Why Charedim?

It appears that the more Charedi an Orthodox Jew is - the more likely he will get infected by the virus. Using Israel as an example, in the city of Bnei Brak one of every 3 people tested - have tested positive. The situation is so bad that Ya'akov Litzman, Israel’s health minister, who is himself Charedi has asked the Prime Minster to lock down the city immediately! He considers it of vital importance! Which I assume means that no one will be allowed to leave – and no one will be allowed to enter that city! 

I’m not sure how such an order would be executed. But I am having visions of armed military personal guarding all entrances and exits. If something like that happens then in effect Bnei Brak will become a virtual prison camp for its residents until further notice. A prison filled with sick people! Most of whom will be in ‘solitary confinement’ (as it were) by staying in their own homes!

According to a i24 news report (video below) half of those in Israel hospitalized with COVID-19 are Charedim. In one large hospital in Tel Aviv, 60% of the COVID-19 patients are Charedi! In a country where the Charedi population is only 10% of the whole, that is a shocking statistic!

The question is why?! Why is God hitting so hard - the very people who seem to be the most devoted to following His laws? While there are surely slackers among them - the vast majority are people that take their religious obligations seriously.

Many of them dedicate their lives to Torah study at great financial sacrifice. Many of them are people that live their identity as Charedim by being Chareid L’Dvar HaShem. They are ‘Choshesh for the Daas HaMachmir’. Meaning when there is a difference of opinion by rabbis in a Halachic matter, they will observe for the more stringent view based on the possibility that it may be the correct one.

These are the people that are known to give more of their income to Tzedaka than most of the rest of us. They takes seriously the Mitzvah of Maaser Kesafim – giving away 10% of their income to charity. These are people that have large families based on the Mitzvah of procreation –and do not utilize common Heterim (Halachic leniencies) for birth control. Especially if they are Chasidim.

Why has God chosen these hard working devoted Jews to take the brunt of this illness?

On the one hand, the answer is relatively simple. The very nature of their religious lifestyle entails being in group settings. For example Charedim are perhaps the most meticulous about Davening Tefillah B’Tzibur (in a Minyan of at least 10 people but usually a lot more) -  3 times a day.

The fact that Torah study is considered the most important Mitzvah in the Torah means that their Batei Medrash (study halls) are packed with people. Yeshivas are filled with virtually every young person in the Charedi world. Kollels abound – filled with young married men studying Torah. Even those that work can be found in their off time in a variety of settings where Torah study is going on - often in crowded rooms.

And then there are the large weddings that happen there every day (sometimes more than one). They are usually all packed with guests that are in close physical contact with each other. (Especially when they dance!)

It is also quite common for funerals of prominent rabbis to be packed to the extent of danger. (Recently - as illustrated above - young Charedim attended such a funeral despite warnings by their own rabbis not to do so! What makes them do that?! Does being that religious make them stupid?!)

But even without any of that - there are so many people per square inch in Bnei Brak that it is almost impossible to practice social distancing effectively on a daily basis unless you never leave the house! With families being so large, it is almost inevitable that one family member will get infected and will quickly be spread to the rest of the family.

There is yet another issue that exacerbates all of this, which is the fact that – by design - there is little communication with the outside world. Charedim in places like Bnei Brak are discouraged from having any unneccesary contact with the ‘Tamei’ (spiritually impure) outside world. I can’t even count the number of times I have heard Charedi rabbis say that anything emanating for the outside world is Pasul/Treif - and should be avoided like the plague. That any medium that might access that world is itself Tamei. TV, Radios, the internet, and secular newspapers are all treated like they were radioactive.

Add to that the slow pace their own rabbinic leaders have reacted properly to this disease and it should be no surprise why this community is so lopsidedly and tragically affected.

It should therefore be more than obvious why these physical circumstances makes Charedim more vulnerable to this  highly contagious virus than any other group.

But my original question has not been answered. Why did God send a plague into the world whose physical nature hurts the very people most devoted in service to Him?

I have no answer. But one thing seems certain. There are prominent rabbis that will speculate. They will talk about which area of Godly service we are all lacking in and propose that we tighten up observance in those areas.

I am not going to speculate what those areas might be although I’m sure most people know what to expect. Every time there is a tragedy of some sort, those issues come up as a reason why God let it happen.

Perhaps it’s time for them to think somewhat out of the box? Even if it negatively affects their religious comfort zone? In my view there must be an area where Charedim are specifically more lacking than anyone else. Why would God otherwise target them the most?

But the truth is that this does not let any one of us off the hook We should all be looking in the mirror. No one is immune. A lot of people are getting sick. Some seriously. Some dying! Not all of them are Charedim.

We all need to strengthen our observance in areas where we know of our own personal weakness. We can all be better people. In the eyes of God and the eyes of man. That is as important as doing whatever physically necessary to stay healthy and not spread the virus to others. We need to do both our physical Hishtadlus (maximum effort) and our spiritual Hishtadlus. One without the other may not be enough. It is apparent that God is sending the entire world a message here. He wants all of us to be better people. And we ought to try and accomplish that.