It is with respect and humility that I turn to you. I am a professor of endocrinology at the Lariboisière hospital in Paris and at the Paris Diderot university, currently in charge of a building occupied by 122 patients infected with the Covid 19 virus. We are currently experiencing a tragedy on a planetary level which is causing and will continue to cause thousands of deaths. The worst is before us.
The seriously ill flock. The French hospital system, in particular Ile-de-France, will be saturated by the end of the week. The consequence is that it will quickly be impossible to provide resuscitation to patients due to the lack of ventilators. This is already the case in some French regions. There is already no more room for resuscitation in the Grand Est region and in Paris’s suburb. As you know, the Jewish community is particularly affected. The rallies of the month of Adar, I think of Purim, are not unrelated to these dramas.
This virus is stubborn. It remains alive on any surface such as a siddur, a sefer thora or a yad for several hours, even days. This is why it is imperative and vital for the survival of the Jewish community to stop all gatherings, all minianim, which still persist too often here and there. Passover is approaching. There will be a great temptation to maintain family sedarims with the elderly, who are the target of extremely severe forms of the disease. They would not survive it. This is why I implore you, on the eve of Passover, to be what you have always been: a light for all of us and officially asking everyone to stop all minyanim and that the Parisian Jewish community strictly follows the rules of containment during the holidays. May Passover be an opportunity for all of us to be truly liberated. I go out on guard. I had the opportunity to take care of a 65-year-old person last night who said to me: “do not resuscitate me, leave room for young people”. Our commitment to all is nothing compared to this gesture. This sacrifice must not be in vain and the Jewish people, Priest among the nations and of whom you are one of the most respected guides, must behave in an exemplary manner in these troubled times.
Thank you for your help.
Very respectfully
Dr Jean-Pierre Riveline
Letter from Dr Jean-Pierre Riveline to the Chief Rabbi
