Six heavily Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens are currently contributing 20% of all new COVID-19 cases in New York City, and rising cases there are cause for “significant concern,” city health officials announced Tuesday.
The new data comes amid signs of growing alarm in New York City’s Orthodox communities about the possible beginning of a second wave of cases, after a brutal spring and relatively quiet summer.
The data corresponds to what doctors on the ground in the neighborhoods are reporting — that the number of cases is rising sharply in areas that were hit hard in March and April.
Dr. Stuart Ditchek, a pediatrician in Midwood, said he had nine patients test positive yesterday out of a total of 31 tests, for a positivity rate of nearly 30%, compared to the citywide average of 1.2%.
That is a shocking disparity. But as noted I am not surprised by the uptick. Orthodox Jews have big families and live in densely populated areas. The fact that there was a ‘lull’ in COVID cases over the summer, probably gave many (if not most) Orthodox Jews in those neighborhoods a false sense of security. They probably also saw that all those protests over the summer produced no significant increase in COVID cases. (Not realizing that outdoor events are far less likely to spread the virus than indoor events. Places that have a lot of people congregating indoors (like bars and Shuls) have proven to be super-spreaders.) Then there is pandemic fatigue. Which we are all experiencing by now.
People are just tired of wearing masks and most people seem to not be wearing them anymore. Except when they are forced to by a store or the like. Most Shuls require masks too. But that is ignored by some people too. There is little if any enforcement even among Shuls that require it. Add it all up and the result is what JTA is reporting.
That was New York.
Late last night, I was informed by a neighbor that the young Chasidic Rav of a local Shul here in Chicago tested positive for COVID.
Unfortunately I am not surprised at that either because of the following. Against the best medical advice of public health officials he decided to not shorten the Davening on Rosh Hashana. His Shul traditionally has one of the longest Rosh Hashana services in the city. generally lasting over 6 hours each of the 2 days.
While it is highly unlikely that this young Rav contracted the virus on Rosh Hashana, it did not surprise me that he did - very likely at some earlier date. I have seen him interacting with others in group settings in public without wearing a mask. Apparently he has not taken the pandemic seriously enough. That and pandemic fatigue is probably why he decided to have an unmasked section in his Shul. Which many of his members opted for.
The there is the religious aspect. He also probably felt (as did Agudah)that the pandemic we are now experiencing was no time to shorten the prayers we say on Rosh Hashana. That and the lack of taking it seriously enough is what got him into trouble. And in the process he has possibly endangered others - albeit unintentionally.
This kind of right wing Frumkeit is not surprising. Relying more on prayer than on the advice of doctors is kind of their subliminal mindset.
As I have said many times, in my view people that have this attitude are not being more Frum. They are being less Frum. That kind of Frumkeit is dangerous. Which he is apparently now finding out the hard way.
He ignored the fundamental Halachic requirement to not put oneself into dangerous situations. The polices he put in place over Rosh Hashana were tantamount to putting himself and his Shul members into a dangerous situation. He is now paying a price. God willing he will come out of this unscathed with little or no symptons or after effects. And with a valuable lesson learned.
To be absolutely clear. Prayer should never be abandoned. We indeed do need prayer now more than at any time in recent history. But not at the expense of compromising our health. May God have mercy on us.