Health and Local Rabbanim. Per their recommendations, the three students were sent home earlier today,” the school said in a statement, as reported by the Sun.
The three sisters sent home where they would be closely monitored, officials said. They added that the school was being disinfected as a “precautionary” measure.
Meanwhile, in Montgomery County, one of the three confirmed cases who had contracted the virus while on a cruise in Egypt reportedly visited a shiva at a retirement community known as The Village on February 28 prior to being diagnosed, exposing between 70 and 100 shiva callers to the virus.
All three of the cruise passengers had flu-like symptoms after returning to the U.S., but at that time the CDC was only recommending testing for people who had been traveling in China, according to the Washington Post.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan warned the matter was “concerning,” and urged all of the shiva callers to watch for symptoms.
On Thursday, Hogan declared a state of emergency.
Photo: File
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