Shomer Shabbos, Iconic 13th Avenue Shul, Closes Over Virus Fears

Boro Park – It stood through war and peace, depression and the Roaring Twenties. But a virus brought it down.

The Shomer Shabbos shul, a 13th Avenue icon for generations of minyan seekers, closed its doors Wednesday afternoon until further notice, its entrance boarded up for the first time in 102 years. It is following in the heartbreaking footsteps of nearly every other shul in the United States that the coronavirus pandemic has touched.

Gabbaim are requesting that anyone who has his tallis and tefillin there to pick it up.

Shomer Shabbos has tried bucking the trend and remaining open as it has since 1918, when it opened as the only shul with the stipulation that members not work in shabby. But a nearly tripling of coronavirus cases in the state since yesterday forced them to close.