Adhere to All the Rules!

Rav Shumel Ashkenazi, ZTL (VIN)

When a 98 year old person passes away, it is not all that remarkable. But  not so in this case. More about that later.

98 is a pretty ripe old age. Most human beings never get there. So the recent announcement of the Petirah (death) of Rav Shmuel Ashkenazi last Shabbos would normally not raise too many eyebrows. Other than the fact that yet another great Torah figure of the last generation has passed away. To quote VIN:

(Rav) Ashkenazi was a prolific author with encyclopedic knowledge who over a 70-year period wrote an incredible number of articles on all aspects of Jewish knowledge. The articles have only recently been compiled into a number of volumes as Rav Shmuel was extremely meticulous about proofreading and checking every word he wrote.

So what makes this case different? It is the way he died. He succumbed to COVID-19. The fact that he was high risk because of his age is not the issue. It is how he got infected:

Rabbi Ashkenazi lived in Batei Ungarin in Jerusalem and was very careful in recent months not to go to Shul but hoped that the danger of the coronavirus would pass so that he could return to praying there. When the public thought that the danger of coronavirus had passed in late May, the 98-year-old rabbi decided to go to shul.

However Kikar Hashabat reports that Rav Shmuel did not know that one of the worshipers had COVID-19 and apparently had come to shul despite suffering from the symptoms of the virus. The patient sat not far from Rabbi Ashkenazi and soon afterwards the tell-tale signs of the virus appeared on Rabbi Ashkenazi. After a few weeks he succumbed to the virus.

Family members were furious and said that despite his advanced age, Rabbi Ashkenazi had no prior conditions and only died because he was infected by a person who had violated the regulations.

By coincidence in another story VIN reported the following:

Rabbi Asher Weiss, the head of the Darkei Torah institutions, discussed a heartwrenching question he received from a person who had been sick with coronavirus and is almost certain that he was responsible for another person getting infected and then dying from the virus.

Rabbi Weiss said that the person sat and cried in front of him and asked for a way to repent his sin. 

VIN does not detail what Rav Asher’s response to him was. But he did say the following:

“(T)his Jew will never forgive himself and therefore I beseech everyone: Adhere to all the rules! We are men of Torah and men of faith.”

I have no clue if the 2 stories are related. Perhaps this is the man who infected 98 year old R’ Ashkenazi. Perhaps not. But the moral of these stories should not be lost on anyone. Which is not to make light of the current pandemic – or say that it isn’t really affecting us.  Or say that most people don’t get all that sick even if the do get infected. Or that even of they do, they recover. Especially if they are young and healthy.

Unfortunately that is exactly the trend right now. It doesn’t matter whether you are a religious Jew or a secular non Jew. The more this situation drags on, the more people I see in the streets without masks and not social distancing.

People are sick and tried of wearing masks. They are sick and tired of social distancing. The barriers are breaking down. Just this morning for the first time since I began Davening with a Minayan again, a fellow walked into Shul without a mask. Walking about freely among us as though the virus didn’t exist.

Every day that passes I see more people doing things like this.

I recently had a conversation with a prominent Charedi activist who said that although he was very careful about following all the rules at first, he decided to loosen up on therm.

He speculated that he must have some kind of immunity since he knows he was exposed to the virus early on and never tested positive. He also speculated that in communities like his that had a major breakout early on there have since been few if any cases of COVID. And that there may also be some sort of herd immunity going on by now. Meaning those that the many Jews in his neighborhood that got it early have long since recovered, are now immune, and not contagious. The rest are not going to catch it for a lack of enough people there to catch it from. Or because they haven’t had it and have some sort of natural immunity.

It’s human nature, I suppose. I too am sick and tired of living like this. I hate wearing a mask every time I go out. I hate not being able to connect with my children and grandchildren other than in the virtual reality of Zoom or Facetime. I hate not being able to go to a real Shiur. I hate the way attending a Minyan now has become so sterile.

But I am not abandoning the rules. Because what happened to Rav Ashkeanzi could happen to me. Just because I have not gotten sick yet doesn’t mean I am immune. Just because I am in perfect health doesn’t mean I am not at risk. Just because other older people have somehow survived the virus, doesn’t mean I will.

It is extremely upsetting to me that so many of us have decided to become so lax about following the rules – and in some cases abandoning them entirely. All while people are still getting sick and dying. Those of us that live in states that are not suffering as badly as others are still not immune. The chances of getting sick may be less. But the virus has not gone away.

And even though it’s true that most young and healthy people fully recover, not everybody is young or healthy. Some are neither. The fact that you may not worry about getting that sick yourself because you are both young and healthy is no guarantee that you won’t.

Is it ignorance? Or is it distrust about what health experts are saying? I believe it is both. I just wish that people would heed to what medical experts are telling us to do and follow the rules! No matter how uncomfortable they are. I I agree with Rav Weiss: Adhere to all the rules! We are men of Torah and men of faith.

Doing anything less shows a reckless disregard for the welfare of others. And may lead one to experience what Rav Weiss’s petitioner will for the rest of his life: Extreme guilt about being responsible for the death of an innocent human being.

One final thought. Heath officials believe that if everyone in the entire country would wear a mask and practiced social distancing, we could drive this virus into the ground. It is for this reason that I would love to see a federal mandate requiring every American citizen or resident to wear a mask when out of their home. With a steep fine if caught without one. If that were done we might just be able to get back to normal a lot sooner than we think. Isn’t that what we all want?