Israelis may think they have it hard during the coronavirus era amid the country’s third lockdown, but if they speak to Panamanian Jews, they would realize it could be way worse. In an exclusive B’Chadrei Chareidim interview, N., from the frum community in Panama, describes the situation in the Central American country. Panamanians have been in lockdown for eight months – which means that people are sitting at home and are not allowed to leave except for essential purposes. There were about five or six months in lockdown from after Purim through September, when it was lifted for several months, and about two months ago the lockdown was reimposed following a surge in the infection rate. Even when Panamanians do leave their homes for essential purposes, they are not allowed to go out accompanied by their spouses and children. Two days a week are designated for men to go out on errands and three days a week are designated for women to go out. N. said that he was amused by Israelis’ dramatic reactions to the announcement of the third lockdown. “Imagine if it would be forbidden to leave the house at all! There’s a curfew – not only from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. but the entire day. And not one or two days but eight months. That’s how we’ve been living, starting from a bit after Purim of last year.” Interviewer: “What do you mean by curfew? You can’t go out at all – even for shopping – or you can leave for essential things?” N.: You can say that the children are really in a full curfew. The adults are allowed to leave to buy essential items at certain hours of the day according to the last number on their identity cards – the men on Tuesday or Thursday and the women on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. So the men have two hours a week to go out and the women have the privilege of having three hours a week to go out.” Interviewer: What happened when the lockdown was lifted? N.: After months of a full lockdown, there was a respite of about three months – a bit of freedom. For example, we could go to a nearby park, this was a mamash an experience – but only on Friday, Shabbos and Sunday. But all the stores were still closed. Interviewer: How did you manage with clothes and shoes for the winter? N.: We don’t have a winter here. It’s like summer all year long – hot. But it was definitely very hard when we wanted to buy new clothes for Pesach or Rosh Hashanah. All the stores were closed – we couldn’t even buy socks or shoes. We ordered some stuff online from the US and when the businesses here began to realize how long the lockdown was lasting, they began publicizing their Whatsapp numbers. They would send pictures of products on Whatsapp by request. After a while, a few stores opened websites and we were able to order stuff online. But it isn’t a smooth process and the selection is minimal. “The second day of Rosh Hashanah this year was on Sunday, a day when it’s forbidden to go out at all. But we risked going out to hear the Shofar. We began getting […]
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