Of Normalcy and Hishtadlus

As I have mentioned recently, I am maintaining a schedule as close to what it was prior to the virtual ‘house arrest’ we are all experiencing right now. As an example - over the last three days of Yom Tov, my wife and I started Shachris at the same time we would have normally started had we gone to Shul. I acted as the ‘Chazan’ to the extent Halachicly possible while my wife answered as she would have in Shul. I even mimicked Kriyas HaTorah out of a Chumash and the Haftorah (without Aliyos or Brachos). Yesterday we both read Shir Hashirim together. After Musaf of all 3 days we ate the Seudah at about the same time we would have during normal times.

Although we usually have at least two of my children and their families at one Seder that did not happpen this year. Instead there were just the two of us on both Seder nights.  Both nights were peaceful and rather pleasant. I think word ‘cozy’ would describe it best. It was otherwise not all that atypical. (Although it did end a lot earlier in the evening - at about 11:30 pm instead of around the usual time of 2:00 am). 

The fear of boredom that a 3 day long Yom Tov without the ability to socialize at all - even by just going to Shul did not materialize. Except for the fact that we did not go to Shul, it was a fairly normal 3 day Yom Tov. Hope it was more or less the same for everyone else. Yom Tov is what we make of it.

Unfortunately this scenario was not the case for far too many of us. Not for the health professionals who are sacrificing so much to take care of the sick. Certainly not those that have been seriously hospitalized. Or worse, those on ventilators. Or even worse those in the throes of death (Rachmana Litzlan – may God save us all!) 

I can also not imagine what it must have been like for the families of those hospitalized. And then there are people who were completely alone – isolated in their homes for their own protection and that of others. Many of whom are elderly widows or widowers that under normal conditions would have joined their children and their families. It must have been extremely difficult for them.

Many of us are wondering what the world will be like once things begin to get back to normal. I don’t think we will be able to do that completely for quite some time. Even if the rate of infection decreases to a level safe enough to leave our homes, there will still be a chance of a random spike. COVID-19 is so contagious that is spread by people that are symptom free. Until a safe and effective vaccine is developed the new normal will probably not look the way it did just a few weeks ago.

In the meantime there are things that can be done to make some semblance of normalcy possible a little sooner rather than later. The mitigation we are all practicing seems to be working to ‘flatten the curve’. This means that the rate of increase is lower. Less people are getting sick and/or dying at this moment than projected by the previous rate of increase. 

Another thing that can be done is to have more wide spread testing with faster results. 

Yet another thing is  to test people that have had the disease to see if they developed antibodies. Which - I believe - can  be ‘harvested’ and somehow ‘developed into a sort of ‘pre vaccine’ that might work until an actual one becomes available.

There is one thing that should not be overlooked. Dr. Vladimir (Zev) Zelenko, an Orthodox Baal Teshuva  has developed a relatively inexpensive drug cocktail (about $20 per dose) consisting of the ‘antimalarial medication called hydroxychloroquine, the antibioticazithromycin, and zinc sulfate’.  He has had success in administering that drug to his patients and is suggesting every other doctor do the same.

The risk factor of this drug cocktail is known to be low. There is not much of a downside in trying it. Even though there had been no clinical trials to show its effectiveness, there is no reason not to try it on patients that have tested positive and are most at risk (immune compromised or that are 60 years of age and older). This protocol is not the invention of some sort of snake oil  salesman. That is not who Dr. Zelenko is.

He has been so successful that there are currently clinical trials going on to see if his anecdotal evidence has any real statistical merit.

But even before that is determined, when there is a low risk of taking that drug and a possible lifesaving upside, I think every doctor seeing patients now should be administering it to that specific group (people over 60 years old that test positive). In fact I think it might even be criminal not to, considering the proven low risk of harm.

I would hope that this heroic doctor not be smeared because of his association with Satmar. He happens to serve that community. When this drug was first suggested by him, he was practically labeled a quack by some of my co-religionists (even some Orthodox ones). ‘How can a Baal Teshuva who has a long untrimmed beard and wears his Tzitzis out - be trusted?’ That kind of thinking is pure prejudice!

Fortunately the medical and  scientific community does not see him that way. That’s why there are clinical trials going on right now. And that is why just about every medical expert I’ve heard interviewed by the media about this drug has the same opinion.

That being said, no one – including me  - says that we should ignore science. Which is why I’m glad that clinical trials are currently taking place. And that a real vaccine is being worked on by the kind of people who defeated some of the most dreaded diseases in human history. It will be scientific research that will do the same here.

In the meantime we must do whatever we can to try and save lives. I firmly believe that widespread use of Dr. Zelenko’s drug cocktail (in the way I described) will go a long way to save lives until eventually a legitimate vaccine is developed. And then finally we will be able to practically eradicate this disease from the face of the earth. The way we did with smallpox and polio. May it be God’s will.