Brooklyn Synagogue Hosts Huge, Maskless Wedding In Secrecy; New York Says It Doesn’t Know How It Didn’t Catch It

A Brooklyn Hasidic synagogue in Brooklyn held a wedding for a chief rabbi’s grandson. Over a thousand people attended in complete secrecy and without masks, creating what may be the latest superspreader event. 

New York City has nearly 25,000 Covid-19-related deaths. That didn’t stop organizers of Yoel Teitelbaum’s, grandson of Satmar Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, wedding in Yetev Lev temple in Williamsburg on Nov. 8. The organizers said that it planned to hide the wedding from “the ravenous press and government officials,” according to Yiddish newspaper, Der Blatt.

“Due to the ongoing situation with government restrictions, preparations were made secretly and discreetly, so as not to draw attention from strangers,” the paper reported in its Nov. 13 edition, the New York Post reports. “In recent weeks, organizers worked tirelessly to arrange everything in the best way possible. All notices about upcoming celebrations were passed along through word of mouth, with no notices in writing, no posters on the synagogue walls, no invitations sent through the mail, nor even a report in any publication, including this very newspaper.”

The Satmar synagogue has a maximum capacity of 7,000 people, and those who attended reportedly wore no masks and did not practice social distancing. The Post reports that men filled bleachers and rafters, while women can be seen sitting in the balcony behind a barricade, videos show. The mayor’s director of rapid response, Mitch Schwartz, says they are not able to explain why the city was not able to detect the massive celebration. 

The outlet reports that new Covid-19 cases in New York rose to 3.11 percent as of Saturday, according to City Hall. In addition, there are 1,345 new COVID-19 cases and 118 people who have been sent to the hospital because they may have the deadly virus, a fact that Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted out on Saturday. “This weekend is critical to fighting back #COVID19,” the mayor said.