The draconian rules limiting synagogue attendance to 10 people regardless of the synagogue’s size is just one more example of the inequitable treatment that New York City’s Jewish community has received from a recalcitrant administration apparently intent on preventing Jews from gathering. At the same time that synagogues are mostly shuttered, even during the high holy days, the city was already allowing indoor dining at restaurants and indoor retail stores to operate with few limits.

A focus of community life, synagogues are crucial to the spiritual and social life of the Jewish community. Many of them are large, with some able to accommodate 5,000 occupants, yet, even these are kept to a maximum of 10. At the same time synagogues are closed to much of the community the city has encouraged unlimited attendance at organized street protests against the police.