Long Overdue. Please Forgive Me

I have been thinking a long time about whether or not I should write this post. We are in the midst of the ten days of repentance and are trying to reflect on past actions that we need to improve. So, I came up with a compromise. I will write the post, but I am apologizing beforehand to anyone who might get offended. Also accept this a trigger warning and don't read further unless you think I won't offend you.

You have been warned.

I want to comment about the situation here in Israel.

Short story, it is a shit show

.Yesterday we had close to 7,500 new cases of Corona. In France they had 13,000 (which is about double).

Israel’s population just released last week, is 9.2 million people. France, 68,000,000.

Double the cases 7 times the population.

We went from being the best country in its handling of Corona, to the worst.

We are the only country, as of today, to enact a second FULL shutdown. We are going into the holiest time of the year, and the country is being shut down.

At least they are thoughtful, they are allowing synagogues to open for Yom Kipper under the same rules as we had for Rosh Hashana., but other than that, stay at home.

Truthfully, I am not sure I will be going even though I can. I was in Shul this morning and half the people are coughing, sniffling etc...

You cannot trust anyone to take care of themselves and even less to care about infecting someone else.

Several hospitals are no longer accepting Corona patients as they no longer have the room or staff to deal with it. They are setting up makeshift wards in parking lots but do not have the staff to man them.

This is exactly where we did not want to be.

So, what happened (now might be a good time to stop reading)

In my mind it is simple. From the very beginning, even before the first lockdown, one community has refused to follow the rules or believe the science (as they reject science) behind the government recommendations. They have decided that their spiritual wellbeing takes precedence over their physical wellbeing and that of everyone else. Their leaders are telling them not to cooperate as they are being unfairly singled out.

They point to the fact that anti-government demonstrations can be conducted unimpeded. One of leaders said that he recognizes that the ability to protest is a foundation of democracy but no more important than his ability to pray with a quorum.

I happen to agree with that.

We need to stop all mass gatherings. Protests and prayer are both important but please explain the wedding of 5,000 people recently held in Jerusalem after which the Grand Rabbi of this sect went to the hospital with Corona. A leader who has, from the beginning of the crises, been telling his followers to ignore the lockdowns.

He was able to prove his point because he did not die

See, it is not so bad.

Why am I singling out one community? Others are also breaking the rules and do not seem to care about their fellow citizens.

It is because they hold themselves up as better than everyone but when push comes to shove, they are worse.

The original idea was to impose a full lockdown only on the places that had a high incidence of infection. Turns out that all those places are either Arab towns or these guys.

Some statistics.

As of last week, the general population was testing positive for Corona at a rate of 6%.

The Arabs - 11%

them - 16%

So, the government had decided to lock down only those places with high incidence of infection.

As mentioned, this was concentrated in certain neighborhoods.

Their leaders cried foul and said they would take down the government and force the fourth election in 2 years if only these areas were locked down. If they were going to be locked down, then everyone was going to be. When the police tried to enforce the lockdown, they were called Nazis and had garbage thrown at them. What did this accomplish?

People, who just started to get their lives and livelihoods back, who need to pay rent and buy food are now being thrown into a bleak future because of the people who are being supported by the government and don't have to worry. No welfare payments were cut. Just the opposite.

And the people who pay the taxes to support those benefits are losing everything.

I can't even begin to explain the long term, financial, physical, and emotional devastation this will cause. It is horrendous and yet it doesn't matter because their leaders tell them it doesn't.

Other people do not matter.

Ok, not everyone is altruistic.

Don't they see how many of their own are dying? Don’t they see how they are most of the cases in the Corona wards?

How can people be so blind?

A doctor recently told me of a woman who refused to go on a ventilator until she asked her rabbi.

She asked.

Based on his vast medical knowledge, he told her no.

She was dead within a week.

This is happening EVERY DAY and trust me I did not make this up for affect.

This rejection of medicine, science and government authority is devastating this community and yet the mice keep following the pipers.

This is happening all over the world

The WSJ mentioned yesterday how NYC is seeing an uptick in Corona cases in the following neighborhoods:

Williamsburg

Boropark

Midwood

Bensonhurst

Kew Gardens

Far rockaway.

If you are not familiar with these places, guess what they all have in common?

Today they reported how the community leaders in NYC are urging members not to be tested so they do not get locked down. They did the same in Israel.

Let us not call it antisemitism when people point out that certain Jews are spreading this disease due to their lack of respect for the rules, when in fact they are. Others may flaunt the rules as well, but it does not make that statement less true. We are supposed to act differently.

I know I sound naïve, but what is the point of following the rules if you ignore the lives of others.

At the end of the day I am a libertarian. I believe your choices should be your own but that you need to live with those choices.

So, if you want to trust a Rabbi over a trained professional that is fine with me.

If you want to walk around your neighborhood without a mask and no-one else seems to care, fine with me.

But how do you have a total disregard for everyone else? Is that what following a Torah life is all about?

This post went on a lot longer than I planned and I did not get to write about what is going on in the USA. You will just have to wait for those Gems.

Sorry.

This topic riles me up. For the most part I have a lot of respect for people who try to live a holier life. Those willing to give up the comforts of materialism for their spirituality.

It is to be commended

But when you use this to think that your life, and way of life, are more important that everyone else, it sets me off .

I have not written about this for a long time so I guess I lost my cool a bit

So, for those of you that did not heed my advice and kept reading anyway, I apologize.

If you were offended, I hope you can forgive me before Yom Kippur. For the majority of you who agree with me, please join me in praying for our future here.

We need it