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| Nissim Black and R' Chaim Kanievsky (YWN) |
I don’t get it. Every evening when I watch the nationally broadcast news I see a pandemic that is only getting worse. More people are testing positive for COVID-19 than ever. More people are dying. Every day one individual is featured on those broadcasts that recently and unexpectedly got the virus and eventually died. A very slow and painful death. Alone with no family member by his side.
Many schools that have already begun in person classes with carefully thought out safety precautions basically ignored those precautions once those schools actually reopened. That resulted in multiple cases of COVID.
Are things any different for observant Jews? Consider this. Just yesterday I read the story of Nissim Black in Mishpacha Magazine. He contracted the virus in July which lasted for three weeks and didn’t recover until Tisha B’Av. He lives in Ramat Bet Shemesh which is over 90% observant. He survived. But not without an excruciating experience where at one point he thought he wouldn’t make it!
It’s true that there are states that are hot-spots in the US that are rampant with COVID infections (like Georgia, Florida, and California) and states where COVID infections are currently relatively low (like New York and Illinois). But even in those states the number of infections are going up from the lows of just a few weeks ago.
The point of all this is that we are still in the middle of a serious and sometimes deadly pandemic. The fact some places are better off then others is no guarantee that one will not become infected – if they are not careful. Or even if they are. However it is incumbent upon us all to do what is necessary to reduce those chances. The more precautions we take, the less illness and death there will be. That should be obvious. But...
In spite of all this negative news, public opinion seems to be going in the opposite direction - if measured by how most people are behaving.
Instead of everyone hunkering down and following safety precautions proven to effectively reduce illness and death, the public seems to be increasingly ignoring them. And by ‘public’ I mean all of us. Charedi, modern Orthodox, observant, not observant, Jew and non Jew. All of us.
I see it every day when I do my 20 mile bike ride wearing a mask. The vast majority of people I pass - whether biking, running, or walking – are not wearing masks. People are congregating without any social distancing.
In my own community things seem to be falling apart as well. Looking out of my window yesterday the vast majority of people passing by were not wearing masks. It didn’t matter whether they were Chasidic Yeshiva ‘black hat’ types, modern Orthodox, secular, or non Jews. Many of them were walking with others that I doubt were living under the same roof - schmoozing with each other as though there was no such thing as COVID.
Shuls that have been pretty strict about following health guidelines are now experiencing people taking liberties with those rules. Yesterday a fellow walked into our Shul with his young son - both without a mask. He sat down and started Davening fervently. That we have rules did not concern him. He ‘decided’ that he was going to do what he felt like regardless of the rules. regardless of the fact that everyone else was wearing a mask. (I guess he doesn’t believe we are in the middle of a pandemic.) He was asked to wear a mask or leave. He chose the latter.
This morning something similar happened when an individual I know came into Shul and sat down right next to me! I suppose he did that because all the socially distanced seats were taken and he felt had no choice.
No choice?! If you can’t find a proper seat, you leave! You don’t throw caution to the wind because you want to say Yehei Shmey Rabbah! That should surely not take precedence over following rules designed to protect people as much as possible from a deadly disease.
What is interesting about this is that these are not evil people. Most of those I know that are acting this way are among the most ethical people I know. They are kind and considerate and will give you the shirt off their backs if they thought you needed it. These are people that are generally vary particular about doing all the Mitzvos properly – whether Bein Adam L’Mkaom (ritual) or Bein Adam L’Chaveiro (social). And yet when it comes to this pandemic, they seem to be something less than ethical and caring.
I just don’t get it. But let me speculate.
I know that a lot of people have just about had it from this pandemic. They cannot handle these restrictions anymore. Many are suffering some serious economic pain because of this. Some unable to earn a living - perhaps believing they are a month or two away from becoming homeless. Or becoming unable to feed their families. I cannot imagine what that must feel like. Especially when there seems to be no end to this pandemic. And these are people that have not contracted the virus. Yet. (Hopefully they won’t.)
Even those that are able to manage financially are climbing the walls with all these restrictions. They worry about how their children will resume in person classes in school this fall. Going to Shul is still not a normal experience. Rosh Hashanna is almost upon us. Followed quickly by Yom Kippur.
How will Shuls function under these circumstances? Health experts are predicting the worst fall with respect to illnesses in a very long time. There are a lot of unanswered questions on peoples minds that add to their anxiety.
I suppose that when a virus is invisible and you don't know anyone personally that has died or gotten sick (lately) you tend to think the whole thing is a hoax. Or over. Or at best way overblown. Denial sets in and you start acting as though all is OK. Even at the expanse of others (like me) that do not feel that way.
With all of these rules matter of factly being broken – it gives lie to the notion that a national policy requiring these rules be observed will work. It will not. Unless it includes real consequences. Any President implementing such a policy would be seen as a dictator. So if religious people that are normally moral and ethical and tend to follow rules - don’t pay attention to guidelines implemented by their own Shuls, I doubt they would pay attention to some national mandate that has no teeth.
The human psyche is a complicated ‘animal’. Under certain circumstances it can make perfectly rational, ethical, and moral people - irrational and unethical while not even realizing it. That is the only explanation I can think of. And that ain’t good.