Židovská komunita v roku pandémie (prípadová štúdia)
Translated Title
The Jewish community in the year of the pandemic (a case study)
Author(s)
Publication Name
Publication Date
Abstract
This paper analyses how the Jewish community in Bratislava dealt with the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic that took place between the 1st March 2020 and 30 May 2021. Because the public health measures in force at the time rendered traditional ethnological research methods inapplicable, the author’s main source of information was the online communication of the leadership and administration of the Bratislava Jewish Religious Community (JRC) with its members. On the 9th March 2020, the government implemented the first battery of public health measures. Already on the same day, the JRC released a newsletter encouraging its members to observe the authorities’ guidance. It also cancelled all of its scheduled activities. The leadership would go on to distribute masks and hygiene supplies to the oldest members of the community, facilitate the vaccination of Holocaust survivors. Part of Slovak society compared restrictions on social contacts, a mask mandate, and a limitation on free movement to the suffering of the Jews in the Wartime Slovak State, highlighting this supposed parallel by wearing yellow stars. The effective limits on social contacts brought communal life within the community to a standstill, which had a particular effect on the older generations. The pandemic also inevitably led to a ban on communal worship and necessitated adjustments in the observance of traditional Jewish holidays, particularly Pesach. In many families, the communal Seder supper was held online via Zoom or Skype. The community had also to improvise during Hannukah, with an Orthodox or liberal rabbi assisting in the lighting of candles in the homes of members who requested it.
Topics
Coronavirus/Covid Jewish Community Jewish Organisations Main Topic: Identity and Community Synagogues Religious Observance and Practice
Genre
Geographic Coverage
Copyright Info
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Original Language
Volume/Issue
28(2)
Page Number / Article Number
8-23
DOI
Link
Link to article including link to pdf, Židovská komunita v roku pandémie (prípadová štúdia)
Bibliographic Information
Židovská komunita v roku pandémie (prípadová štúdia). 2021: 8-23. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.31577/EtnoRozpra.2021.28.2.01
