It's the End of the World As We Know It Pt. 1

I have to admit. I may have misjudged the situation. I still don't think that millions of people will die but I now understand the real issue is that the health care systems are really not prepared for this and if the virus effects too many people the hospitals will be overrun. This is what I heard is happening in Italy. They just don't have sufficient resources to treat their people.

So when Israel started with some of the most draconian measures in the world, I was upset like everyone else here. Now it seems the rest of the world is following us. I think that it is an advantage to be in a small country at this time.

One thing you can always count on in Israel, when there is threat to the nation , almost everyone steps up to help. Everyone knows that the more people that are hanging out together the longer the virus  is going to take to stop and more people will die. So everything is closed.

Schools, daycare ,restaurants, cafes, non essential stores etc.. I went to the local market to hoard some items and was expecting everything to be closed.

Not.

I don't really know what is going on in the rest of the country but I can say that the cafe, wine store, toy store, hardware, etc.. , in my neighborhood were all open.

So it was no surprise when I  heard that the big rabbis, those with the direct phone lines to the almighty, left their schools open yesterday. So what did the government do?   Instead of arresting all these guys, they held a negotiation and it was agreed that these schools would remain open but students would not gather in groups of more than ten.

Like Hebrew National, these Rabbis answer to a higher authority.

I know some of you will say ' what is the difference between keeping Haredi Yeshivas open and going to cafes in Tel Aviv.'

That's a good question.

I guess the answer would be that there is no one in a leadership position telling people in Tel Aviv to defy the law. If someone wants to risk getting sick for their morning  ( evening, midday ...)coffee, then that is their choice. If the leader of a particular sect tells his students to break the law , their followers have very little say. They can not obey and be ostracized forever or flaunt the law of the state they don't really respect.

Not much of a choice

Moving on. ( because I have a lot more to say on this but am trying to become a better person)

Since the toy-store was open we went to stock up. We now run a daycare center albeit for two kids but we needed some new stuff as we expect them to be coming every day for the foreseeable future. Seems we are not the only ones. Although we did not have the problem, I am told that many stores are out of crayons.

Speaking of which we did go to the supermarket, or as we say in Hebrew, the super, to stock up on ( hoard) some essentials. It was crazy. No chicken, No toilet paper, rows of empty shelves.

Does anyone know what you do with frozen chicken shwarma strips? Let me know. I have a case of them.

Rationally I know there is no problem. I am told the country always makes sure that there are enough staples in case of a war.  I think that the problem is not now but if the dockworkers or truck drivers get infected...

Sometimes being super paranoid can work to your disadvantage.

So you learn how to cope. I have found if you go to the local grocery and are willing to pay triple , you will have no problem getting what you want.

Except good toilet paper.

Go figure.