Chief Rabbi condemns 'disgraceful' weddings and prayer gatherings

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has condemned the holding of wedding celebrations or minyanim during the coronavirus shutdown as “indefensible and disgraceful”.

His comments during his address on the weekly Torah portion follows recent incidents including a wedding held in a home in Golders Green and the issuing of a prohibition notice on a synagogue in Stamford Hill.

“When a group of people gather together in a quorum in order to perform a mitzvah such as the celebration of a marriage or the staging of a tefillah [prayer] service in a minyan and it is a breach of law,” he said, “ they are endangering their lives, they are endangering the lives of others and they are causing a terrible Chillul Hashem – a desecration of God’s name.

“It is indefensible and it is disgraceful.”