H EADLINES
is spacious, measuring 10,000
square feet. Th e store has
been closed for a total of four
months over the past year,
and all 30 workers were put
on furlough. Now Kantrowitz
has hired back fi ve workers and
hopes that stores and malls will
reopen soon.

Th e government is consid-
ering a series of regulations that
will limit entry to places like
gyms, concerts and museums
— and eventually cafes and
restaurants — to those with
either “green passports” or
a negative COVID test from
within 72 hours. Some schools
also reopened on Th ursday aft er
six weeks of remote learning
— the most recent in a series
of school closures in Israel that
have spanned months. Th e
government may require all
teachers to either vaccinate or
be tested every two days.

BUSINESS DIRECTORY
vaccinated on Th ursday night,
they’d get a free serving of
cholent, a meat stew popular
with Orthodox Jews.

“We welcome the initia-
tive by Bnei Brak to give out
bags of cholent to those who
are vaccinated tomorrow,”
Zaka, an Orthodox emergency
medical service, posted on
Twitter. “We’ve already been
putting non-vaccinated people
in [body] bags for more than a
year. Go vaccinate!”
Haredi Israelis tend to vacci-
nate at lower rates even as the
percentage of deaths in their
community has been especially
high. A recent investigation
found that 1 in 73 haredi Israelis
over the age of 65 had died from
COVID, about four times the
rate of the general population.

Despite the lockdown, some
haredi Israelis have defied
restrictions and reopened
It will take a long time to see the long-term
effects. They are basically doing a study on
people, which I find really unethical.”
ADINA ARAZI
Israel is also considering an
agreement with Greece to allow
tourism between the countries
for those who are vaccinated.

But a segment of Israelis
remains reluctant to get the shot.

While Israel’s vaccine rollout
had ramped up to 200,000
people vaccinated daily, the
pace has slowed signifi cantly
in the past week. According to
government data, while more
than 90% of Israelis older than
60 have been vaccinated, the
equivalent fi gure is 70% for
haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, Jews
and 64% for Arab Israelis.

With some vaccination
centers half empty, local
municipalities are trying to
fi nd incentives to get rates
back up. In the haredi city of
Bnei Brak, where vaccination
rates are among the lowest in
the country, fi rst responders
told residents that if they got
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM schools, in addition to gathering
in large crowds for funerals.

Vaccine skepticism extends
beyond the haredi commu-
nity. While most older and
high-risk Israelis have rushed
to be vaccinated, some younger
Israelis are more torn about
taking the vaccine.

Adina Arazi, 47, who lives
in the southern city of Netivot
and teaches hydrotherapy,
said she is not an anti-vaxxer.

Her two children, a 20-year-
old son with special needs and
a 16-year-old daughter, got
all of their traditional child-
hood vaccines. But this time
nobody in her family is being
immunized from COVID.

“I feel like we’ve moved a little
too fast,” she said. “It will take a
long time to see the long-term
eff ects. Th ey are basically doing
a study on people, which I fi nd
really unethical.” ●
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FEBRUARY 18, 2021
15