Hasidic Judaism
FILE - In this Tuesday, April 28, 2020 file photo, Ahmad Kamel, right, performs the Maghrib prayer with his wife, Nadia Chaouch, as their son Ahmad Kamel runs past after the family broke the Ramadan daily fast just after sunset in their home, during the coronavirus outbreak in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Holy days arrive for the faithful as pandemic eases in US

By David Crary And Mariam Fam Mar. 31, 2021 09:08 AM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2020, file photo, an Orthodox Jewish man blows the Shofar after a brief prayer with a passerby in New York. Amid a new surge of COVID-19 in New York’s Orthodox Jewish communities, many residents are reviving health measures that some had abandoned over the summer – social distancing, wearing masks. For many, there’s also a return of anger: They feel the city is singling them out for criticism that other groups avoid. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Some Orthodox Jews bristle at NYC's response to virus surge

By David Crary And Mariam Fam Oct. 05, 2020 03:00 PM EDT

A woman and a group of young children cross a busy street, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, in the Midwood neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo raised alarms Monday about the emergence of a handful of coronavirus hot spots in New York, saying just 10 ZIP codes represented more than a quarter of the state's new infections in recent testing. Midwood is one of the neighborhoods experiencing an uptick in virus cases. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
New York governor raises alarm about new virus hot spots

By Marina Villeneuve Sep. 28, 2020 06:25 PM EDT

FILE - In this May 28, 2020, file photo, a woman passes a fence outside Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery adorned with tributes to victims of COVID-19 in New York. The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, Sept. 22, a figure unimaginable eight months ago when the scourge first reached the world’s richest nation with its sparkling laboratories, top-flight scientists and towering stockpiles of medicines and emergency supplies. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Virus uptick in Hasidic NYC neighborhoods causes concern

By Karen Matthews Sep. 23, 2020 04:39 PM EDT

Hasidic Jewish pilgrims gather in front of Ukrainian border guards at the checkpoint Novaya Guta near Novaya Guta, Belarus, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. Ukrainian officials say that thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims stuck on the Ukrainian border due to coronavirus restrictions have started turning back. About 2,000 ultra-Orthodox Jewish pilgrims traveled to Belarus's border with Ukraine in hope of traveling to the Ukrainian city of Uman to visit the grave of an important Hasidic rabbi who died in 1810, Nachman of Breslov. (AP Photo)
Jewish pilgrims retreat from Ukrainian border

By Yuras Karmanau Sep. 18, 2020 09:44 AM EDT

Jewish pilgrims gather on the Belarus-Ukraine border, in Belarus, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. About 700 Jewish pilgrims are stuck on Belarus' border due to coroavirus restrictions that bar them from entering Ukraine. Thousands of pilgrims visit the city each September for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. However, Ukraine closed its borders in late August amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. (TUT.by via AP)
Ukraine urges Jewish pilgrims stuck at border to turn back

By Yuras Karmanau Sep. 17, 2020 10:13 AM EDT

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man prays ahead of the Jewish new year at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. A raging coronavirus outbreak is casting a shadow over the normally festive Jewish New Year. With health officials recommending a nationwide lockdown, traditional family gatherings will be muted, synagogue prayers will be limited to small groups and roads will be empty. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
Under lockdown, Israel faces bitter start of Jewish New Year

By Ilan Ben Zion Sep. 17, 2020 02:17 AM EDT

Jewish pilgrims dance as they gather on the Belarus-Ukraine border, in Belarus, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. About 700 Jewish pilgrims are stuck on Belarus' border due to coroavirus restrictions that bar them from entering Ukraine. Thousands of pilgrims visit the city each September for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. However, Ukraine closed its borders in late August amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. (TUT.by via AP)
Ukraine, Belarus trade accusations over Jewish pilgrims

By Yuras Karmanau Sep. 16, 2020 01:57 PM EDT

Musya Banon, right, and her sisters Nina, left, and Sara, center, bake challah bread for Shabbat, in their home in Casablanca, Morocco, Thursday, May 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In Morocco, tiny Jewish community grapples with virus

By Mariam Fam Jun. 04, 2020 12:10 PM EDT

FILE - In this March 31, 2020, file photo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the USTA Indoor Training Center where a 350-bed temporary hospital will be built to support efforts in fight against COVID-19 in New York. On Thursday, April 30, 2020, another confrontation between members of New York City's Hasidic Jewish community and the police came two days after the mayor stoked divisions with a series of tweets after going to Brooklyn to oversee the dispersal of thousands of people who crowded the streets of Williamsburg for the funeral of rabbi. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
NYPD cracks down on another big funeral, stoking tensions

By Michael R. Sisak Apr. 30, 2020 09:25 PM EDT

New York police officers and members of the Jewish Shorim neighborhood safety patrol instruct a crowd as hundreds of mourners gather in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, April 28, 2020, to observe a funeral for Rabbi Chaim Mertz, a Hasidic Orthodox leader whose death was reportedly tied to the new coronavirus. The stress of the coronavirus' toll on the city's Orthodox Jews was brought to the fore Wednesday after Mayor Bill de Blasio chastised "the Jewish community" following the breakup of the large funeral that flouted public health orders. (Todd Maisel via AP)
Orthodox Jews beset by virus grapple with NYC mayor's rebuke

By Elana Schor Apr. 29, 2020 09:07 PM EDT

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, right, displays some of the hundreds of masks sent to New York from individuals who want to help beleaguered front-line workers at a news conference at the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y., Wednesday, April 29, 2020. At left is Dr. Howard A, Zucker, Commissioner of Health for New York State. (AP Photo/Marina Villeneuve)
NYC mayor takes heat after lashing out at Jewish funeral

By Marina Villeneuve, Michael Hill And Karen Matthews Apr. 29, 2020 08:39 AM EDT

People buy flowers from a sidewalk flower stand on the first day of Passover, Wednesday, April 8, 2020 in the Williamsburg neighborhood of New York during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Jews prep for a pandemic Passover: Smaller but no less vital

By Elana Schor Apr. 05, 2020 10:25 AM EDT