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| Rabbi Chaim Zev Aryeh Ginsburg- a harrowing story about surviving COVID |
There is nothing extraordinary about this scene. Except that
we in the middle of a deadly pandemic. And neither of them were wearing a mask.
This is not to say that they were malicious.
They are quite likely very fine young religious women. But they may unintentionally
actually be murdererers.
Shocking as that may
sound, I do not say this lightly. They may have the virus, never experience symptoms,and pass it along to someone that may die from it without ever knowing it.
They are not alone. Last week two young
teenage boys that are clearly ‘black hatters’ (both wearing black hats and
jackets) came into the Mincha Minyan I attend and were very cavilaier about
their masks. One of them walked to his seat before he pulled out his mask. After he put it on, he pulled it down and wore it on his
neck. The other one decided his nose did not need to be covered. I told them
both to put on their masks and wear them correctly. Which they did, but seemed
to be somewhat annoyed by me.
That same day, I had a conversation with a Yeshiva Rebbe that I truly
admire for his devotion to his students, the love I know he has or them which they all reciprocate. I also appreciate his general openness to all kinds people regardless of their Hashkafos. He is truly an open minded Charedi. Which is why I was shocked by his attitude about the pandemic.
Although he wears is
mask in public his attitude is one of skepticism. He does
not believe that it is as dangerous as is being presented. He believes that it
is all political. Scientists don’t really know anything because they keep
changing their minds about what we should be doing – citing the mask issue to
make his point. First they said it doesn’t help and now they say it will save lives.
He then pointed to the religious community and one
popular Beis HaMedrash in town where no one has worn a mask for many weeks and yet
no one has gotten sick. He did not go so far as calling it a hoax. But he does
think it is being overblown for political reason by people with no real idea
about the virus.
Nothing I could say would convince
him about the folly of that kind of thinking. It is mind boggling that this otherwise
rational, wise and worldly fellow could not see why erring on the side of caution
was a far better approach then dismissing it and throwing caution to the wind. Even if he were right about them no knowing how to deal with the virus, does
he not know the numbers of people that have died? Or the numbers that survived
but barely? And that many of those have permanent damage?
Did he see the cover story in Mishpacha Magazine by Rabbi Chaim Aryeh Zev Ginsburg about his own journey through COVID? ...where he was literally at death’s door in a coma with with his entire organ system failing until his miraculous recovery. One which
is still in progress since his legs muscles atrophied while he was unconscious for
30 days. (He is currently in rehab.)
How anyone can read a story like that and treat the pandemic so skeptically is shocking. And yet I wonder if it moved him to change his attitude? Somehow I doubt it!
Then there is this. There is rise in the number of people testing positive for
the COVID-19. The second wave seems to be surpassing the first wave back in March ad April. Back then it was New York and New Jersey that were the epicenters. Now it’s Florida, Texas, and
California. Each of which are breaking their daily records of people testing
positive. The big difference between now and then (aside form the location) is
the fact that most of those testing positive are much younger – in their 20s and thirties. Back
then it was mostly the elderly and health compromised.
Not to be outdone, Israel is vying for first place. The spike in cases there - on a percentage basis is greater than it is here in the US.
On the plus side, the number of deaths have not spiked in
proportion to the number of people testing positive. A lot of them are young and many of them don't necessarily get any symptoms. But that doesn’t mean that none of them get
sick. And suffer greatly. Much the same
way the above-mentioned Rav has (and still is to some extent).
It seems that the people most guilty of treating the
pandemic lightly are young people. That is evidenced by the huge crowds of mostly young people at beaches and bars - none of them wearing
masks and all of them ignoring any kind of social distancing. As if there was
no pandemic at all.
This attitude is not only among secular young people. It seems
to be universal. Including many of the most religious young Jews among us. Like the ones I mentioned.They
may not be going to beaches and bars. But they are going to Shuls and Batei
Midrsah.
I can’t help but see this as either selfishness or
ignorance based skepticism. If it is the former can it really be the case that since they don’t see anyone among their peers getting sick and suffering they feel safe - ignoring the fact
that the older people they come into contact with may die? Or are they ignorant
of how the disease might be transmitted by them even though they are
asymptomatic? I don’t know.
I am not that surprised by the selfish attitude of so many of America’s youth. There is a reason
this generation has been called the ‘me generation’. But I am surprised at the
religious youth in this country. Could it really be they are that clueless about
the nature of transmission? Or about the greater risk to the elderly and the health
compromised? Are they part of the ‘me generation’, too? Why are they so skeptical about it all?
After talking to that Yeshive Rebbe, I suspect that they are influenced by Rebbeim like that. As well as looking at places that ignore all the precautions and noting that nobody seems to be getting sick.
Back to Israel. According to an article in Mishpacha - the largest concentration of positivity in Jerusalem at 17% is in in the Charedi neighborhoods. In the rest of the city it is at about
5%. Hospitals and medical staff are at the breaking point! New cases last week
were at an all time high. The rate of infection is even greater than it is here
in the US (itself at record numbers!) But the average age is much younger People there are skeptical, too.
On the other hand I still don’t understand why they don’t see
how many people have died and are still dying. And even though they are dying in a far lesser percentage that is not the way to look at it. It is a false narrative. If they think otherwise, they should talk to Rabbi Ginsburg..
I get the skepticism. And yet I don’t. On the one hand I can
see why there is skepticism if no one around you is getting sick in your immediate circle. But I don’t
understand how you can ignore all of the death and serious illness in the world this pandemic has caused - including in the world of Orthodox Jewry.
