BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — In a letter written Monday regarding the expected reopening of Shuls in Israel this week, Rav Chaim Kanievski wrote that we need “to establish a permanent rule (Takkanah Kevu’ah) that all telephones should be off during the entire period of the prayers and it is prohibited to enter the shul and […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus has cut an unequal path of grief through New York City, hitting hardest in a ring of predominantly poorer, nonwhite neighborhoods a long subway and bus ride from Manhattan, according to data released by the city Monday. The new accounting of fatalities by neighborhood revealed that the ZIP code […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has given the go ahead for professional sports teams in the state to play without spectators soon. The Democratic governor said during his news conference on Monday that sports could return in the “first week or so of June without spectators and modifications and very prescriptive conditions.” […]

NEW YORK (VINnews) — The following letter was submitted to VINnews by a an experienced nurse who works in a camp infirmary: I dont usually write letters to the editor, but after seeing an article about the push to open overnight camps this summer, I feel it is my obligation to write this. I have […]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — An experimental vaccine against the coronavirus showed encouraging results in very early testing, triggering hoped-for immune responses in eight healthy, middle-aged volunteers, its maker announced Monday. Study volunteers given either a low or medium dose of the vaccine by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. had antibodies similar to those seen in people […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Western New York, including the city of Buffalo, met the state’s coronavirus containment goals and can begin to reopen its economy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. Hospitals will be able to schedule elective surgeries as the region enters the first phase of reopening on Tuesday, but gatherings such as church services […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking a malaria drug to lessen symptoms should he get the new coronavirus, even though the drug is unproven for fighting COVID-19. Trump told reporters he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily “for about a week and a half […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Seven members of a wealthy Bukharan Jewish family arrived in Israel from NY on a private jet to bury their mother who had passed away from COVID-19 next to their father in Jerusalem. This is unfortunately a common occurrence since the outbreak of the virus but the family also allegedly violated health […]

MILAN (JTA) – Synagogues and churches have reopened in northern Italy, where they had been shut down since that area went into lockdown following the first major outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe. The main synagogue of Milan reopened Monday per guidelines agreed-upon last week with government officials, Moked, the Italian-Jewish news site, reported. Synagogues also […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — It turns out that taking the traditional photograph of the incoming Cabinet while following coronavirus social distancing regulations is very complicated. So much so that the director-general of Beit HaNasi, the official residence of the president of Israel, had to consult with the director-general of the Health Ministry. The traditional photo, to […]