Kever Yosef Visit Cancelled, Kosel Stays Open

A monthly visit to Kever Yosef has been cancelled due to fears of spreading the coronavirus, The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

The decision was made after consultations involving Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, the IDF’s Shomron Brigade Commander Col. Sagiv Dahan and Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of the Elon Moreh Yeshiva.

Dagan, currently in quarantine himself after a trip to France, participated in the discussion by phone.

The visit, which has to be coordinated with the military, was scheduled for next Monday, Taanis Esther.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Rabbi Yaakov Litzman announced that the Kosel remains open, and the public should have no concern about coronavirus at the holy site.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Kosel and Holy Sites, said that “actually in this time of distress, there is nothing more appropriate than coming to pray at the Kosel and asking the Creator of the Universe, the Healer of all men, to remove all illness from the inhabitants of this land and the entire world.”