Tallest tower in Tel Aviv alight with Jewish prayer

The Azrieli Sarona Tower in Tel Aviv is lighting up some hope amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The tower was lit up Friday night, displaying the words of the Jewish Prayer "Shema Yisrael." Onlookers were quick to take photos and post them to social media.

The Azrieli Sarona Tower is the tallest building in Israel, which now has a total of 56 coronavirus related death as of Monday, and another 8,904 active cases confirmed. The outbreak has forced the country into near-lockdown in an attempt to contain the spread.

Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and his wife have been in self-isolation after they both contracted the virus. Prime Minister Netanyahu was then forced to self-isolate as well due to his contact with Litzman. Netanyahu was already in isolation once before after a top aide tested positive, Netanyahu did not contract the illness.

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and the National Security Council were also asked to self-isolate because of their interactions with Litzman, according to a report from Hebrew language media.

Litzman is a member of Israel’s large, insular ultra-Orthodox community, which has been particularly affected by the spread of the virus. At the beginning of the outbreak, some rabbis disregarded the government-mandated movement restrictions, however they have since changed their stance on the issue.

The city of Bnei Brak has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered a police cordon to circle the largely ultra-Orthodox city, east of Tel Aviv, so to limit the people from going in and out of the city.