JERUSALEM (VINnews) — As schools closed throughout Israel due to government directives  in the wake of the corona virus, Rabbi Chaim Kanievski and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, shlita, issued a directive to Yeshivas and Talmud Torahs to continue studying as normal and not to disrupt the study of Torah in places which do not receive full government funding. (as opposed to the Chinuch Atzmai which announced that it was closing all of its schools in accordance with government regulations).

The rabbis ruled that “ceasing the study of Torah in Yeshivas and Talmud Torahs is more dangerous than corona virus.”

However police arrived at many Talmud Torahs Sunday morning to close them in accordance with the new regulations.

One policeman wrote that “We’re going to forcibly close a Chareidi school which opened in accordance with Rav Kanievski’s directive. This is not how I imagined my reserve duty…but the best part was when the kids in the courtyard saw us and opened the gate excitedly, crying ‘great! they came to close the school’ ”

Consultations continue between the prime minister and Chareidi leaders in an attempt to decide how to act regarding Yeshivas and Talmud Torahs.