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| Charedi volunteer providing in home care to a COVID patient (NYT) |
Much of their reporting and opinion pieces are seen through a very colored lens. Almost always assuming the worst possible interpretation of their observations. If the the Times were not as well respected by the world, it wouldn’t bother me as much. But that it considered the ‘newspaper of record’ for the world is what makes this so disturbing. With a reputation like that, the typical uninformed reader might read anything they write as close to indisputable truth as humanly possible.
This being said, they are not always wrong. Sometimes they manage to be fairly balanced in reporting about these two subjects. This is largely the case in their latest article about how the Charedi world in Israel has been - and is - responding to COVID. This lengthy article touched on it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I believe it is fairly accurate. I see things pretty much the way they are described. It is presented in an amazing format I have never seen before that includes interactive photos and videos embedded into the text.
The good they reported is in the kindness and determination by Charedim that have responded (and still are) to the challenges of people within their community affected with the disease. Their sacrifice is matched only by the energy they are investing into it:
Hasdei Amram, (a charity based) in an underground storeroom in Mea Shearim, the group fields thousands of calls a week from Haredim who have fallen ill with the virus…
The shoestring operation is managed by Yitzhak Markowitz… (who) has built up a stockpile of more than 600 oxygen concentrators that his team lends to patients.
The charity’s at-home treatment often allows patients to recover from the coronavirus without entering a hospital ward…
The emergence of new virus variants has made the past month particularly devastating… “This wave is the hardest we’ve had,” said Menachem Markowitz, a coordinator for the charity. He drives across Jerusalem every night, rushing oxygen tanks and medicine to patients’ apartments, often until dawn.
“It’s a different kind of corona,” he said. “And people are getting infected more easily.”
The charity’s core team is made up of Haredi volunteers with no formal medical qualifications. They crisscross the city, delivering oxygen, blood tests and steroids to coronavirus patients who call for their assistance.
Their work is regularly supplemented by a pool of sympathetic private nurses and doctors who also journey from neighborhood to neighborhood each night, often after finishing their day jobs. Donations cover some of the costs, while the patients pay the doctors themselves…
It is a ramshackle operation, staffed by hard-charging workaholics displaying little regard for their own safety… At each home, the volunteers changed into new suits to avoid spreading infection — an awkward and exhausting process.
On a recent February night, Dr. Itamar Raz finished a full shift at his own general practice before beginning several hours of home visits on behalf of Hasdei Amram… He zigzagged across the religious neighborhoods of Jerusalem — west from Givat Shaul to Har Nof, then east to Kiryat Sanz — visiting patients the charity had asked him to treat. At each apartment, he rushed straight in, protected only by a worn face mask that often dangled beneath his nose…
As remarkable and praiseworthy as these Charedim obviously are… the bad and ugly part of this story is in major part responsible for the load they carry every day. Although there are many segments of the Charedi community that take the virus seriously, there are probably just as many or more that don’t. This contributes to the very sad statistic of Charedm in Israel having double the percentage of COVID infections than their percentage of the population.
That fills up hospital beds and angers the secular public. Which has long had issues with their way of life. A way of life that eschews military service, and has an educational system that keeps their men learning Torah full time for as long as they can. And thereby out of the workplace without preparing them for that eventuality. They are therefore seen - whether true or not - as noncontributing, and a drain on the economy. Many also resent what they see as religious coercion by the Charedi political parties.
The reasons given by Charedim for wanting to keep schools open against medical advice (and is against the law) are explained in the article. As are the reasons given for large communal gatherings at various events (like funerals and weddings). It remains a serious issue of contention though, between various Charedi segments. No Charedi explains the exasperation she feels from those that violate the health guidelines – whether blatantly or not - than does Esti Shushan. Reacting to pictures she saw of a recent funeral attended by masses of Charedim, she asked:
“What is more important?” “To go to funerals and study Torah? Or to stay alive?”
This lengthy article in the Times is well worth reading in its entirety. It is as well balanced as any I have ever read. You will not be disappointed.