The Chief

It’s been a slow news day. In fact it’s been a slow news week! Finding something new and excicting to talk about every day can be very challenging under any circumstances let alone one like this. Especially when half the stories reported in the media are either about COVID or politics. And frankly, I am a little tired of taking about either of those subjects. So I thought I would address an issue that continues to bother me.

There is a perception by some people that I am prejudiced against Charedim in general and Chasidim in particular. In a recent post I was critical of a Chasdic fellow that had somehow gotten a hold of COVID vaccines for his clinic and began inoculating people not yet eligible to receive them. I was criticized by one fellow  for not pointing out that two of the ineligible recipients were YU Roshei Yeshiva. As he more or less put it in his comment: ‘If they had been wearing long beard and long jackets (Kapotehs), I would be singing another tune.’ 

I responded that it was not true, I am not anti Chasid and that some of the people I have admired most in life had long beards and long jackets.   

Some might read that  as a ’Some of my best friends’ response. That is how someone who harbors prejudice against Jews might respond when accused of being an antisemite: ‘I’m not an antisemite.’ ‘Some of my best friends are Jewish!’ That usually means that he uses Jews he happens to know and get along with as a shield against such accusations when everything else about him says ‘antisemite’. 

This is not at all the case with me. It may sound self-serving and disingenuous when I have written so many posts critical of Chasidim of late. But that doesn’t make it any less true. This can be demonstrated by numerous posts I have written about people like that looked up to as teachers and heroes. Among them, R’  Gedalia Dov Schwartz,  R’ Yaakov Perlow,  R’ Yakov Horowitz and no less my own Rebbe, R’ Ahron Soloveichik. There are others that I know prefer to remain anonymous and would probably be embarrassed being looked at as heroes. Which they are despite their humility.

But perhaps topping them all is the Late Rabbi Chaim Goldzweig, a Chasidic Rav stemming from a long line of Chasidic Rebbes. He passed away a couple of years ago. 

Rabbi Goldzweig exemplified all that is good about Orthodox Judaism.  He was a living Kiddush HaShem in his every act; every move. A living examples of what every Jew should aspire to be and few are able achieve. Pure of heart;  dedicated to the service of God and the Jewish people. Without an ounce of Gaavah (arrogance or haughtiness). He did not know the meaning of the word. His humility was legendary. 

His acts of Chesed done privately could fill many volumes. Often done without the recipient even knowing it was a Chesed. He would take as much money as needed out of his own pocket to help a fellow Jew - without them realizing where the money came from. 

Like the time he encountered a woman in a drug store unable to afford some medication she needed. He told her that there was a special fund for these kinds of situations. And then paid for it with his own money while she believed it was from that fund. 

Or the time a Meshulach lost an envelop filled money he collected. Rabbi Goldzweig quietly filled another envelop with the exact amount of money and bill denominations described by the Meshulach, placed it into the Meshulach’s open briefcase, and said, ‘Look!’ ‘I found your envelope.’ ‘It was here in your briefcase all along.’

Rabbi Goldzweig worked for the OU. That was his only source of income. He was not a wealthy man. Money meant nothing to him. 

His Shteibel (located in the basement of his house) was home to all sorts of people. Some of them prominent members of the community. And some on the fringes of the community that were mostly ignored by their fellow Jews. And some in between those two extremes. He paid attention to them all and made every single one of them feel like they were part of his family.

There was also no such thing as labels in his mind. To him it did not matter what your Hashkafa was. His Baal Koreh was a modern Orthodox Jew whose wife does not cover her hair. 

It was his humility that allowed him to have a wonderful sense of humor. He was almost as well known for that as he was for his knowledge of Kashrus. Which he was an expert in.

This is the role model for what constitutes a hero in my eyes. A book has just been released about this great man entitled ‘The Chief’. That is what the attendees of his Shteibel called him. Although some called him Chaim, which was what he preferred being called.  I can’t wait to read it.

Jared Kushner's Legacy

Arab delegation from the UAE and Bahrain at the Kotel last Chanukah (TOI)

There has been a lot of ink spilled on Jared Kushner over the last 4 years. Most of it by a Trump hating media that paints almost anyone associated with the President in the most unflattering terms. Which of course meant Kushner was not spared since he is the President’s son in law. 

Not that they intentionally lied about him. But their spin is unmistakably tainted by their obvious bias. 

I am not going to comment about his father in law. My feelings about him are well known. Suffice to to say they are mixed. That said, I may be one of the few people in the entire universe that feels that way. Most people think either that he is a hero that can do no wrong… or that he is a villain that can do no right. But I don’t look at the world in absolutist terms. The world is very grey to me. 

Back to Kushner. The prevailing opinion by the Trump hating left and  the ‘Never Trumper’ right is that Kushner is an incompetant moron. Or at best not the brightest bulb in the room. The reason he got anywhere in life is because he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He looks kind of like a Ken doll -  a privileged white boy whose father paved his way towards success.

I am constantly being told by Trump haters how mediocre he was a student with ample testimony to that effect by former Harvard classmates. That the only reason he was admitted to Harvard was because of the over 2 millions dollars his father donated to them the year before.  

I am also told that it was Kushner’s incompetence that ran his father’s real estate business into the ground. Same thing when he bought the New York Observer. He destroyed that too.

 Then there is his career in politics, and government. There too his critics say he is ignorant and incompetent. Having no business working in either. 

When he was announced by his father in law as the point man on peace in the Middle East, he was ridiculed – having had zero experience in the field. How could Trump’s mediocre nepotistic choice to solve an intractable problem that the best, most experienced minds in the world couldn’t even begin to solve? After decades of trying!  To say they scoffed at the idea is an understatement. 

The bottom line is that whatever Kushner had his hands on would at best bear no fruit or make things a lot worse.

Orthodox Jews that are Trump haters see Kushner that way too. They are embarrassed that he is considered an Orthodox Jew. They even question whether he is even observant at all - pointing to what they observed as blatant public violations of Shabbos and Kashrus long before he ever even met his wife. And they cast aspersions on the legitimacy of his wife's conversion - calling it a sham conversion bought and paid for by his great wealth. 

I don’t think I have even scratched the surface of the degree of animus Trump haters have against Kushner. All of which they believe to be legitimate based on everything they know about him. In this regard, they are true believers. The disgust against Kushner is palpable - surpassed only by the disgust they have for his father in law.

 So are they right? Is all that the truth? Is all that the sum and substance of the man? 

Absolutely not. While there may be a grain of truth in all of those things, I am convinced that it’s an incontrollable - even unconscious bias that drives those opinions. With no possible way to convince them otherwise. They know it for a fact based on all the ‘evidence’. Much of it furnished by a media  biased against his father in law. But the truth is that in the vast majority of cases they don’t know Kushner and never even met him. 

The truth is that Kushner is not stupid. Money may get you into Harvard. But it will not necessarily get you a Harvard BA in government. Nor will it get you an MBA and law degree from NYU. Or an internship with Manhattan New York DA, Robert Morgenthau. 

What about his business acumen? Were his business deals all losers? Hardly. While in college he bought and sold real estate - turning in a profit of $20 million. After taking a bigger role in his father’s real estate business he purchased nearly 7 billion dollars worth of real estate. His personal net worth in 2019 was esitimated to be about $800 million!  If that shows incompetence - I’d sure like a piece of it. 

What about the New York Observer? Did he drive that into the ground? Nope. Even without any publishing experience the paper is now profitable and he has increased its readership from 1.3 million to 6 million! 

What about his role in government? Is he the incompetent his critics insist he is? Thereby having no business being anywhere near the top echelons of power? That too is pure bias talking. 

Let us consider what he is actually given credit for even by critics. 

First the media credited him for the his father in law’s 2016 win over Hillary Clinton. He was the unofficial but defacto campaign manager near the end of the campaign.  

And once in government he was actually responsible for shepherding the passage of prison reform by congress in a near unanimous bipartisan vote. This  after many unsuccessful attempts in the past. He was given credit for that even by Democrats. 

And finally there was the primary task given to him by his father – finding a new approach to peace in the Middle East. So far he has been far more successful in doing so than decades of the expert predecessors that have tried and failed. This after decades of experts expressing fear that moving the US embassy to Jerusalem would bring on an Armageddon. Same thing annexing the Golan Heights captured from Syria during the 6 Day War. Guess what? No Armageddon. Not even an intifada.

After decades of experts insisting that peace could never be achieved between Israel and an Arab state without first solving the Palestinian problem – Kushner proceeded to prove them all wrong. There are now 4 Arab nations that have made peace with Israel (or are about to) and trading freely with them. While it’s true that success has many fathers. Most observers give Kushner credit for his leadership in changing the focus away form Palestinians and toward Arab nations that have a common view about the dangers of a nuclear Iran. Kushner exploited that commonality and has so far gotten 4 Arab nations to play ball.

 If this is incompetence and mediocrity, we could sure use a lot more of it! 

What about his levels of Halachic observance. Is he really observant? I don't know. He does belong to a Chabad Shul that is walking distance form his home. And I believe he sends his kids to an Orthodox Jewish day school. Observations of public violations of Halacha might have legitimate explanations. In any case, I am not God's accountant. Only He knows for sure

How will history judge Jared Kushner? Depends who’s writing it. But as things stand now the leftward tilt in academia will surely be unkind and spin everything negatively. But as I always say, the truth matters.

The COVID Conundrum

Yetev Lev D’Satmar  last October (Tablet)

The question of what the pandemic has done to us as a people still plagues me. (No pun intended.) And by a people. I mean any of a number of groupings into which we can fit. Whether we are grouped by region, age, race, religion, politics... or any other grouping one can think of, there seems to be an increasing COVID war between us in how we each react to the pandemic within each group. And the repercussions of that. 

Armin Rosen  has an excellent discussion of this in a  recent Tablet Magazine. Which brings me to the recent Satmar funeral with which Rosen begins his discussion. 

My instinct was to once again condemn the lack of any caution with respect to COVID on the part of these Chasidim. Indeed anyone that attended that funeral would never know that we are in the midst of the  deadliest pandemic of the last 100 years. The room in building in which the eulogies took place was so packed with people that it was impossible to enter it. And no one there was masked. 

People with my perspective are appalled at an event like that. As I have noted the past, I believe it is combination of social isolationism, ignorance, and sense of entitlement that leads these Chasidim to behave this way. I still believe that’s true. 

But yesterday, I was informed of the following by an Orthodox Jewish friend of mine vacationing in Florida. She had decided to purchase dinner at a popular Kosher Restaurant there and was shocked to see how packed that restaurant was. People were dining together indoors in close proximity to each other. 

All kinds of Orthodox Jews from Chasidic to Modern Orthodox. No one was wearing a mask. They were all just enjoying each other’s company without a care in the world. Just like the Satmar Chasdim in Williamsburg it was as if here was no such thing as COVID. It doesn’t exist. Even though not that long ago Florida had the highest rate of infections in the country. Government guidelines there are intentionally not enforced. They are therefore all but ignored. Restaurants can and do stay open with impunity. 

I keep asking myself how can intelligent people act this way? Is the quality of life more important than life itself?! And how much sacrifice should there be anyway? Is there such a thing as too much? ...too little?

The answer to the second question is, it depends. In some cases it involves great sacrifice which makes it difficult to choose what path to take. What path will lead to the most successful overall outcome? And what should be factored in when making those decisions? Should educational needs override the dangers? What about the need to support your family? What about emotional needs that might lead to serious mental issues like depression, drug use, and even suicides? Is losing one’s livelihood permanently a reason to throw caution to the wind? What about spiritual needs?

As is the case with many things in life, compromise seems to be the most prudent course. The $64 question is, what do we sacrifice that will alleviate some of these problems with an acceptable degree of risk. And what is that acceptable degree - exactly?  

As difficult as these question may be to answer. The attitude by much of the civilized world seems to increasingly be to just throw in the towel. This is what scares me. In my view attending a funeral is not a reason to abandon all caution. Even if the deceased is as important and deserving as was that individual in Satmar (based on Rosen’s  description of him). He deserved that kind of tribute. But at what price? 

That said, taking a risks for purposes of eating out unmasked in a packed restaurant does not even come close to taking the same risk in paying final tribute to a deserving individual. While in my view both are wrong, there is not a scintilla of doubt about the altruism motivating Satmar versus the lack of any on the part of people  to eat out at a restaurant.  

So what gives? Why are there so many people that have just said, enough! …despite the fact that people are still getting seriously ill and dying in record numbers? They must know that many of our own people have died a horrible death - all alone in hospitals without any close member of the family present. No wife. No husband No child. No parent. Perhaps there was a caring heath provider all dressed up in their PPE ‘spacesuit’. But that’s it! 

They must know how many prominent people  - both religious and secular - have died from COVID that would otherwise still be alive. How can they not think of these things when deciding they’ve had enough?! 

I have thought about this many times and I still can’t figure out why they don’t have the same fear I do - as unprecedented numbers of hospitalizations keep happening. It sure keeps me on the straight and narrow – as it does many others like me. 

I can only speculate. But I think  what generates the kind of laxity on increasing numbers of people is a combination of the following. 

First there is the fact that the vast majority of people that get the disease survive quite nicely - without any after effects. They do not see what goes ion in hospitals. They look around and life seems normal. Same as it has always been. People are out and about doing their thing as usual. 

No one they know is seriously sick with COVID. They also know the majority of people that get seriously sick and/or die have an underlying health condition. Or are elderly. One statistic I saw is that 40% of COVID deaths in this country were by nursing home residents.  There are also the above-mentioned legitimate quality of life issues that can have serious consequences if ignored. 

When death and illness doesn’t surround and overwhelm you the way it does front line health care workers you begin to feel like the whole thing is overblown if not altogether nonexistent. Especially after nine months of all those restrictions on the quality of life. You are just sick and tired of behaving like it’s the end of the world. And you are just going to stop behaving that way. 

What about the repeated warnings from health experts? I guess they just ignore them too just like they do all the people dying or ion ventilators in ICUs right now.. 

I understand that feeling very well. I am well past being sick and tired of the pandemic and all of its restrictions. But every night when tuning into the evening news, I am reminded of just how serious this pandemic is. And I refuse to submit to my frustrations. 

Even though all the rationalizations against taking precautionary measures have some truth to them, the inescapable truth is that healthy young people get sick too. And in a few cases they will end up in hospital ICUs breathing through ventilators. Some of them will die. And some will recover after lengthy hospital stays with a variety of long term serious side effects.  No one knows if they are going to hit that jackpot. Rare as it may be, It is there and can hit any of us. 

Meanwhile each side looks at the other with increasing enmity. And as I have said in the past, I don’t know if people on opposite sides of the fence will ever be able look at each other the same way we did before COVID. Perhaps a little bit of understanding by each side of the other can help.

Will He Be Believed?

Rav Hershel Shachter (rabbidunner.com)

‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.’ So said 19th century Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott. I note with dismay what fraud of the type committed by Gary Schlesinger, the Chasidic owner of ParCare - has wrought.

That Chilul HaShem (which I discussed yesterday) has a ripple effect with real consequences. A fraud which is only the latest of many types of fraud (usually financial) committed by some of the most religious looking Jews among us. It can lead a lot of decent people to believe the worst about all observant Jews.  The prevalence of so much fraud makes a mockery our claim to be the most ethical version of Judaism by virtue of our observance of the Torah. What kind of religion sees fraud in consonance with our claim of high ethics? 

The fact that it is a type of Chasid  that is so often behind the fraud does not mean that every other observant Jew is given a pass. First because it isn’t always a Chasid or even a Charedi Jew that has been caught doing this kind of thing. There are plenty of other observant Jews that have been caught and served hard prison time after being convicted. But many modern Orhtodox Jews that have been caught are not always identified as Jews. Let alone observant Jews. Although still a Chilul HaShem, when committed by people that are seen as the most religious Jews among us (as Chasidim actually claim to be)  the Chilul Hashem is that much greater.

But even if it is only Chasidim, the public may very well not distinguish between a  modern Orthodox Jew and a Chasidic Jew. Does that now mean that we all be painted with the same broad brush of guilt that casts doubt on our protestations  to the contrary? This question is significant in light of the following JTA story:

Rabbi Hershel Schachter, a leading Modern Orthodox rabbi who received a COVID-19 vaccine Thursday at a clinic now under investigation for improperly administering the vaccine, said he was led to believe that the vaccination was above board.

Schachter and Rabbi Mordechai Willig, both head teachers at Yeshiva University and major authorities on Jewish law, were photographed getting the vaccine through ParCare Community Health Network, a network of clinics serving Orthodox communities in and around New York City. State health officials say ParCare gave the vaccine to members of the public before that was allowed and may have obtained the vaccines “fraudulently.” 

Before an online Torah lesson Sunday night, Schachter said he and Willig had both asked whether the vaccines they had been offered were legal and legitimate and that they hoped to encourage others to be vaccinated by publicizing their own vaccinations.

“We were led to believe that it was,” he said. He added, “If either of us would have been told that this was inappropriate, that it wasn’t legitimate, we would not have done that.” 

Anyone that knows anything about these two Roshei Yeshiva knows the high level of ethics and integrity they have. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that they were telling the truth. I am 100% convinced that - as they said - they would never have taken the vaccine had they known they weren’t authorized to take it yet. That they made it a public event for purposes of advocating COVID vaccines should demonstrate that.

And yet, there are unfortunately a lot of skeptics out there that will believe the worst. I can’t help that. It is nevertheless my duty as a purveyor of truth to inform the public. And put to rest such speculation to the best of my ability. 

(I know that I will be accused by some people of always defending Modern Orthodox rabbis and never defending – always blaming Charedi rabbis. That is of course not true. I defend truth here. That’s all. Besides, Rav Schacter has slowly but surely become more accepted in Charedi circles of late. In fact he and Rav Aharon Lopiansky, a Charedi Rosh Yeshiva hosted  Torah/Hashkafa lecture yesterday on Torahweb.org.  Referring to Rav Shachter as modern Orthodox is something to which he would surely object.) 

But even as I try and correct the public perception, my reach is extremely limited. The media that reports these kinds of stories have a much further reach. By orders of magnitude. It is therefore quite possible that Rav Shachter’s truthful statements may very well be taken with a hefty dose of skepticism by a public used to reading stories about Orthodox Jews trying to get away with fraud. As was the case Gary Schlesinger. And that magnifies the Chilul HaShem immensely!

That said, I have confidence in the American people. They will surely take him at his word. Most Americans are decent people who understand that the Jewish people are not all a bunch of crooks out to cheat the rest of the world. Old conspiracy theories of the type perpetuated by Henry Ford when he published and distributed the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion which claimed that the Jews were conspiring to take over the world - are no longer believed. The vast majority of Americans do not buy into conspiracy theories of any type. (Although there has been an increase of that over the last 4 years it is still a relatively small minority.) 

I will never forget what the late John McCain said when he was asked years ago whether the conviction for fraud of Jack Abramoff, who identified as a modern Orthodox Jew – would increase antiemsism in America. The answer he gave was identical to the one I just gave. 

That doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels. Because if this kind of thing keeps happening, who knows how it will end? 

A False Sense of Entitlement

ParCare CEO, Gary Schlesinger (Jewish Press)

I don’t think there is anyone more excited about getting the COVID vaccine than I am. I literally can’t wait. Like many others, I am sick and tired of all the mitigation requirements.  And just like all Americans, I want to be able to once again live like a human being in a society of human beings. 

I want to be able to go out of my house without worrying about getting sick. I want to be able to go  back to all the Minyanim I have attended without being upset at someone not wearing a mask. I want to be able to attend weddings again; eat out in restaurants again; and travel without worry or quarantines. 

I want to be able invite friends and family over for a Shabbos or Yom Tov meal; have backyard barbeques; and hug my children and grandchildren again. 

I want normal. I crave normal. Before COVID - never would I have thought that craving to be normal would be something to think about.  Like everyone else, I took normal for granted. 

Alas, I have not been scheduled to get vaccinated yet. There are people ahead of me in line. Which I fully support. Medical staff on the front lines, nursing home residents, people with underlying conditions, and essential workers should come first. But I admit being somewhat disappointed that the CDC has recommended the cutoff for the next tier of vaccinations should be 75 years of age and older. Unless Illinois has its own cutoff at a lower age, then at 74 I will have to wait a bit longer. 

I’m sure I am not alone. Aside from the anti-vaxxer crowd, I’m sure that the vast majority of people feel the same way I do. We all want to get vaccinated as soon as possible and get all this over with once and for all as soon as possible. 

And that makes vaccinations subject to possible fraud. Where there is a big demand and short supply there will always be someone wiling to cut corners to fill the demand. It might be for money. Or it might be to get one’s community immunized ahead of everyone else. Which leads me to the following. 

The New York Post and the Jewish Press are both reporting the story. This is from the Post: 

A health-care network with clinics in Boro Park, Bensonhurst and Williamsburg is under a criminal investigation for giving unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines, officials said Saturday. 

ParCare Community Health Network “may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted it to members of the public,” 

The network’s actions appear to violate the state’s plan to administer the limited supply of vaccines first to frontline healthcare workers, along with nursing home residents and staffers…The state controls where, and to whom, the vaccine is distributed — and there isn’t enough for those who are supposed to be at the front of the line. 

If these accusations are found to be true, this is yet another major Chilul HaShem by  - you guessed it, a Chasidic Jew. 

ParCare owner, Gary Schlesinger claims that he has been following state guidelines and vaccinating only those that are supposed to be vaccinated. But one of my sources whose relatives live in one of those neighborhoods told him they have already been vaccinated. They are not in any of the categories that are supposed to be first in line. 

I hope that the investigation clears him. And that his clinics were actually given those vials of vaccine legitimately - and that he is following the guidelines just as he claims. And that my source is wrong. 

But even as I want to give Schlesinger the benefit of the doubt, his claims seem to be a bit fishy in light of the investigations and what one of my sources tells me.  As I said – if true, it is yet another in a long line of activities by people in this community that ends up a Chill HaShem. 

And as I have said many times in the past about similar situations, I wish I could say I’m surprised. But I would be lying if I said that there aren’t Orthodox Jews among us that have a sense of entitlement that motivates them to skirt the law - or outright break it in service to that sense. 

I hear it all the time in cases of getting federal or state financial aid to their people. The typical line goes something like this. ‘Why shouldn’t we get the same benefits that an unwed mother in the ghetto gets? Are we not as deserving as she is? 

What they really mean is, ‘Aren’t we far more deserving than the single mother who got herself pregnant without even knowing which one of her many sex partners is the father?!’ ‘None of whom have stuck around?’ ‘So what if we game the system to our advantage?!’ ‘So what, if we stretch the truth a little so that we can support our families a little easier.’ ‘We are so much more deserving!’ 

The same kind of logic might be behind obtaining these vaccines illegally. ‘Why shouldn’t we save our own lives first?!’  ‘Are we not a holy people?’ ‘Why should a ‘Prosteh Goy’ (a low life non Jew) get the vaccine first?!’ 

Like I said - I don’t know if this guy is innocent or guilty. I hope he is as pure as the driven snow and is completely exonerated. If that happens I will be the first to congratulate him for his dedication. But – as I have said - so many times about situations like this, I am not going to hold my breath.

A World Without Women

FlatbushGirl Adina Miles Sash (Times of Israel)

The Charedi world is obsessed with sex. Yes. I know that it’s a shocking comment. I’m sure it will be seen as yet another attempt at unjustly bashing Charedim. Only this time with an outrageous lie. That’s because they will claim that sex is about the last thing they would ever be obsessed with. In fact they go to great lengths to avoid the subject in any way, avoiding even the slightest thing that may cause inappropriate sexual arousal in men.

That is, however, exactly what I mean by being obsessed with sex. They avoid the subject like the plague. (Actually they avoid it more than the plague in some cases. But that is another subject.)

What about the legitimate concerns about inappropriate sexual arousal? Isn’t avoiding that a worthy goal?  After all, thoughts like that could lead to illicit sexual behavior. That is something everyone should be concerned with. The Gemarah tells men to avoid looking at the little finger of a woman lest such thoughts be generated by it. So why call it an obsession when it seems like it should be part of our daily lives to avoid it? 

The truth is that it should be avoided. The only question is, what exactly is it that requires avoiding. That is where things get complicated. Because it will be different things to different people depending on their social circumstances. What is considered an erotic image to one person may be harmlessly innocent to another. So where do we draw a line to define what is and isn't an acceptable image? Is as little as a woman’s little finger? Or is it something more than that. 

For the answer, let us once again turn to the Gemarah  (Ta’anis 31a-b). The Mishna there tells us of 2 times during the year where young women would go out and dance before young men. This took place one week after Tisha B’av on the 15^th of Av and on the night after Yom Kippur.

Think about that for a moment. If this custom were advocated by someone today, it would be considered a gross violation of our modesty standards. And yet the sages cite this as a twice a year custom without the slightest mention of what thoughts might occur to the young men observing them.  And if it was acceptable then, why isn’t it acceptable today?

The typical answer is that we are a much weaker generation today and are much more easily aroused. Looking at women dance is well within that category. Which is why there is a Mechitza separating the dancing at most Orthodox weddings. 

Is it true that we are a weaker generation and more easily aroused? I Think the opposite is true. A lot of this has to do with what we are used to. If someone never sees woman at all, they might be aroused by the mere sight of a modestly dressed woman even if  she is far away. If on the other hand one interacts with women on a regular basis, there will not be any thoughts like that by the vast majority of normal men.  

As society has evolved, so too have the guidelines for male female interaction.  There is a famous Posek of the past (The Levush) that demonstrates that - as follows.

In the past where most women rarely ventured outside the home, our sages forbade making special references to God’s heavenly abode at a Sheva Brachos if men and women were sitting together. It was considered too immodest since men and women rarely interacted other than within their own immediate families. But by the time of the Levush, societal evolution changed that custom. Women were far more likely to go out in public. Based on this change the Levush said that it was no longer inappropriate to mention God’s heavenly abode when men and women were seated together. Because men and women were used to seeing each other all the time. In other words, it was what they were used to that mattered.

Which brings me to a topic often discussed here. The current trend of erasing women from the public square. Most commonly practiced by Charedi magazines by not publishing pictures of women no matter how modestly they are dressed. Or as in one case - not even mentioning word ‘girl’ in an ad.  That’s right. You read that correctly. 

I can already see eyes rolling. Some Charedim say the whole subject is ridiculous and overblown. Citing many instances where Charedim do publish pictures of women. It’s true. there are. But consider the following words published in the Times of Israel from Rona Miles, the mother of Adina Miles Sash, known online as influencer, FlatbushGirl: 

In the summer of 2017, a local politician presented Adina with an award acknowledging her work as an advocate in the community. He posed for a photo with her together with members of the Shomrim neighborhood watch group, and a few days later she tried to publish the picture in a community newspaper thanking him. They rejected the ad and explained they could not print her face because she was female, nor could they print her name because FlatbushGirl contained the word girl. I remember when she called me about it – horrified and hurt... 

This was Adina’s response: 

I had always thought that the policy was harmless – if you wanted your picture to be included with an ad, then you should just advertise in another magazine. But it really hit home for me then, that there was something about being female that was offensive and needed to be apologized for. 

This is what those who react negatively to this topic fail to understand. The message, whether intended or not is that being female is offensive!  Only I would have said added a word:  Being female is sexually offensive. 

This idea can only be understood in a world where all contact between the sexes is forbidden. But in a world like the one in which we live - as do all those Charedi publications - that is clearly not the case. Yet they act as though we are living in the past and refuse to publish these pictures. It is a policy that continues to hurt women. That some of the more extreme segments of Orthodoxy choose to completely isolate themselves to the extent of creating an artificial world mostly free of seeing women in public - should not be what they base their publishing guidelines on. by accommodating the standards of isolationist extremists among us they are hurting the rest of us that are not.

There are some that might admit that this is an overreaction and argue that it is the times itself that justify it. That promiscuity and immorality is so prevalent that they need to counteract to by going further than they would otherwise need to.

This is where I believe they make a mistake. By analogy, you will  never develop protection from bacteria by completely avoiding it. It is only when you behave normally that your body will develop a natural immunity. 

The same argument can be made here. But the right wing obsession with sex will never allow for such immunity to develop. They seem to feel that going back to a time (before the Levush) when women were rarely ever seen in public is the best way to counteract promiscuity and immorality of our day. In my view that will only make matters worse by making men hypersensitive to the sight of a woman - and in the process hurt women the way it did Adina Miles Sash.

The trend toward the erasure of women is therefore a bad idea that may backfire. They should instead understand what the Levush was talking about and apply it to life in the 21^st century.

The Wrong Stuff

Protesting Charedi students (screenshot)

Once again, we are being subjected to the spectacle of young Charedi students in Israel protesting the arrest of a draft dodger. In what looks like hundreds of Yeshiva students blocking traffic, we see the police responding by - among other things, firing water cannons at them. If this is supposed to make me outraged at police tactics against religious Jews, it isn’t working. In fact it is having the opposite effect on me.

This is yet another in a series of Charedi protests that can only be characterized as a Chilul Hashem. It not only makes young religious Jews look like hoodlums in the eyes of the world, it makes them look that way even to other religious Jews. Especially those whose cars are in traffic being blocked by these young fools.

I realize that my words will never be heard by people that might have some influence on these protesters. But the truth has to be told. The world has to hear that this is not Judaism. And by world I include religious Jews who might think they have a right to express their ideals in protest when they are counteracted by government fiat. 

Sure. They have that right in a free country like Israel. But not at the expense of others. And not when by doing so they perpetuate negative images about the Charedi world. Which this protest clearly does. Especially when some of those protesters are caught smirking at the police. As though this was all one big game or joke. Well, it may seem funny to them. But it is not funny to me. And certainly not to the people stuck in traffic they have blocked.

Just to be clear, these young protesters are very likely from the Jerusalem faction, which was founded by the late rabbinic leader R’ Shmuel Auerbach. It is a faction that chooses to fight the government even when they make reasonable demands. Most young Charedi students and their Roshei Yeshiva do not belong to this faction They are not involved in any way and are nothing like this. I’m pretty sure they are just as appalled as I am. But that doesn’t absolve them of the responsibility of trying to do something about it.

Now I’m sure that some Charedi rabbinic leaders and Roshei Yeshiva have spoken out against such things in the past and have made public condemnations about them. But that clearly has not been enough. And that is where things break down. Because their condemnations not only don’t stop them, in at least one case I recall, they had actually succeeded in accomplishing the protest goal of getting the arrested draft dodger released.

That is what needs to change. They have to stop helping them achieve their goal and do more than make public condemnations. I am not talking about physical confrontation, God forbid. That would be like pouring gasoline onto a fire. Making things infinitely worse, not to mention the very real possibility that people will get hurt. Which is the last thing I want. I am talking about supporting the authorities here. And advocating a solution that in my view will be the only thing that has the slightest chance of success in ending this kind of thing.

I would urge the police to arrest every single protester the next time this happens. And there will be a next time. The maximum sentences allowed by law should be implemented. 

I’m sure leaders of the Jerusalem faction will cry foul and accuse the Israeli authorities of being anti Charedi. They will surely turn to their fellow Roshei Yeshiva that oppose them - to nevertheless help them out. And that is where any attempts to try and prevent them doing it again always fail. The protesting students are instead encouraged to keep doing it since they know help is on the way in getting them get out of jail. Or out of any other sanctions issued against them. Or in trying to get the arrested draft dodger out thereby accomplishing their goal for them.

Instead of Charedi  leaders trying to get the draft dodger released they ought to publicly back  the authorities and support the sentence. 

That they haven’t done that is why there will always be a next time. But there shouldn’t be. Instead they ought to applaud the police for doing their jobs. And make sure that draft dodger stays put until his jail sentence ends. Once the Jerusalem faction realizes that they have no friends under circumstances like these - and will therefore never get their way using these tactics, they might reconsider using them again. 

Until that happens the Chilul HaShem will continue. And in the process even the good guys will be tainted. Because when the public sees black hatted students doing this, they do not necessarily realize it is only a minority faction albeit a sizeable one. Thus painting all black hatted students the same negative way. Wouldn’t it be smarter to put a stop to this by playing hardball for a change? 

I think it would.

As Another Election Looms, Will Netanyahu Do it Again?

Netanyahu and Biden (Times of Israel)

I have said this before. But I think Israel’s parliamentary system of government is one of the most inefficient types of governments in the free world.  Which is why there have been so many elections there in such a short period of time. And Israel is not the only western style Democracy that works that way... all of them just about as inefficient. 

The way it works is that if a political party wins a majority of the seats in the Keneset, the leader of the party becomes prime minister. If not, then the party with the biggest plurality of seats is asked to put together a governing coalition which must at a minimum consist of a majority of Keneset seats (61). If successful the party leader becomes prime minster. Party leaders are chosen by party members long before the election. 

What ends up happening is that voters will often vote for a party because of who they want to see leading their country. That means that the party that most closely reflects their ideology may not get their vote - since it isn’t big enough to win the most seats in the Keneset or put together a governing coalition. In my view the solution to this problem would be to have direct elections for Prime Minister. Then they could vote separately for the party that best represents their political ideology. The direct election of the President is how the American democracy works. In my view, the US is by far the best kind of democracy. It is both efficient and free.  

Israel tried that for one election. It was quickly abandoned after that. I’m not sure exactly why but I think it had to do with party influence being watered down by splitting the up vote too many ways among too many parties. In any case, it is what it is. 

Which brings me to the latest development. Israel is about to have its 4^th election in two years. And it appears that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue in that role. 

Netanyahu may actually the smartest politician of all time. A political genius. Like him or hate him (as does the left) I don’t think too many people would argue with that. He is Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister in their 73 year history and seems to on track for keeping his job. Despite being under indictment for corruption. 

According to the Jewish Press, if the election were held today his political party, Likud, would have 30 seats. The great ‘Blue and White’ hope’, Benny Gantz, will be all but gone in the coming election -  currently projected to have less than 10 seats. Challengers have risen to contest him in every election only to disappear soon after. The center-left parties are as divided as ever. So too are the center-right parties. 

I realize the left (both here and in Israel) hates him almost as much as they hate Trump. But the left is not in charge of who governs. The electorate in Israel is. If past is prologue and Netanyahu manages to win a plurality of those votes he will again be asked to form the next coalition government.   

Will this time be any different? I hope so. But I doubt it. Even though there is no way of knowing until after the election the country is as divided as ever. There is no reason to think things will be any different now that they were the last 3 times. 

It might seem ironic that Netanyahu is so popular considering his corruption charges. But that can be easily explained by what he has been indicted for, which is basically accepting some expensive gifts while in office which is against the law.  

Most Israelis don’t really care about that so much. His supporters see the corruption charges as political. They look at what Netanyahu has done for the country. His opponents on the left might argue that he has done more harm than good.  They have tried to make that case. To cite one example that is a favorite of theirs, it is Netanyahu’s apparent abandonment of seeking bi-partisan support in congress. Instead abandoning Democrats and betting Israel’s future on Republicans. 

I don’t think that’s true – despite the fact that his political views are much more aligned with Republicans than they are with Democrats. Netanyahu has worked with Presidents of both parties. Speaking his mind to power is one of his trademark approaches to governing. The left sees it as Chutzpah. The right sees it as standing up for principle. Either way, bi-partisan support is still there. That’s because Israel is a valuable ally to the US. Which is one reason that - despite his antipathy towards its prime minister, the previous President had closer relations with Israel than any of his predecessors. Even if you include his allowing the UN to sanction her near the end of his term. 

It is true that Netanyahu has some character issues. He has for example said some pretty controversial things during elections that made him appear racist (against Arabs) in order to appeal to extremist right wing voters.  But that is apparently not enough to be rejected by the Israeli electorate. 

There is a reason he keeps getting re-elected. And it isn’t only because of his substantial political acumen. He has done a lot for his country.  Not the least of which are the measures he has taken to protect his people from suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks.  Like building a wall between the West Bank and Israel proper. Even though the wall has been strongly criticized as racist -  it has all but ended suicide bombings from West Bank Palestinians that had easy access. until the wall was built. 

He has also gotten Israeli captives released from Gaza as well as getting the bodies of soldiers felled in battle returned. Under his watch the Israeli army has successfully protected its citizens during several wars in Gaza. He successfully targeted threats from in Syria. His bold and successful infiltration into Iran’s nuclear program has revealed their secret nuclear plans. He has also turned the country away from the socialism its founders had envisioned toward a more capitalistic free market economy. Which was thriving until the pandemic. And finally there is his latest (and ongoing) achievement - making peace with several Arab countries.  

I’m sure I missed a few things. But I think these are enough to explain in part - why he keeps getting re-elected.. 

That said, I know that a lot of Israeli voters can’t stand him. The left hates him for obvious reasons. Some voters hate his arrogant ‘know it all’ personality. They are sick of him and have had enough. They want to see change. That’s true even among some that voted for him in the past. 

And yet Netanyahu has weathered the storm. He is still in control and is poised to maintain control after the next election, despite the best efforts of his political enemies to get rid of him. Of which there are more than a few.  As things stand now with ‘blue and white’ being decimated, I see no other challengers waiting in the wings. But I guess we will have to wait and see what happens. 

If as I suspect Netanyahu retains power, I hope that President-elect Biden will work with him and continue to make peace between Israel and her neighbors. And that he abandons the failed policies of the past. The more he does that, the more Palestinians might just see the wisdom of abandoning their unrealistic demands and opt for the promise of a much better life for their people by making a peace deal with Israel they can both live with.  

President- elect Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have known each other a long time. Despite their differences they have always had friendly relations. If that is still the case, there is a chance that something good could happen. You never know.

The Extreme Left of Orthodoxy

Is this an Orthodox event? (New York Jewish Week) 

I suppose this might be considered old news. And yet it has been repeated by the 2 organizations that represent the bulk of Orthodox Jewry outside of the Chasidic world. Although I have no doubt at all that on this issue Chasidic rabbis would agree even more forcefully than either of them.

What I am referring to are the recent statements by the RCA and the Agudah with respect to what a movement that identifies as Orthodox has done and is still doing. Which – aside from a few other very problematic things is the ordination of women. This is well outside the parameters of traditional Orthodoxy. 

I am in agreement with both statements. But I am much more inclined to the more inclusive tone of the RCA rather than the strident rejectionist tone of the Agudah.  Form the New York Jewish Week: 

(T)he largest group of Orthodox rabbis, (the RCA) reaffirmed its position against the ordination of women in a resolution issued last Friday that reiterated nearly identical statements made in 2010 and 2013…

“New institutions in Israel have been ordaining women, and as part of the larger community we felt the need to speak out,” (said) RCA executive vice president, Mark Dratch…

The RCA statement praised the increase in women’s Torah study in recent years and cited what the group considers “appropriate” professional opportunities for learned women. These include taking on the roles of yoatzot halacha (advisers on Jewish law) and community scholars, and teaching at Yeshiva University’s Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Study and as non-rabbinic school teachers. 

This is why I favor the RCA wording... and what I mean by more inclusive. As long as no rabbinic title or any variation of it is used, there is nothing wrong with women who so choose - to enter these professions. Their contribution to these fields should be valued as much as any man’s contribution. And in some cases a knowledgeable woman’s voice would have distinct advantages over men. Such as Yoatzot Halacha. These are women trained to deal with Halachic issues that specifically apply to women who might otherwise be embarrassed to ask a rabbi who is a man. Although that has never been an issue in the past, we live in different times now. In my view the advantages of Yoatzot Halacha outweigh by far any reservation one might have that would deny their legitimacy. 

Although they do not consider those of us that have this view to be outside the pale of Orthodoxy, I’m pretty sure that the Agudah completely rejects the idea of Yoatzot. They probably believe that the appearance of woman Paskening Shailos (deciding matters of Jewish law in novel situations) would send the wrong message. Or that even worse - it would too easily slide down the slippery slope of actually Paskening. Which they may not do as a condition of their certification. (Why they are not permitted to do this is complicated and beyond the scope of this post.) 

The Agudah statement did not mention Yoatzot Halacha at all. They barely made reference to the ordination of women as one of the primary  reasons for the reiteration of their views. As reported in the article: 

Agudath Israel of America’s high rabbinical court released a kol koreh, or proclamation, Monday pronouncing “Open Orthodoxy” no longer a part of Orthodoxy and dismissing rabbinic ordination within that unofficial branch as meaningless. The rabbinic court specified the leadership and affiliates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah for men, Yeshivat Maharat for women, and the International Rabbinic Fellowship, a fellowship of more than 200 Modern Orthodox clergy that functions as an alternative to the RCA… “They are no different than any other dissident movements throughout our history that have rejected basic tenets.” 

First, even though I agree with them in theory, I don’t like the strident tone. I also hate throwing people out of Orthodoxy. Especially if they mean well and are otherwise observant. But if the shoe fits… And I am afraid it just might. 

I just don’t feel comfortable doing that despite what I consider to be a major error on their part that crosses the line of Orthodoxy despite their good intentions. So Agudah’s point is well taken. Good intentions are not good enough. 

The Conservative Movement had good intentions too. And they too consider themselves to be Halachic. And yet there is not a single Orthodox rabbi no matter how far to the left they might be - including anyone at YCT that would characterize the Conservative Movement as Orthodox. The situation with the far left now is not all that different than the situation with the situation with Conservative movement has been over the last 100 years or so. 

I am afraid that the extreme left is going down the are road the Conservative Movement has gone and will probably end up in the same state of oblivion that is the current trajectory of all heterodox movements. 

Not unexpectedly the flagship Orthodox feminist  organization, JOFA has responded: 

“We Support Women in Orthodox Leadership Roles.” They received more than 1,000 signatures in 24 hours.

JOFA is another organization that ought to drop ‘Orthodox’ from their title. It is insulting that they used the hashtag ‘Humans of JOFA’ in reaching out for support. That implies that those who oppose their views do not consider them human. Which is of course not only insulting but beyond ridiculous. But par for the course for JOFA.  I should add that the word ‘Orthodox’ in their title is not the only word misappropriated. So too is the word ‘Feminist’. No card carrying feminist (as the term is used today) would see JOFA as truly feminist. 

But I digress. The bottom line here is this. The vast majority of Orthodox Jewry all over the world rejects the extreme left of Jewry formerly known as Open Orthodoxy. They will never be accepted as long as they continue down this path. And every indication is that they are just getting started. 

Some people argue that this movement is taking hold in Israel and far more accepted there. And that it will eventually gain acceptance here. Which may be one of the reasons the RCA and Agudah have reiterated their positions. 

I’m not sure I agree with that assessment. That it has gained some traction in certain Orthodox sectors in Israel does not make it mainstream there. If there is any Orthodox group that is gaining significant traction in Israel it is the right wing whose hardline view on this issue is along the lines of Agudah - if not more so. By virtue of their sheer exponential growth - the right wing will surely overwhelm any growth the left might be experiencing now. The idea of gaining traction here to any significant degree is unlikely as well for similar reasons. As long as the 2 major organizations of Orthodoxy continue to reject them. And there is not a doubt in my mind that they will.

What Will Normal Look Like? If It Ever Gets Here!

It seems that the more COVID is spreading, the greater public resistance there is to taking the precautions against it seriously. It is almost as if there are two diametrically opposite forces at work. There are those like me who have become even more vigilant about it and those that are becoming increasingly lax about it. We are a divided people in more than political ways. 

I understand that after 9 months of this, a lot of people are just plain tired of wearing masks. And are finding all kinds of rationalizations not to wear one. I am tired of it too. But being tired of protecting oneself against disease has never been a reason to stop. Until now. I continue to be flabbergasted by – not only the number of people refusing to take these relatively simple precautions seriously enough, but by the caliber of people doing so. 

The same thing applies to the COVID vaccines. I don’t know if it’s the same people. But there are those like me that can’t wait to get vaccinated. And there are others that think I’m crazy for even thinking about it! And they are doing their level best to convince others of that. High caliber  people on both sides. Which both surprises and saddens me.  

I am not going to rehash my views on these issues. Suffice it to say that I am strongly in favor of following all the preventative precautions and strongly in favor of everyone getting vaccinated as soon as possible. (With the exception of people that have vaccine allergies). 

What concerns me here is what it will be like once we have this thing licked. We are all looking forward to that time. And we all hope and pray that it will get here yesterday! This horrible pandemic cannot end soon enough for me. Or anyone else, I imagine. Enough people have died. Enough people have gotten sick, survived but with permanent damage. And enough people have said Kaddish for a parent lost to COVID. I can’t wait to get back to normal. 

But normal may not look they way it did pre-pandemic. A lot of things will change. Sure. Eventually we can all just throw away our masks and re-engage with each other once herd immunity kicks in. Going to Shul, eating out at restaurants, going to school, attending weddings and banquets in all their pre-pandemic glory will someday return. It may not be until the end of next year or even a bit later. But God willing if the civilized world can achieve herd immunity and drive this virus into the ground, this will happen. 

The question is how we will see each other then. My fear is that the divisions that have materialized because of this pandemic may very well never be fully repaired. And that would be tragic. People that were once good friends may never see each other that way again. 

Much as I will try, I don’t know whether I will ever be able to see people I formerly respected and admired the same way I used to if they treated the precautions casually or worse… or are opposed to vaccinations.

These are just some of the thoughts that come to mind as I think about what normal might look like post COVID. I think the most serious challenge will be for all of us to forgive those that have disappointed us on COVID  - and still are. I hope we can all do that. Because if we don’t - once normality returns the casualties of this pandemic will be much greater than we thought. 

The Problematic Georgia Democrat

Democratic candidate for 1 of the 2 Georgia senate seats, Raphael Warnock (Fox) 

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) is an Orthodox Organization whose 1500 members are mostly Orthodox rabbis. To say it is politically conservative would be a gross understatement. 

However, even though I am Orthodox and lean strongly conservative, I have resisted joining the CJV (...if they would even have me. Which is far from certain). I find their seemingly unbridled support for the President troubling.  Even though I mostly agree with them about the actual values of Judaism and about how favorable the Trump Presidency has been for Israel and issues important to Orthodox Jewry, I could not be a part of a group that ignores the President’s flaws. Which are not inconsequential and are substantial. 

That being said, I do pretty much agree with them about the Reverend Raphael Warnock. Warnock is one of the two Democrats running in a runoff election against the two Republican incumbents. Although I favor the Republicans on conservative ideological grounds, that is not my issue with Warnock here. 

It is the troubling views about the state of Israel he has expressed in the past. Which  do not seem that far off from the views of congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. The last thing supporters of Israel need in the senate is someone like those two. Warnock has in the past said some pretty nasty things about Israel which could have easily been said by either of those two congresswomen - and probably have been.

He denies being anti Israel and said he would support Israel in the senate. I have to wonder about that, though. As does Rabbi Ilan Feldman of Atlanta’s Congregation Beth Jacob and Rabbi Avigdor Slatus of Congregation Bnai Brith Jacob in Savannah. Neither of whom are members of the CJV. Here is what they said in a letter they wrote to the Warnock campaign: 

“We are concerned and hurt by the manner in which the Reverend brushed aside his past rhetoric against Israel and the Jewish community, and even blamed his opponents for ‘trying to use Israel as yet another wedge issue,’” 

Warnock also said in a 2018 sermon that the Israeli military shot down “unarmed Palestinian sisters and brothers like birds of prey.”  That doesn’t inspire much confidence in his professed support. Neither does the following: 

Warnock signed (a letter) in 2018 after a trip of international clergy to the Middle East. In the letter, the clergy compared the military presence of the West Bank to “military occupation of Namibia by apartheid South Africa.” 

An objective observer that knows nothing about Israel other than these two statements would understandably be the first in line to support BDS.  Which Tlaib and Omar do. 

For his part, Warnock denies calling Israel an Apartheid state. I don’t think he has denied calling Israeli soldiers guilty of what amounts to being cold blooded murderers, though. 

That a group of liberal rabbis has defended and supports him in their own letter does not give me much comfort. My guess is that the vast majority if not all those rabbis are not Orthodox and therefore mostly do not reflect my values. 

If we are to move forward and add to the progress made recently between Israel and the Arabs, we need people with forward looking ideas. Not people looking backward to the failed polices of the past like Warnock does. If he is elected, that is one more vote in the senate making a return those failed policies a lot more likely. 

Rabbi Feldman did say that he doesn’t know what is in Warnock’s heart. Neither do I. All I have to go by are his past words. Which in my view ought to make anyone that cares about the state of Israel suspect. Georgians that do care should cast their vote for his opponent even if they are not politically conservative. Kelly Loeffler will surely be more supportive the current trajectory in the Middle East that seeks to increase the number of Arab nations making peace with Israel. And a lot less likely to refer to Israeli soldiers as cold blooded murderers.

COVID, the Supreme Court, and Religious Rights

It might seem contradictory. On the one hand I am a strong advocate of adhering to the policies established by health officials which they have determined to be effective in reducing the incidence of COVID infections. Which are basically wearing masks whenever one ventures outside of the home and keeping at least 6 feet away from people that do not live under the same roof as you do. 

It is more than wise to do this for 2 reasons. One is to protect yourself and the other is to protect others. In my view these two mitigation efforts are baseline. Whatever one can do to increase those efforts should be done whenever possible. 

This is how I conduct myself. When I go to Shul for instance I will always sit in the seat furthest away from people I can find. And not ‘settle’ for the 6 feet bare minimum. And if I find (as I recently have) that others are not adhering properly to those guidelines, I stop going altogether. 

For me the calculus is very simple. I do not want to die. I do not want to go to a hospital ICU. I do not want to put on a ventilator. And I don’t even want to get a little bit sick. So far - and with God’s help - my (some would say extreme) caution has paid off. Until I get vaccinated, I plan to continue along these lines. 

I still can’t understand why everybody doesn’t feel this way. But the fact is that a lot of people don’t. Which is why hospitals all over the country are running out of ICU beds; why the numbers of people getting infected every week is exponential; And why COVID  is now the leading cause of death in the country. Ahead of heart disease and cancer! 

To me this is a no brainer. (For those who don’t agree I sometimes feel like they are no brainers. But I digress.) 

That being said, here is the ‘contradiction’ I referred to. I fully agree with Rabbi Avi Shafran’s take on a recent Supreme Court decision. They ruled unconstitutional Governor Cuomo’s ban on having more then 10 people attending a house of worship in certain neighborhoods for reasons of reducing the spread of COVID. 

If I am such a zealot about protective measures, how could I possibly side with a decision that does the opposite of that? That answer to that question is quite simple. In my view all buildings where people might gather for any reason ought to be shut. Unless it is essential to their lives. In those cases they should be treated equally with respect to whatever mitigations efforts health experts require. The question is, what is considered essential? 

That churches, Shuls and mosques are not considered as essential as liqueur stores and bicycle shops makes this an issue of governmental interference on religious rights. The rules ought to be the same for all. That they weren’t is why the Supreme Court ruled the governor’s edict unconstitutional - based on first amendment grounds. So as Rabbi Shafran said, the Supreme Court was only doing its job when it voted in a 5-4 decision in favor of the Catholic Church and Agudah - who were the parties petitioning the court. 

It is notable that the decision was not unanimous. 3 of the dissenters were the liberal Justices on the court. I believe it was because they felt that the government has an overriding duty to protect the public and if an institution is determined to be a hotspot, they have the right to be stricter with them than they are with other institutions that are not.  

It’s true that restrictions based on the public good can sometimes override a religious right. At the same time though, those restrictions have to be fair and based on sound medical science. So that when a Shul that can hold hundreds of people is limited to only ten, that is discriminatory. The mitigation rules can be easily accommodated to the point of doubling or even tripling the distance between fellow worshippers who should all be wearing masks. 

The governor must have finally realized his overreaction and rescinded those requirements even before the Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional. Which is why Chief Justice Roberts dissented. But he actually agreed with the majority in principle. 

This decision by the Supreme Court is a harbinger for future decisions. It clearly shows that religious rights will no longer be a seen as a stepchild to other rights. And why it was important to religious people to have high quality conservative justices on the bench.  Those of us that lean politically conservative as I do ought to be grateful to the outgoing President for putting 3 justices like that on the bench.  Even if you don’t like him.

As Antisemitic as Ever!

The European Union High Court (Hamodia)

I have often stated my utter contempt for Europe. My views haven’t changed. They have actually been enhanced by their embrace of the left wing humanistic ethos. They remain true to form in being as antisemitic as they ever were. Only they are increasingly clever in how they go about it. Which lately was in supporting a Belgian law that effectively outlaws Shechita - the ritual slaughter of animals. It was couched in terms of being humane to animals. VIN reports the following: 

The European Union’s highest court has upheld Belgium’s bans on slaughtering animals without first stunning them, a ruling that confirms the prohibition on the production of kosher and halal meat in parts of Belgium and clears a path for additional bans across Europe. 

Stunning! That is the way this new ruling hits me. (No pun intended.) What they are in essence saying is that God is an unethical Being if he requires animals  to be slaughtered without first being stunned. And since Jews follow the laws of the Torah, they too are unethical. The Godless Europeans apparently believe that animals should have the same rights as human beings. And since stunning is more humane, our religious rights are secondary and can be denied. Then they actually had the gall to claim that they are not being denied. More about that later.

Stunning is more humane? The basis for this ruling is that by stunning the animal first, it does not realize or feel the pain of being slaughtered. I don’t know about anyone else, but if someone was going to slice my throat, I don’t think being hit over the head first with a mallet would make it less painful. What it does however do is make the animal a Treifa - which is unsuitable for the ritual slaughter that would make it Kosher for consumption. 

But Europeans doesn’t care about us. At least not as much as they do about animals. The ridiculous rationalization made by the EU high court in this ruling is that they did not deny our religious rights because the act of ritual slaughter was not by itself denied. They only added the precondition of making the animal Treif first. That is about as twisted an explanation as I can imagine. 

I’m not sure if they even realize their own antisemtism here. But it doesn’t matter. This ruling is no less antisemitic. The claim that we may buy kosher meat slaughtered outside the country does not make it less so. In fact the implication of that is we are being given the right to be as unethical as our religion requires by buying kosher meat which by their definition was slaughtered inhumanely! What a sick mentality.

There are people that have actually done scientific studies about just how humane Shechita is.  If I recall correctly, there is scientist who is an expert on these matters that happens to be an Orthodox rabbi. He fully understands the science and has made it his life’s work to prove how humane Shecita actually is. He has proven that to skeptics in countries that – for reasons of the humane treatment of animals - wanted to implement the stunning requirement. After his presentation, they backed off. 

But I guess Belgium was not one of them. And the European Union’s highest court agreed with them. To the Godless atheists that comprise a large swath of the left  animal rights will trump religious rights every single time. After all to them - just like to PETA  - man is just another animal. 

Contrast that with the US. There is no stunning requirement anywhere in the country. Nor is there any legislation like that pending in any American jurisdiction. Unlike the Godless European left, the US was founded by religious men who were persecuted for their religious beliefs in their home country. Religious freedom therefore became the cornerstone of our democracy. And protects the religious rights of all its inhabitants. 

Jews and Muslims are free to slaughter their animals in any ways their religion requires them to do it. Public servants on both sides of the political aisle realize that. (It’s somewhat ironic that every country in Europe has an official religion while America does not.) Not that PETA and its willing accomplices on the left haven’t tried to ban Shechita here. 

This is one reason (among many) why I could not care less if the entire European continent would sink into the ground. (Obviously saving Jews and righteous gentiles among them first.) That is where the antisemities of the world belong! And have always belonged throughout their long and sordid history of persecuting us. 

May God continue to bless the United States of America! 

Off my soapbox.

Vaccinations, Rabbis, Masks, and Selfishness

R' Gershon Edelstein and Charedi health expert, Avraham Elimelech Firer (JP)

The vaccines are finally here. Pfizer’s safe and highly effective vaccine has already begun being injected into medical personnel on the front lines of the COVID pandemic. Moderna’s vaccine is on the verge of approval and is just as safe and effective as Pfizer’s. Their vaccinations will most likely begin by the beginning of next week. As I have recently said, this is the beginning of the end of a pandemic that has become increasingly deadly. 

There is however a troubling catch. In order for this to actually be the beginning of the end, enough people have to get vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity. Which would eventually drive down the numbers infected to the point where we can get back to normal. The catch is that a lot of people (both here and in Israel) fear getting vaccinated. Not only the antivaxxers. But even people that would normally do so but fear that the vaccine was rushed through and isn’t safe enough. From the Times of Israel:

Polls have shown that 50 to 75 percent of Israelis are leery of getting the coronavirus vaccine shot, apparently out of fears that the rush to produce an inoculation may have compromised its safety.

That fear is unjustified according to all health experts in a position to know. The incredible speed by which these vaccines were produced is a tribute to modern science. Scientists have been able to produce these vaccines in record time without sacrificing safety in the slightest. Every precaution that has ever been observed in the manufacture and testing of vaccines was meticulously followed here. There were no short cuts. There is not a single heath expert that has said otherwise. Every single one that I have heard interviewed about this has said the same thing. They will all be taking the vaccine as soon as they are made available to them. 

What about the rabbis? Is there room for a rabbinic opinion here? Of course there is provided they base it on the advice of experts. Which is what real Poskim do. Not on some sort of ill informed fear that some so-called Poskim might have. Which is why I am happy to report that rabbis from two very different segments of Orthodox Jewry are urging us all to vaccinate. 

I would only caution that if one has allergies or a medical condition where  the vaccine might  cause harm, they ought to consult with their personal physicians to see if they should or shouldn’t vaccinate. But for everyone else, vaccinations should be taken as soon as they are made available. So said the rabbis of the OU and RCA based on the advice of their Poskim. And so too has said two of the most revered Charedi rabbis in Israel, Rav Chaim Kanievesky and Rav Gershon Edelstein. If there was ever a time to listen to their Daas Torah, this is it!

Unfortunately it appears that there are some Chasidic rabbis (or at least one) that have faith only in themselves and are ignoring what health experts say. They are telling their people not to get vaccinated. My advice to their Chasidim is to ignore their rabbis and get vaccinated. (Not that they would listen to me even if they knew what I said.) 

In the meantime - while the appearance of a vaccine is very happy news, more people are dying now from COVID than at any other time. With predictions that it will only get worse. That is a sobering thought. What a sad irony it would be if someone contracted COVID now, getting so sick that they would be placed in an ICU and maybe on a ventilator with serious risk of death.  That is happening. And there is little doubt that it will continue to happen. 

Which is why I cannot emphasize enough the importance of still wearing masks and staying at least six feet away from people you don’t live with. We cannot get complacent about these important preventive measures. Which have been issued by government authorities upon the advice of health experts. Time and again, these experts have expressed their highly informed and reliable view that if everybody did that, we would not be anywhere near the number of COVID infections, hospitalizations, and deaths that we are now.     

And yet, there are so many people who are otherwise intelligent and well informed that still reject that advice –  relying instead on a variety of rationalizations and excuses to not wear masks at all. They do so reluctantly and with a certain degree of resentment if they are forced by the ‘rules of entry’ into Shul, a doctor’s office, or a grocery store. While this is true in about half the population (which can help explain why the COVID numbers are so high) my experience has been that in my neighborhood the worst offenders are Charedim. 

This is not to say that all of them are. On the contrary. Most of them are as meticulous about masking up as I am. But in the vast majority of cases where I detect a laxity and resentment of wearing a mask, it is by a Charedi fellow. I have for this reason stopped going to Shul on weekdays for both Shachris and Maariv. (I still attend a weekday Mincha and Shachris on Shabbos because the people at that Minyan (Brisk) are few and literally far between. And they all wear masks. On the rare occasion where someone strays in without a mask, they are asked to put one on or leave. They have no weekday Shachris mniyan and their weekday Maariv Minyan is too late for me.) 

The last time I Davened in a Shul for Maariv, one fellow came in without a mask and started Davening just a couple of steps away from me. He had to be told to mask up. Several other people there wore their masks below their nose. In all cases they were wearing white shirts, suit jackets, and black hats – the uniform of the Charedi world. 

When I politely asked the one closest to me to pull up his mask he looked at me with a disdainful look. Along the lines of ‘Who do you think you are telling me what to do?!’ He then turned away and continued Davening that way. Eventually he did pull it up. I guess he thought better of it realizing that it was after all the rule.

That is typical of a certain type of  Charedi that looks down at anyone outside of his Charedi orbit that challenges their ‘obviously’ holier ways. It did not occur to him that his right to wear a mask as he pleases denies my right to be protected by his following the rules. No… to this Charedi fellow and many like him, people like me are considered ignorant at best. Or Apikursim (heretics) and outright Reshaim (evil people) at worst! 

The chances of someone like that getting COVID is low enough so that he probably won’t get infected. And I do not wish that on him. He is a fellow Jew. But that will surely reinforce his self-righteous belief about masks. I can’t think of too many things more selfish than someone unwilling to follow a relatively easy measure like masking up for a few minutes during Maariv – just because he doesn’t personally believe in it and doesn’t care that others around him do. Especially when the rules of the Shul require it.

Like I said. A lot of people in this country have this selfish attitude. But I have to wonder why the people in my orbit that do all seem to be Charedi.