Sick People Shouldn’t be at Synagogue

I am a Jewish woman living in Chabad Crown Heights. And I know davening in synagogue is important. Especially during times like Rosh Hashanah when listening to the shofar being blown is required. But what do you do if you are sick or your children are sick and you can’t leave them at home?

When it comes to davening in a synagogue I find many Jews think of themselves before they think of others. They think to themselves this is a requirement that I need to do. And if they are sick, they don’t think of the others that they might impact. They just go.

When they are sick and they daven in a synagogue, they could make an immunocompromised person, elderly person, pregnant woman, infant,child, etc sick. But do they care? Or are they only thinking they need to daven?

Also they may be stopping someone else from going to synagogue with their actions.

Let me tell you my story this Rosh Hashanah.

This Rosh Hashanah I went to the synagogue I bought high holiday seats at. Just a little background on me. I have some health problems and can’t afford to get sick. So I avoid being around sick people. So I go to that synagogue. There were two adult people there who were noticeably very very sick. So I thought for about 5 minutes what I should do. I have to hear the shofar. Then I said to myself I really don’t want whatever they have and I left. There’s a synagogue I knew of that davened later that wasn’t charging for seats. So I went there. Everyone seemed healthy there. So I thought to myself so far so good. But then when it was time for the shofar blowing the kids came in coughing like crazy. The parents had brought their sick kids to shul. At this point I felt stuck and I just stayed and prayed to Hashem that I wouldn’t catch anything because I really wanted to hear the shofar.When I got home that night I contemplated what I would do for the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Someone told me I could hear the shofar being blown outside 770. Would I go back to synagogue and be around more sick people? Because it seemed to me that some people just didn’t care and were showing up sick or with their sick kids. Or would I just like to hear the shofar blown somewhere like outside 770? In the end I decided to just hear the shofar and not go to synagogue. Because I didn’t want to risk my health by going to synagogue and being around sick people. But I would have really loved to go to synagogue on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.

I am not a Rabbi but I truly believe that people going to synagogue when they are sick or bringing their sick kids because it endangers the health of others at the synagogue makes them exempt from davening at synagogue on the basis of pikuach nefesh. Also they are supposed to protect their body because it protects their soul. So they should stay home if they are sick and get well.

Instead of me staying home from synagogue because of sick people being at the synagogue,I think the sick people should have heard the shofar outside 770 where there was fresh air and germs wouldn’t spread so easily or had someone come to their house and stand outside and blow shofar for them. That would have met their requirement to hear the shofar. As for davening, if people are sick they should be davening at home not around others possibly making them sick.

We should all feel like we can go to synagogue without the fear of putting our health in jeopardy because other people are showing up there sick. Be considerate. Please don’t come to synagogue sick.