An Unprecedented Tragedy in Israel

Rescue forces and police at the scene of the tragedy (Times of Israel)

45 Jewish souls gone. Trampled to death last night in Meron. Among them an American student from New Jersey that was a classmate of my grandson Mordechai. Both of whom – together with many other American students have been learning in Shalavim this year.  

The students and faculty there are beside themselves. As I’m sure the families and friends of all the deceased and injured are. This Lag B’omer is a sad day in Israel rather than the happy one it is supposed to be. Instead of celebrating the end of a plague that killed thousands of Rabi Akiva’s students, we are now mourning the death of 45 devoutly religious Jews. Who simply wanted to see the spectacle of the yearly bonfire in Meron on this day. A custom widely celebrated - most spectacularly in Meron. 

This is an unprecedented peace time tragedy. If I am not mistaken – more people died there last night than did in the worst terrorist attack by a suicide bomber  This was the lead story on CBS this morning. Which can be accessed here. 

I don’t know what it is about bon fires that attracts so many people. You could not pay me enough to attend one of those. The crowds alone scare me because of the fear of exactly what happened. 

I know there is some sort of Kabbalistic reason for setting these fires - having to do with Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai. But I have never been a fan of Kabbalistic activities or events. I stay as far away from Kabala as possible because I do not understand it. Which  if you think about it, makes a lot of sense. Kabala is Nistar-  the unrevealed portion of the Torah. We aren’t supposed to understand it. It is called Nistar for a reason.  I have barely scratched the surface of Nigleh - the revealed portion of the Torah that God does want us to know. But I digress 

Be that as it may, it has not stopped a lot of people from trying to understand it or celebrating events  based on it. There were by some estimates over 90,000 people crowded into a relatively small area in the dark of night near the Kever (gravesite) of Rabi Shimon in what was supposed to be a joyous night of bonfires, praying, singing, and dancing. 

So how did this happen? How could it happen? I’m sure there will be investigations that will better determine the what and the why. As of now it seems like it was a version of the best of intentions gone awry. The police were involved in crowd control and closed off certain exits. But they did not realize that an entrance to that part of the event had people pouring into it. That made it extremely tight. People began pushing the walls to open up some space. Someone slipped and fell, and panic ensued. People were trampled to death. Or seriously injured. 

When crowds grow to this level, it is an invitation to tragedy. It has happened before although not to this extent. When Rav Shmuel HaLevi Wosner died, the funeral attracted huge crowds. The streets were overflowing. People were crowded together as tightly as possible. When the funeral procession passed by, people tried to move aside. Things got out of control quickly and two people were trampled to death.  Charedi organizers learned from that experience and the next time a Gadol died, they managed to prevent an incident like that from happening. 

The obvious point to be made here is that crowds like this are a dangerous place to be. A Makom Sakana. It is forbidden by Halacha to place oneself in a Makom Sakana. 

And yet as true as that is… and as much as I am not a fan of this kind of affair, I understand the need for them. They are one of the few outlets for Charedi Jews in Israel to have some ‘Kosher’ fun. They do not go to theater. They do not go to movies.  They do not have TVs. They do not go to sporting events - and aren’t even allowed to participate in them in their leisure time. Even Jewish concerts featuring religious entertainers are barely tolerated. So when something like this comes along once a year, they jump at the chance to be there. Especially now just coming out of the restrictions of COVID.  (Israel has done a magnificent job vaccinating enough people to once again allow crowds like this.) This is their fun. It is ‘Kosher’ fun. 

So I am not against having this event every Lag B’Omer. I am only against having crowds of this magnitude there. The chances of a tragedy like this happening again can be avoided or at least minimized. 

There are things that can be done along these lines. Organizers have to limit attendance to a much smaller number of people. They should collaborate with the police and have security guards at the gates to enforce it. Every attendee should at least have elbow room and not be glomming on to everyone else. 

One idea would be to require tickets - which could be obtained by mail, in person, or by email (if they allow it).  A limited number of tickets would be issued on a first come first serve basis. They could do it for free or charge a nominal fee. Whatever works best. Once they reach their limit no more tickets would be issued. People without a ticket would not be allowed in. 

That might disappoint a lot of people. But it’s better than being hurt or dying because of overcrowding. There is an old saying that goes like this: ‘He who hesitates is lost.’ That should apply here. They can try again next year. 

In the meantime my heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones at this event. My hope and prayer is that those that were injured be healed quickly and fully. And that we never see suffering like this again.

About Last Night

In God we trust. Those are the words that have guided this country’s morals, ethics, and values ever since its founding. Although we are a secular country that does not have an official religion, those words acknowledge a belief in God whom we trust to guide us. It is printed on our money to remind us that it is not in money that we place our faith. It is in God. 

As I tuned in to watch the President’s address to the nation last night, I saw those words engraved on the wall behind him in the House chamber in which he spoke. I assume they are there to remind legislators of this basic tenet when considering legislation.  Legislation should reflect Godly values. 

I could not help but think about how much those words and their message are ignored these days. Although many of our laws do reflect Godly values, some laws completely ignore them. The latter of which are championed by a President whose views are shared by his Democratic party. Values shared by the media. Which could not praise last night’s speech enough. Mankind’s values over Godly values is how they view things today. 

That was my initial reaction to Biden’s speech last night. Biden’s only mention of God was in the traditional way such speeches end by saying ‘God bless the United States of America’. (Or something close to that). That was not the case with Tim Scott, the Republican who responded to Biden’s address. He talked about how his Christian faith informed his views. The words ‘In God we trust’ mean something to him. Words the President seems to have forgotten. Biden is a religious Catholic whose values should inform him enough to not embrace values that contradict his church’s tenets.

Last night’s address basically reflected Biden’s desire to redistribute the wealth of this country through taxes in order to pay for all the free stuff he wants to give away.  The programs he wants to implement are supported by the vast majority of the country. Who - after all - could be against getting free stuff ? ‘Whose gonna pay for it?’ ‘Who cares?! ...as long as it isn’t me’. 

That was kind of Biden’s sales pitch. Claiming that only the wealthiest 1% of American taxpayers will have their taxes raised - makes it a no brainer to the other 99%. That is why there is so much public much support for his programs. But let us examine for moment who those wealthy taxpayers are.  Who exactly will be paying for all this ‘free’ stuff. If you are earning over $400,000 per year pretax, it is you that will be paying for it. 

$400,000 might sound like a lot of money. But if you are a family with 4 or 5 school age children (a typical family size among Orthodox Jews) and you send your children to religious schools - by the time you are done with taxes, paying full school tuition, the higher cost of kosher food, religious holiday expenses (e.g. Pesach food) and other living expenses (like medical and dental expenses,  prescription medication costs, a variety of expensive insurance premiums, mortgage, utilities, car payments and maintenance costs, family vacations, and putting away money for retirement...)  and you don’t have that much left over. 

And if you have your life savings invested in the stock market, capital gains (selling them at a profit) will cost you more in taxes, too. Is it only the wealthy that have such investments? No. Over half the country does. including people like me that make a lot less than $400,000 per year. So much for that 1% figure. 

I’m not saying that the programs he wants implement for free don’t have any value. They do. But just because something has value doesn’t mean we can afford them. Nor should taxes be raised to pay for them. Free college, child care, paid family leave all sound great. But not great enough to bankrupt the country.  

What makes this particularly upsetting to me is that Biden is including all of those things as part of his 3 trillion dollar infrastructure plan. 3 trillion dollars ain’t chicken feed. And I’m not that sure that his tax plan to pay for it will succeed in any case. Raising corporate taxes will disincentivize large corporations from investment and production in goods and services; thereby increasing unemployment and reducing tax revenue while increasing government financial aid. 

The idea that government jobs will be created by his plan sounds good until you realize that it is the government that will be paying their wages with non existent funds. These wages will be far greater than than tax revenue they produce. That is just basic common sense. Thus exploding both the deficit and the national debt. Much of which is held by China. 

That is not to say I am opposed to repairing our infrastructure. I am 100% in favor of that. But that would not require a $3 trillion dollar investment that includes items that have zero to do with infrastructure. It would instead be about a $500 billion dollar investment. Which is what Republicans have proposed.

There is just so much of deficit the government can carry before the world starts losing confidence in the dollar. That can precipitate inflation. Which can easily spiral. In fact prices have already started going up. Has anyone noticed the price of gas lately?

Biden’s discussion of racism was well intended but short on details. And he said nothing about the rise in antisemitism. 

Biden then spent about a minute discussing foreign policy. Which basically amounted to pulling our troops out of Afghanistan; ‘repairing’ our relationship with our European allies; dealing with our adversaries Russia and China; and dealing with threats from Iran and North Korea.  Not that I am opposed to everything he said about them. But I am opposed to his approach to Iran. I was also disappointed that he did not mention a single word about our closest ally in the Middle East, Israel.  

Another thing that bothered me was taking full credit for any progress we’ve made in fighting COVID. I will grant that he picked up the ball and ran with it. But in no way should he get full credit. When he came into office last January we had already produced the vaccine that will get us out of this mess. That was under Trump’s watch in a program called Operation Warp Speed. The Trump administration cut red tape that accelerated the development of a safe and effective vaccine in record time! Biden had nothing to do with that. 

2 vaccines were already being distributed when Biden took office. That there were initial hitches in its distribution is a fact of life when trying to implement something as massive as vaccinating all Americans. That would have eventually gotten ironed out. That Trump had the wrong attitude about COVID protection was indeed a serious flaw that may have hurt us. But that does not detract one iota from the speed in which these safe and effective vaccines were developed. Biden just picked it up form there. I know the left loves to heap blame on everything the last President did nor give him credit for anything. But to ignore the good as though it doesn’t exist is to not  give credit when it is well deserved and due. 

Biden was once a centrist Democrat whose views were not that far apart from centrist Republicans. But he now seems to have embraced a socialist agenda. 

Tim Scott is the quintessential American success story. He was raised in poverty by his grandparents after his parents divorced. He worked hard and rose above his humble beginnings to achieve great financial success - later to become a US senator. He spoke common sense to the American people last night. Not the socialist gobbledygook part of the speech Biden tried to sell as American values. 

Now Scott is a man I could easily support for President, if he ever chose to run. I hope he does.

A Woman of Valor

Anne with my grandson Mordechai a few months ago

Last February, my sister-in-law, Anne Maryles was the picture of health. Even at age 88. She looked at least 20 years younger. A lot younger than I look at age 74.  Her energy matched her youthful appearance. Her age did not slow her down at all. Although she had begun to have some minor medical issues, no one expected her sudden demise. 

Most people that knew our family thought my brother who at age 92 had far more serious medical issues was the one to be most concerned about.  It was in fact during an outpatient medical procedure he had undergone that she was felled. Just as he was being taken out of the operating room she suffered a massive brain hemorrhage in the waiting room and fell into a deep coma from which she never recovered. 

One moment, the picture of health. The next moment she would lay motionless but alive until last Monday. 

Anne was a remarkable woman who was of a survivor. She was born in pre-war Mainz, Germany where her parents had lived at the time. After Kristalnacht where Jewish businesses were ransacked, it became clear that Jews were not wanted in Germany. Hitler desired to make Germany a Jew free country. Jews were told to leave or suffer the consequences. But the borders of other countries were closed. 

Anne’s parents saw the handwriting on the wall and made the gut wrenching decision to place all of their 6  children on the Kindertransport. This was a train  filled with Jewish children under the age of 18. In Anne’s case, it was Holland. They had made an exception to their immigration policies allowing children 18 and under to enter. Anne and her 5 siblings were placed on that train by their parents. That was the last time she saw them. She was 6 years old. 

After arriving in Holland which had not yet been invaded by Germany, she was eventually placed with a Jewish family. Not long after that, Holland was invaded and Jews were rounded up. Long story short two non Jewish women - one of whom was Anne’s teacher - showed major compassion and secretly found a hiding place for her. Anne eventually ended up being placed with a Catholic farm family. She was told to hide her Jewish identity by changing her name; learning to recite all of their Catholic prayers in Latin; and taken to church every Sunday. In order to save her life and the lives of her adoptive family, she had to pretend to be their daughter - making a ‘nice Catholic girl’ out of her. After a while she got used to thinking of herself that way.

After Anne was liberated, she reconnected with her older sister. She convinced Anne to leave her ‘family’ whom she had by then become comfortable living with. The two Catholic women that saved her returned, took her back, and  placed her with a Jewish family. Anne then returned to her Jewish roots. Anne was forever grateful to those two women for saving her life. She called them the 'Tahntes' - Yiddish for aunts. She remained in contact with them until their death. I remember meeting them when they visited Anne many years ago. They were truly righteous gentiles!

A bit later Anne immigrated to the US and found employment in Chicago where she met my brother. They were set up by a mutual friend. And got married in 1957. A marriage that lasted 64 years! 

Anne not only returned to her Jewish roots, she became an exemplary and devout Jewish woman who cherished Jewish tradition. Caring for her husband and raising her family with a love of Judaism and the land of Israel.  Eventually her three oldest children made Aliyah - one of whom ended up on Malle Gilboa – a Religious Zionist Kibbutz. Anne’s Israeli grandchildren are all devoutly religious and her grandsons there served in the IDF  - as did one of her granddaughters. 

Her youngest son, Ari, lives in Chicago; is a very successful businessman; and is active in Agudah. Ari’s oldest son, Chaim, now learns in Yeshivas Brisk in Israel under the leadership of the Griz’s grandson, R’ Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveitchik. 

Anne was so proud of her family despite their widely differing Hashkafos. She was a beloved figure in Chicago. She arose from the ashes to become a true Eishes Chayil. A role model that understood what it means to be a Jewish woman. She was devoted to her children and treated her grandchildren like her own. But most of all she was devoted to her husband, my brother Jack. Never thinking of herself. Always thinking of him first and assuring that all his needs were met. 

And yet did not shy away from participating in the modern world. Even though she was a full time wife, mother, and grandmother, she took a position as an office manager for a prominent medical practice.  There too she was a beloved figure to all who worked under her... as well as her employers. As well as all the patients she greeted.

She retired from that position about the time she turned 80. She had many friends and admirers wherever she lived, making new friends all the time. She was beloved by all. I used to love being invited to a Shabbos meal. She was a great cook! 

I am only scratching the surface of who Anne Maryles was. There is so much more to tell. All who knew her can attest to that. She will be missed. 

Over the last few years she began to tell her story in public. And was invited to do so more than once. The last time at a project my grandson was involved with called ‘Names, Not Numbers’ - a national high school documentary project whose intent was to record the experiences of survivors. It premiered last July in the midst of the pandemic, broadcast on a big screen in the parking lot of a shopping center where we could all watch in our cars.  

During one of the segments Anne she was asked what she would say if she could talk to her parents. She thought a moment and said she would just hug and kiss them.  And now just a few months later she has finally joined them in eternity. May her memory be a blessing.

Death in the Family

With sadness in my heart, I am sorry to report that my beloved sister-in-law, Anne Maryles passed away yesterday at 3 PM CDT. More about this exceptional woman tomorrow. 

There will be no new post today.

The funeral will take place 9:45 AM CDT at Congregation KINS located in the West Rogers Park neighborhood here in Chicago. Masks and social distancing required.

Here and There - The Loss of Common Sense

Torah Journal discussing stealing (Rationilst Judaism)

There are two issues that have arisen in the Charedi world that seems to underscore the deficit of common sense among some of its leaders.  One in Israel and one here. (This may sound a bit strange considering yesterday’s post. But it does not contradict it at all.) 

Avira D’Ara Machkim. The Gemarah advises that the mere air of the land of Israel makes one wise. I am finding that increasingly difficult to understand for a variety of reasons. Many of which I have discussed in the past. But the latest one baffles me.  It has been dealt with by Rabbi Natan Slifkin and I fully agree with his take on the situation. Which he describes as follows:

...an article in a mainstream Torah journal put out by Machon Aliya, a prominent charedi organization for training people to work in various careers involving practical halacha - an organization with several branches and thousands of graduates...

It asks "Is It Permissible To Steal From The State?"   

The answer to which is eventually a tentative ‘no’. But the answer is hardly as important as the question.

There is little more important in Judaism than making a Kiddush Hashem. And to the contrary, there is little more damaging than a Chilul HaShem. Which in my humble opinion is exactly what this article does. In reaching their final conclusion it isn’t about the ethics of stealing. (Or better- lack of them). It is about the pros and cons of it and then weighing in - in favor of the cons. In the course of its discussion this article cites halachic opinions that actually justify stealing! Especially in Israel which they see as more deserving of it because it is ‘anti Torah’. 

That kind of rationalization is mind blowing. Publishing it makes it 10 times worse. There is not a doubt in my mind that this article is a major Chilul HaShem.

Making matters worse - it probably has the opposite effect on some readers than its intent – which I assume was to stop people from stealing. It will give some people license to do it by saying ‘Well... there are opinions that permit it - and I really need the money. So…’ adding to this Chilul HaShem is the fact that a prominent Posek seem to indicate that it may even be permissible to steal back the taxes you paid if it in excess to government stipends you received!

What does this say about a Rabbinic leadership - seen by so many people as the most devout among us?! 

I find it difficult to believe that intelligent people who I am sure understand the importance of not making a Chilul Hashem can do something like like this. What they are telling the world is that if one is a religious Jew, then stealing from the government is permitted in some circumstances according to some reliable Poskim. This is the epitome of being a Naval B’Reshus  HaTorah, which is how the Ramban interprets the Torah’s admonition to the Jewish people to be  holy.

Not to be outdone - rabbinic leaders across the ocean here in America seem to have shown a similar lack of common sense. the issue here is once again - the internet. As noted by Rabbi  Yoel Schoenfeld in a Queens Jewish Link article.

The Yated features a weekly forum where prominent Mechanchim (religious educators) discuss educational issues submitted by readers. Last week the following question was asked: 

 “How do we explain to our children why there are so many yeshivos encouraging people to join them online [for virtual events] if we have been forever teaching and showing our children that it’s best to stay away from the Internet?” 

Those of us that use the internet quite freely might wonder what all the fuss is about. But only if they have a short memory. As Rabbi Schoenfeld also notes, 10 years ago the rabbinic leadership in this country believed that the internet was an evil monster of epic proportion that would destroy the Jewish people if not abandoned. While there was little doubt about the ills of this new medium, their way of dealing with it was in my view one of the biggest mistakes ever made by them in recent history. 

They actually attempted to ban it entirely under pain of their children being barred from getting a Jewish education (I realize the intent was to get people to stop using it, But if that isn’t pouring gasoline onto the fire  I don’t know what is. How do you justify not educating a Jewish child as a punishment for a parent’s ‘indiscretion’ with respect to a medium whose importance to living life in the 21^st century was constantly increasing? But I digress.)

I will never forget the great Asifa held back then. There was a gathering of tens of thousands of Charedim in two stadiums. Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman spoke and warned the attendees about the importance of listening to a Gadol when he addresses the gathered nation of the Jewish people. He said that according to Rabbenu Yona, the great early mediaeval rabbinic ethicist - those who do not follow his words of a Gadol under such circumstances will lose their Olam Habah!

That was immediately followed by R’ Shmuel HaLevi Wosner who forbade using the internet under any circumstances. That was quickly amended to exclude business use outside the home - and only if filtered. Home use was still forbidden. 

That was honored mostly in the breach huge number of Charedim. But the evil nature of the internet was still a widely accepted belief that should ideally be avoided.  

Along came COVID.  That changed everything. Making it practically impossible to be without it. Most Charedi families that had resisted it had to scramble to somehow get connected so that their children could study remotely.

That is what generated the above question. How can all these Charedi Yeshivas that are supposed to exemplify the ideal of no internet - now be using it so freely?  How do parents who suddenly have the internet justify it to their children after treating it like the worst trash anyone can have in the home. How can something so evil now be used as a tool; for education? The answers these Mechanchim gave were telling. Which was a a big fat question mark. They apparently had no real answer to that question.

Which is why those of us who saw the attitude of severe restrictions as a huge mistake. Instead of seeing as a valuable tool, they kept saying that the bad outweighs the good. It is true that there are serious problems with this technology. Especially now in all of its various forms. That awareness is not limited to the Charedi world. We all know the tremendous damage internet use has had on society at large. Which is even worse than what was they had originally imagined. But by the same token it has also benefitted society greatly in a variety of ways - too numerous to list 

The internet should have never treated as inherently evil. It can and does provide great benefit to mankind. Especially now when our children’s education depends on it. Not to mention being one of the only ways we could connect visually with loved ones that are hospitalized and quarantined.  Or the ability to capture wrongdoing while it is happening - unlike any other time in history. 

That was obviously missed by those early anti internet rabbis. They refused to recognize the value of this technology - seeing it almost all as pure evil. Issuing edicts or at least eliciting attitudes that have now come back to haunt them. Educators are now scrambling to somehow explain why the internet can be a blessing rather than the curse it was touted as. I think a good first step would be to admit they made a mistake. But I doubt that will happen.

Prejudice: What Goes Up - Must Come Down

Part of the title of this post is actually the opening words of a song called Spinning Wheel. it was performed by a sixties rock band called Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Which happens to be the title of one of the 2 articles in Mishpacha Magazine I am going to discuss.

It doesn’t seem to matter.  No matter how many times I try to tout the virtues  of Charedi world, the pushback comes back with a vengeance. There are just too many people that see only the negatives. When I try to point out their mostly positive attributes the retort is always that they are exceptions. And that their very Hashkafa lends itself to all manner of terrible behavior that is anathema to the Torah. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Charedi world I know is idealistic, dedicated, caring, and unselfish. Its idealism informed by a strong attachment to God and His Torah. 

What I just said might seem odd to the occasional reader who has read many of my critical posts on the Charedi world. Which for the most part are still true. But those criticisms pale in comparison to their virtues. (That I tolerate all manner of comments some of which are venomous against the Charedi world is true but beyond the scope of this post). 

First it must be emphasized that the Charedi world is not monolithic. Segments of the Charedi world vary widely and can be as different from each other as Neturei Karta is from Open Orthodoxy..

I am not going to list all of their many virtues here. Something I have done in the past. My purpose here is to describe the mainstream, moderate Charedi segment. Which is perhaps its largest segment. It has many of the features of the Centrist modern orthodox world  (without its accompanying Hashkafa) as follows. 

Most moderate Charedim have had the requisite education enabling them to seek higher education and professional careers. These are not exceptions. Although obviously not every one in Charedi world seeks a higher education or becomes a successful professional. But even those that don’t – still usually do relatively well financially whether in business or in jobs that often pay more than a living wage. 

While it’s true that many of them still struggle to pay bills like Yeshiva tuition - that is true about every segment of Orthodoxy. Point is that their lifestyles are as much middle class as the Centrist modern Orthodox world is. They are not isolationist and they function quite well in general society.  

Some have challenged this notion. Calling these descriptions the exception rather than the rule.  And that they are isolationist which prevents the kind of mainstream world I know to be the reality. 

This brings me to a couple of articles in last week’s Mishpacha Magazine. 

One article is by Jonathan Rosenblum and should by itself change some hearts and minds. First - Jonathan is himself Charedi and has been educated in 2 of the finest schools in America: the University of Chicago and Yale Law School. Jonathan told me personally that being Charedi has not diminished his appreciation of the education he received in those two schools.

Jonathan’s article gives testimony to the character of the Charedi world by way of a project called the MITZVA Cohort -  a blood bank where the vast majority of donors are Charedi. And which has become a major Kiddush Hashem greatly benefitting medical researchers attempting to defeat COVID. 

I want to focus on the 4 Orthodox doctors that have created and forwarded this project. I believe that at least 3 of them are Charedi. All of whom have a profound understanding and appreciation of - and respect for science.  They are not just doctors. Some are respected leaders in the field of medicine they are in: 

Dr. Israel (Sruli) Zyskind is a Brooklyn pediatrician who studied in the Philadelphia Yeshiva which is Charedi. 

Dr. Avi Rosenberg, a professor and researcher at Johns Hopkins Medical Center who attended the  pre-med program together with Dr. Zyskind at Brooklyn College.

Dr. Jonathan (Nechemia) Silverberg of Baltimore, director of Clinical Research at George Washington University, who also holds a master’s degree in public health and biostatistics, in addition to his MD and PhD.  

Dr. Aaron Glatt — a professor at Mount Sinai’s medical school and medical director at South Nassau Medical Center. 

Not every Charedi professional is a top exert in their field. But there are more than a few that are.  Just like anyone else in the world, any Charedi with the intelligence, education and drive to succeed – can and often will. 

It should also not be lost on anyone the respect these Charedi professionals have for science. The accusation often hurled against them that their Hashkafa forces them to ignore or completely dismiss science is false. Unfortunately there are some Charedim that do think that way. (In some segments more than in others.) But the mainstream believes in science no less than the rest of the civilized world. 

There is another myth about the Charedi world  which I wish to explode.  Which is that they only care about themselves. That is the furthest thing from the truth as this project clearly demonstrates. 

At this point I want to focus on another article in the same issue of Mishpacha. Which features the Charedi world in Chicago that I believe demonstrates this best. Rabbi Shlomo Soroka is the director of government affairs for Agudah of Illinois. He describes a Charedi initiative called Community Vaccine Alliance - a COVID vaccination clinic. It is housed in the gym of one of Chicago’s Yeshivas that had recently applied and received accreditation as a medical clinic . The Community Vaccine Alliance has become a model for other such clinics. Anyone that thinks this clinic was limited to Orthodox Jews has another ‘think’ coming. (...excerpting liberally from Mishpacha): 

“It’s the only one of its kind in the country, to my knowledge, a community organization that became more than just a one-day clinic,” Rabbi Soroka said... 

When the White House reached out to Agudah’s DC director, Rabbi Abba Cohen, about vaccination efforts in the Orthodox community, he pointed to Chicago as the gold standard.

“How can we tap into this so replicate your model?” an administration official asked Rabbi Soroka. “We don’t have the capacity to do this, to mobilize so many people, galvanize so many volunteers.”

The Community Vaccine Alliance received a big boost two weeks ago when Mayor Lori Lightfoot paid a visit, during which she turned to her vaccination czar, Tamara Mahal, and asked her to ensure the group gets sufficient doses and resources. That visit put the alliance on the proverbial map, Rabbi Soroka said, and quieted growing hesitance from city officials over their medicinal experiment... 

The next complexities with getting the project off the ground were how to assemble the hundreds of volunteers necessary to run it, and, more importantly, where to find arms to inject. The search for volunteers didn’t take long — word of mouth spread rapidly, and within days the Agudah office was flooded with hundreds of offers. And the arms were procured by partnering with the Catholic and Lutheran school systems, as well as with groups in the Indian and Korean communities. 

The volunteers, none of whom get paid, including the organizers and medical staff, speak the same symphony of languages that make up the clientele. At any moment, the Joan Dachs gym can be filled with people jabbering in Hindi, Korean, Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew, or Spanish. One city official whose wife was vaccinated at the yeshivah gym reported that she felt like she was “in the United Nations.” 

The clinic is open once a week, on Sunday. Setting up takes hours of preparation, so the volunteers arrive on Motzaei Shabbos to build the cubicles and install the medical equipment. A roster of about 600 volunteers staff two shifts, spread across a few weeks, with some 60 to 80 people weaving in and out throughout the day. 

Close to 6,000 people have been vaccinated so far, some already on their second dose. The large pool of volunteers and quick turnover meant they were able to vaccinate the majority of elderly and teachers in the yeshivah, and in the Catholic and Lutheran schools. 

I should add that the volunteers come from all segments of Orthodoxy here. Which is a unique feature here in comparison to other cities with a large population of Orthodox Jews.

If after reading these two articles anyone still believes that the Charedi world is filled with self-centered individuals that mock science… and  would just as easily defraud the government as eat a chocolate bar, then their prejudice has seriously clouded their judgement overwhelming their ability to see the reality of this world.  

The Decline of Common Sense

Protest against the shooting of Adam Toledo (Chicago Sun-Times)

Justice was served in the Derek Chuavin trial. He was convicted on all three counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. There can be no second guessing the verdict by any ‘armchair’ analyst. The only people in a position to judge Chauvin were the 12 jurors that actually did. 

What troubles me however is the political fallout. Let me first say that I agree that there is still work to be done to eliminate even the hint of racism among some in law enforcement. So that the ‘playing field’ of confrontation will be leveled and skin color never considered. At the same time I do not believe that systemic racism is the issue. Crime is the issue. Their job is to protect and serve. And thereby fight crime.

But the climate generated by the murder of George Floyd has gone a bridge too far. As things stand now, even the most ethical cop in the world will hesitate to act in the face of danger fearing the repercussions of a mistake. Or worse the misinterpretation of an incident where someone is killed. I cannot help but believe that a lot more innocent people will get hurt or possibly even die because of such reticence.   

Nowhere is this climate more evident than in the reaction to 3 separate incidents where a person of color was shot and killed by white police. 

The first incident happened in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis where Kim Potter, a 26 year veteran of the police department accidently shot Duante Wright, a 20 year old suspect resisting arrest on an outstanding warrant. 

It is obvious from the video that she intended to Taser him, but mistakenly pulled out her gun instead and shot him. It is true that there is no excuse for a mistake like that. Especially for a 26 year veteran of the police department. Someone died because Potter’s grievous error and she will pay a price. Potter was indicted for 2^nd degree manslaughter and will face justice. 

I think that’s fair. But a lot of activists on the left think it’s not enough. They see it as yet another black man being stopped by a white cop for a minor traffic offense. An offense that a white person would never have been stopped for… and then being killed for it. 

That is NOT what happened. I am here to tell you that the idea that only black people get stopped for minor traffic offenses is false. Just a few weeks ago I was stopped by 2 Chicago police officers for having a non functioning tail light. They asked me for my driver’s license so they could check to see if there were any outstanding warrants. 

When they saw there were none, they told me to get that light fixed and be on my way. (I had it fixed moments later by a local mechanic who simply replaced a burned out bulb.) 

The police officers that stopped me were as polite as could be. They were just doing their jobs. I understood that and before parting with them, I told them how much I appreciated their service. 

The difference between what happened to me and what happened to Wright is that the police attempted to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. That it was a for misdemeanor is irrelevant. They were just doing their jobs. Which Wright apparently did not appreciate and attempted to escape. That does not excuse Potter. But it does argue against the notion that this was yet another racist murder by cop. It was not. And yet the vast majority of black activists, leftists, and the media are painting it as such. 

The second incident happened in Little Village, a Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago. 13 year old Adam Toledo was fatally shot by Eric Stillman, the cop who was chasing him down after being called about shots being fired there. 

That has generated a storm of protest and anger at the police. A still shot taken from the video of Toledo being shot shows him with his hand up ready to surrender moments before he was killed. But upon further examination it was clear that he had a gun when he ducked behind a fence during the chase. When he reappeared moments later he had just thrown the gun down while simultaneously turning around and raising his hands. This happened in mere seconds. That is when he was shot.

Stillman had no way of knowing that Toeldo dropped his gun when he reappeared. His assumption was that he was turning around to fire at him. At that point Stillman had every right to defend himself. It makes no difference that Toledo was only 13. He had a gun when he was being chased down and could have easily used it at any moment. 

That he decided not to at he last moment was not apparent to Stillman who justifiably believed he was acting in self defense. But the media focus is on the outrage of activists that are charactering this as yet another racist police shooting. 

This incident is currently being investigated and Stillman has not been charged. I hope he will not be. He did nothing wrong. The only reason he was there was because shots were fired by the fellow Toledo was with. Stillman apprehended him knowing him to be armed. (The other fellow had left by then.) 

The third event happened when a 16 year old black girl was fatally shot by a white cop when after being called to the scene, he saw her trying to stab someone. That too is apparent from the video. If you see someone trying to kill someone else, you kill them first. It doesn’t matter that she was only 16 years old. She was trying to kill someone. A life was at at stake. And yet activists on the left are characterizing this too as yet another racist murder. And crying for blood! 

In all 3 cases, the cops in question felt remorse and suffered trauma. Especially the latter 2. They all regretted the life they took – wishing they hadn’t. In all 3 cases - resuscitation was attempted to no avail.  

That they had no intention of killing anyone didn’t matter to the media. What mattered was that in each case the victim was a person of color - shot and killed by a white cop. The outrage that followed was embellished by the relative youth of the victims. That and the race of the victims is what made these stories newsworthy. This kind of activism if carried to its inevitable conclusion can do irreparable harm to the public welfare. 

I have to wonder, though, how many people see it the way I do. The left clearly does not. But the right has gone a bridge too far in the other direction – at least in the Derek Chauvin case by calling the jury’s verdict unjust – influenced by fear of the repercussion of a not guilty verdict. 

It’s true that violent protests would have surely happened. Personal property would have been damaged or destroyed. People would have been hurt and possibly even killed. But I don’t believe that this was the jury’s motive. I believe they wanted to see justice done. They were instructed by the judge that justice would only be served if they reached a verdict ignoring any outside factors or repercussions.  Basing it solely on the evidence presented at trial. I believe that is what happened. 

For me common sense mitigates against the views of both the left and the right. But it seems like common sense is becoming increasingly rare these days. Overwhelmed by the rhetoric of extremists on both sides of the political aisle.

Right Idea - But Too Late

Zoom religious service (Temple Aliyah)

It might surprise some people to know that I lament the imminent demise of Conservative Judaism. Not because I agree with their version of Judaism. I do not. I consider it illegitimate. As have all the leading rabbinic leaders throughout its over 100 year history. They all rejected any cooperation with their rabbis in religious matters because of the appearance of granting them legitimacy. 

This was true across the board of Orthodox rabbinc leadership. Including Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. Who only quibbled with other rabbinic leaders about cooperating on non religious matters of mutual interest for the Jewish people. Right wing leaders forbade that as well. Rav Soloveitchik permitted it. 

Be that as it may, I have always agreed with this view – albeit differing a bit in how it should be implemented. The obvious reason for this stringent approach was that the appearance of legitimacy would move some Jews to erroneously think that becoming a Conservative Jew was just a Hashkafic issue. Kind of like choosing to become a Chasid. 

And yet still - I lament their imminent demise. Because even though they were wrong in what they did, for a time they were the home of most American Jews. Who felt they could be Americans in the fullest sense of the ‘melting pot’ spirit of the time. They could suspend much of their observance in order to take full adavantage of what America has to offer. Not the least of which was maintaining  jobs requiring them to work on Shabbos. After their leadership gave their approval to driving to Shul on Shabbos most Conservative Jews ended up driving anywhere they chose. With little if any criticism from their rabbis. 

While that was clearly no way to practice Judaism, they at least felt they were Jews. Much of their culture was Jewish culture – even if it didn’t exactly follow Halacha.  Holidays like Chanukah were celebrated. Seders were held on Pesach. Synagogue pews were filled on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. And perhaps most importantly intermarriage was considered a cardinal sin. 

Unfortunately that type of Judaism was not sustainable - as we now see. There is currently a 70% rate of intermarriage among non Orthodox Jews. Sometimes even with the blessings of parents. When assimilation becomes more important that ones religion, it doesn’t take much to abandon it. Especially in our day - being constantly bombarded with cultural values that are anathema to Judaism

It is because of the full assimilation of American cultural values, accompanied by ignorance about one’s religious values, that many young Jews raised in such families ask, What is the point of being Jewish at all? If our values are all the same, we might as well, abandon a religion that is nothing more than a name. 

Some very bright Conservative thinkers have said much the same thing to explain what is happening to their movement. Adding that if their synagogue rabbis don’t begin to focus more on their members being a little less assimilated and little more observant of Halacha (as they interpret it)  - their movement is indeed doomed.    

There has been a lot of angst expressed by Conservative rabbis on this issue - trying to solve their existential problem.  Radical changes have been suggested in how to conduct their services - designed to get young people back into the pews . Most of which have nothing to do with Judaism. You are not going to attract people to any legitimate form of Judaism by hosting a Friday night Kumsitz at the beach. You might attract people to that event. But you won’t be selling them Judaism. You will be selling them a beach party. 

All these thought occurred to me when reading a JTA article by Conservative Rabbi  Eli Garfinkel. He correctly observes that his movement’s reliance on  the Zoom minyanim  that arose as a result of COVID is not a prescription for the movement’s survival.   Even leaving aside the Halachic impermissibility of virtual minyanim,  it is not a  sustainable solution: 

Zoom Judaism is not working.

What Zoom provides is not real community. At the end of the day, digital fellowship is pyrite, also known as fool’s gold.

Zoom meetings and rooms do not fulfill the fundamental needs of Jewish community, which are very much physical in nature... 

I recognize that Zoom has been a lifesaver for the physically challenged and that it has quickly brought about a revolution in Jewish adult education. My concern is that some Jewish leaders believe that the pandemic has given us license to reimagine a largely digital synagogue as a permanent replacement for real, physical Jewish community. This belief is predicated on the idea that Jews will continue to find Zoom Judaism compelling long after the novel coronavirus is finally vanquished.

Jews will not find Zoom Judaism compelling.

He is absolutely right about that. The problem is that the fully assimilated non observant Jew that comprises most of this movement’s members will hardly want to return to a synagogue he had increasingly been avoiding even before COVID. Zoom makes it so easy to participate. But it won’t last. It’s novelty will wear off. And will more quickly be abandoned that actual Shul attendance was. Of which COVID completely weaned him off of anyway. 

The Conservative Movement  is yet another casualty of COVID. Even though it was on a fast track to oblivion, COVID has accelerated it.

I regret that this last bastion of at least cultural Jewish awareness will no longer be an  influence on American Jews. As long as there was at least some attachment to his Judaism - even if it was only cultural - there was hope of reaching out to them and showing them what authentic Judaism is supposed to look like. And perhaps appeal to that ‘pintele yid’ - the tiny little dot of Judaism that exists in every Jew. No matter how far removed they have become from it. 

But when one stops caring at all about being a Jew, it is almost impossible to reach him. With recent surveys showing massive hemorrhaging of Jews out of Judaism, it will be nearly impossible to reach out to the 90% of us that are like that. The Conservative Movement has lost its ability to stop it. If they ever had it in the first place. 

From my 21^st century perspective what they did was only delay the inevitable. The original membership knew what it meant to be a Jew – even if they didn’t want to be fully observant.  Now several generations later, it isn’t even a memory anymore. 

I sympathize with Rabbi Garfinkel. I agree with his perspective. He’s right about the virtues of Zoom services. There are very little if any real value in them as a remedy for their existential crisis. What he thinks should be done will likely not happen. At least not in any grand scale. Sadly, it’s too late. The horse out of the barn.  

Israel Must Tweak Its Democracy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (WIN)

One of the ironies of the current political situation in Israel is that the Israeli electorate leans heavily to the right and yet their political representatives in the Keneset have been unable or unwilling to choose a leader.  

You would think that Netanyahu whose Likud party is clearly on the right and won more seats than any other party would be a shoe in for Prime Minister. 

But you would be wrong in thinking that. That’s because his party did not win a majority of the Keneset seats to form a government. (I’m not even sure that has ever happened in Israel to any party.)  There are far more than 61 members of the Keneset that are right wing.  Netanyahu could nevertheless not convince enough of them to join him in a coalition agreement. This has been the case after several elections in a row. 

Why is that? There are several reasons. Most of them personal in my view. A lot of politicians just plain hate him. They are tired of him and want to see someone else govern. (Like themselves, for instance)

Of course none of them will say that. They instead point out his many deficiencies - vilifying him in the process. Not the least of which are his corruption charges. 

And those politicians are on the right! The left hates him for ideological reasons. But they are not much of a factor anymore. They haven’t had any real sustained power since Menachem Begin won the election back in the 70s. The majority of prime ministers since Begin have come from the right wing Likud. 

Which upsets a lot of Jewish American supporters (the vast majority of which are of the liberal/left persuasion). They pine for the days of early Zionist socialism upon which the country was built. And strongly dislike the right turn the Israeli government has taken since Begin. A right turn Netanyahu has in large part been responsible for. 

The thing is, that what American Jews think doesn’t really count for that much in Israeli elections. Israelis like this political change in direction which is why right wing keep growing and why the Likud keeps winning the most Keneset seats. The advent of the technical age has made Israel one of the top players in the world. It has created a lot of dot.com millionaires there. And a lot of Israelis that invested in those enterprises early have done extremely well. 

The left might say that Israel has lost its way. That its people have become crass materialists  – much like many Americans have. Maybe so. But that does not change the reality. Which is that the prosperity Israel now enjoys is due almost entirely to their embrace of a more laissez-faire economy. Which is of course favorable to business. Israelis are not going to go back to the financially oppressive socialist days of the past. They like their prosperity and are going to keep voting right to keep it. 

Without getting into details - a lot of this can be attributed to Netanyahu who was finance minister under Sharon.  He is a free marketer. It is for this reason that I believe the Netanyahu has been in office longer than any prime minisiter before him. That – and the security measures taken by him which has kept Israelis relatively safe during that time. A lot of Israeli voters will vote for a party because they want to see its leader as prime minister. 

I know this is not the popular view, but I have always been a fan of Netanyahu. I realize he has his faults. Who doesn’t have faults? But his record in office cannot be denied. His contributions to Israel’s prosperity, safety and unprecedented positive relations with Arab nations cannot be overlooked. His political enemies will always find other reasons for those things and refuse to give Netanyahu any credit for them. But that would be disingenuous. It all happened under his watch. 

Did he make some mistakes? Sure. But you have to look at the big picture and give credit where it is due. Even if you hate him. 

Yes, he has issues. He thinks a lot of himself. His inflated ego is huge. He has technically even violated some Israel’s corruption laws. He is arrogant.  He publicly lectured  the leader of  Israel’s closest ally, rebuffed his requests to stop settlement activity;  – disrespected him by accepting an invitation to address congress without being formally invited by him;  and in the process weakened support for Israel among Democrats. These are just a few of the issues that come to mind. There are probably more. 

But I see his leadership outweighing all of those negatives.  I believe he has been an effective leader of his country. Probably the best prime minister since Begin, despite it all. 

I believe this is this the reason his party Likud consistently gets a plurality of the vote in Israel. A huge number of Israelis like where the country is at - both in terms of security and in terms of the economy. 

True, Netanyahu is a hated man. By a lot of people. Both here and in Israel. For a variety of reasons. Netanyahu has been around a long time. A lot of people are just plain tired of him. They want to see him gone and someone else lead. Which is probably why Netanyahu hasn’t been able form a coalition. 

But the bottom line for me is the following. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ If he continues to produce for his country – he should remain in office. Why take a chance on someone else? Like him or hate him - you go with the devil you know over the devil you don’t know. 

So how does Israel overcome its electoral impasse?  I have said this before. Israel’s form of Democracy is not the best way to run a country. While it’s true that the parliamentary system if highly democratic, it is clearly not the most efficient. Efficiency does not, however, require abandoning democracy. It does in my view require abandoning the kind of democracy that governs Israel. 

What works in America, the most successful democracy in the history of the world, should work in Israel too. Israel’s democracy doesn’t have to be exactly like ours. But if they would switch to direct elections for prime minister, and allow the man with the most votes to govern for an uninterrupted 4 year term - without the requirement to form a majority coalition … it would solve the current crisis of repetitive voting with no results. 

Netanyahu has suggested changing the law to having direct elections for prime minister. True - Israel tried it before and didn’t like it. But if it is done in the way I suggest  then  - like it or not, it will result in a stable government. Something Israel really needs and has not had for quite some time.

Ignorance and Anger - A Prescription for Violence

I admit it. I am prejudiced. I generally do not judge ignorant people favorably. And yet it seems that at this particular moment in time, ignorance is driving the American agenda. Major cities have been beefing up security in the wake of the coming verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial.  City officials in Minneapolis and other major cities including Chicago are preparing for the fallout of that verdict. In the unlikely event that Chauvin is found not guilty on all counts, an explosion of violence is expected the likes of which we have not seen in decades. 

What troubles me is that Chauvin has been tried and convicted in the media. There is not a single mainstream media personality that has expressed even the slightest doubt about his guilt. Basing it on a video of Chuavin choking George Floyd, a black man to death by pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck until he stopped breathing. Seems pretty cut and dry. But is it? The problem is that none of us were at the trial. None of us were jurors. None of us were privy to the perspective of the 12 jurors now deliberating the verdict. They are the only ones in a position to judge whether Chauvin’s actions were the result of an intent to murder Floyd. 

But even if justice might actually demand a guilty verdict, and he is somehow found not guilty, does that warrant the kind of destruction that these great American cities are preparing for?... irresponsible politicians are calling for? ...and the mainstream media sympathetic to the protesters are anxiously awaiting... and salivating to report on? 

Clearly it does not. Any resulting violence and damage to person (possibly even death) or property resulting from a not guilty verdict is just as criminal as what Chauvin did. If not more so.  Chauvin may still be guilty of murder at some level (most likely manslaughter). But I strongly doubt he intended to murder Floyd. He did not get out of bed intending to lynch himself a black man that day. He was just careless - even negligent - in how he subdued a suspect that resisted arrest after being reported passing a counterfeit 20 dollar bill. 

In the event that the verdict is unfavorable to the anticipated protestors, all hell will break loose. Mostly perpetrated by people from the ghetto and extremists from the left whose agenda has little to do with racism. A sympathetic media will surely exacerbate the violence cheering them on - explaining it as justifiable outrage. And blaming the violence on outsiders.

That being said I understand where a lot of black frustration is coming from. There is not a doubt in my mind that many black people in this country face discrimination daily. Some of it overt but most of it subtle. It is not easy being a black man in America today. Ask any black man being caught by a cop ‘driving while black’. But I suspect that in most cases prejudice by the police occurs more often to a black man from the ghetto than it does to a black man from the middle class.(Although I'm sure that sometimes happens too.)

But at the same time there is something else that has been happening in this country for decades that is exactly the opposite of that. There has been institutional ‘Affirmative Action’ - giving black people unprecedented opportunity in a variety of ways. I am not going to comment on whether I think that’s wise or fair. But it has in fact succeeded in its intent of giving black people opportunities denied them in the past.

I believe that where it counts the most is in the case of educational opportunities. There is an entire class of black people whose access to education has made them the cultural equals of white people with their own access to education. While I believe merit should be the sole determinant of all college entry… and that a black man who does not rely on ‘Affirmative Action’ would be far more respected for his achievements than one who relied on it.... the fact is that ‘Affirmative Action’ has contributed mightily to to the growth of the black middle class. They are a lot better educated, the a lot less ignorant.  

Being better educated is how Barack Obama, a black man, became President of the United States. He was a Harvard Law School graduate. And he sounded and looked like one. Obama was just one of many thousands of black people like him. The black middle class is filled with people like that whose education and thereby values are not all that different from their white counterparts. 

The problem is that most black people are not college educated. Some of them rise beyond their humble and often impoverished beginnings to achieve great success. But many are doomed to a very poor if any general education leaving them in poverty and ignorance. That often ends up with some of them becoming violent gang members and criminals.  Usually preying on their own people. This is also true about white people. Only there are a lot more black ghettos than there are white ghettos. (Why that is the case is beyond the scope of this post. Suffice it to say that the history of even subtle racism in this country is at least partially responsible for it.)

So, yes... I admit being prejudiced against ignorant people. But it has nothing to do with race. I am just as prejudiced against the ignorant people in the world of Orthodox Jewry. The Orthodox Jews most often guilty of violent protest are the ones with the least education. I have no tolerance for them. Even though it may not be their fault individually. Same as I am with ignorant people in the American  ghetto. Whether it is the ignorant Jew in Meah Shearim or the ignorant man - black or white - that grew up in an American ghetto. 

When I see a black American like Barack Obama (politics aside) I swell with pride that America has enabled this to happen. He is an American success story. But when I see a black protestor or a white supremacist being violent to the point of hurting others or damaging property - I have nothing but disgust and contempt for them. 

Unfortunately there are many people who are not that ignorant that nonetheless join the violent protesters. They may be well intentioned - sympathizing with the cause. But they seem to be oblivious to the violent reality in which they are participating. I have no tolerance for them either.

I realize of course that not all protesters are looters and gang members. Just like not all white people that joined the protest early January are white supremacist's. But enough of them are in both worlds to make something like this possible. 

This is also not to say that all of the protestors aren’t educated. Some of them are highly educated who have gravitated so far to the left that they would overthrow the government if they could. And behave in ways that forward that agenda. But I believe that the vast majority of participants are just plain angry about what they see happening in this country. And that in the heat of the moment get pulled into the violence without thinking about it too much. This happens with people on both the left and on the right.  

What about the claim that there is systemic racism in this country – particularly among the police? I don’t see it that way. I see too many black police chiefs in big cities (like Chicago) for that to be the true. That said, I do think that it does exist at some level among a few cops across many police departments in this country. That needs to be addressed. And routed out! The police need to be color blind. And not have greater suspicions of a back man over a white man. 

But I also believe that the vast majority of the police are not racist in any way. They are good people that want to serve and protect. The sad fact there is that crime has increased because police have become reluctant to do their jobs. Fearing the consequences of being called racists and losing their jobs. Not to mention the fact that there has been an uptick of violence against police all over the country. 

This, in a nutshell, is my take on what is happening now. It is a complex issue. Not the simplistic one so often painted by the media that believes a major overhaul to American policing - making it kinder and gentler - will do the trick. That will do more harm than good in my view. Fighting crime is not a gentle enterprise.

If there is anything that might be done to erase racism in its entirety it would be to focus on education – rethinking and broadening it to include a much greater variety of options with a focus towards good jobs. And prosecuting any individual or company where race is the only disqualifier for a job. If we can get those two things done, we will end up with a lot more people like Barack Obama and a lot less people like the violent protesters and looters who are about to make an appearance on the world stage. God help us all.

Update  

Derek Chuavin has been  convicted on all 3 counts of murder. The Jury has spoken.

Where Are We Up to? And What Now?

Dr. Anthony Fauci getting vaccinated (Marketwatch)

I have been very strict about adhering to the COVID protocols. I doubt that are too many people that have been more critical of scofflaws in this regard than I have been. The reason I have had this attitude is that, frankly, I don’t want to die. I want to live. Over 2 million people worldwide have died because of this disease either directly or indirectly. I did not want to become one of them. I didn’t even want to be come even slightly sick... or even test positive without symptoms. 

By being careful and by the grace of God I have escaped this deadly plague. A lot of people I know have not.  A few even died.  Many more got pretty sick, needed hospitalizations, and even ventilators. Others that have recovered months ago are still suffering serious aftereffects.  

These observations made me double down on the primary precautions of social distancing and mask wearing. I have been doing so for over a year now. While this is true for a lot of people, it is not true for many others. Which in my view is slowing down progress towards the eventual herd immunity that will set us all free… and return us to a semblance of normalcy.  (Although I doubt it will be the same ‘normal’ as it was before. Some of the changes in our behavior over the past year due to COVID will be incorporated into the ‘new normal’. Which may actually be a good thing. But I digress.) 

Health experts tells us that herd immunity will occur when 70% of the population is vaccinated. This means that the chances of contracting COVID will be so low that it will not require any vigilance. The risk will be acceptably low. Much the same as other risks are which we accept and do not alter our behavior for. Such as automobile accidents resulting in death. There are about 100 of those every day!

The question is, what about now? And what if we never reach 70%? What do those of us that are fully vaccinated do? 

Are we fully immune? No. that is what 95% immunity in the case of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines means. Many fully vaccinated people will contract the disease anyway. (The New York Times reported ‘new government data last week showing that 5,800 fully vaccinated Americans had contracted Covid’.) 

It’s true that those that do will probably have very mild cases.. But there is no guarantee of that. We have no way of knowing whether anyone will die.  But when there is full vaccination the chances are so small - that we will sooner die of other causes that are a lot higher risk than COVID. Like those automobile accidents. How many people are not willing to get into a car because of that? If the number of fully vaccinated  people  that die of COVID is far less than that, what is there to talk about? 

So what is our situation now? As of now, over 131 million Americans have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine. That’s over half the country. But what if we do not reach herd immunity? Are we doomed to keep up these protocols indefinitely? 

America’s top expert in infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, addressed these issues this morning and this is basically what he said. 

This is a large and diverse country. Some sections have a low rate of vaccination and a high rate of infection. Other sections have a high rate of vaccination and low rate of infection. The latter will have a sort of herd immunity of their own. The sections with a high vaccination rate will be living a more or less normal lifestyle - correctly having a high degree of confidence that they will not contract COVID. This is not me saying this. It is Dr. Fauci. 

He added that he hopes that when people in low vaccination sections with higher infection rates see  people living more or less normally in highly vaccinated communities with a far lower infection rates - they might come to their senses, change their minds, and get vaccinated. 

On that score - a group of prominent respected people has been formed to convince fence-sitters to get vaccinated and refusers to change their minds. The team consists of sports figures, entertainers, respected community leaders and clergy. (How sad it is that some people will listen to a sports figure or entertainer ahead of a health expert. But, again, I digress.) These people will spread the word and hopefully change the hearts and minds of enough people to more quickly achieve the 70% we need to achieve herd immunity.

On a related note, it was also reported that politics seem to play a role in the vaccination rate. It appears that 50% of Republicans  have chosen not to be vaccinated. 

I really don’t get it. They cannot be the Trump Republicans because he has urged his followers to get vaccinated – as he himself did. 

What is the matter with these people? What’s their game? What are they afraid of? Do they really think the dangers of being vaccinated are greater than the dangers of getting COVID? If that’s what they think, it is the most irrational kind of thinking I can imagine. 

As I have said many times, I lean strongly conservative. Clearly the Republican party is the home of that political philosophy. In my view conservatives tend to more often choose rationality over emotion… while liberals tend to more often choose emotion over rationality.  But in this case the liberals got it right! 

What to do in the meantime - especially for those of us that are fully vaccinated. Here is my current thinking. We should keep up the protocols even while realizing that the chances of getting COVID are very low.  (Although not zero.) Wearing a mask and socially distancing is still a pretty small price to pay for that extra bit of security. But more importantly it should be done to encourage others that have not yet been vaccinated to keep doing it. At the same time, by being vaccinated and wearing a mask, I am far more relaxed about going out among people who are unmasked… as long as I do not congregate with them for too long. This might be a bit of overkill. But I’d rather err on the side of safety. 

Until such time as health experts tell us all that masks are no longer needed, I will for the most part continue this practice. Which I think is good advice for all of us. I only wish this was the attitude of those among our religious leadership that have completely abandoned all COVID precautions still advocated by health officials. I just hope it doesn't come back to haunt us.

Are We Living Up to Our Billing?

Queen Elizabeth at the funeral of Prince Philip (Express)

The Torah could not be clearer.  We (the Jewish people) are a holy nation. The second of  this week’s (double) Parsha declares in its opening statement, ‘Kedoshim Tihiyu - Holy should you be. Although there are various interpretations of what this phrase actually means, I think its plain meaning should not be overlooked. Which is that our status as God’s chosen people comes with responsibilities that go beyond simply following Halacha. Although that is surely a large part of it since as one delves further into the Parsha there are descriptions of what God expects of us to do keep us holy. Thereby separating us from the rest of the world. 

But following Halacha is not enough. We need to exemplify our holy status in ways the world will better understand. Are we better in this regard than the non Jewish world? I wish I could say of course we are. But I find myself often seeing the best of non Jewish behavior being far better than the best of Jewish behavior. There are two events I came across over the weekend that illustrate that.

The first is how the British Royal Family handled the funeral of one of their most beloved figures, Prince Philip. Because of COVID every health protocol was followed to the hilt. There were only 30 people - close family members - at the funeral instead of the hundreds or thousands that might have attended.

Those that did attend were masked and socially distanced including the Queen. Even though she has been fully vaccinated she set the example by being masked and socially distanced both during the funeral procession and during the church service. This was all recorded and broadcast for the world to see.

Contrast that with the funerals of some of our ‘royalty’.  Where tens of thousands of us glom onto each other for hours at a time with very few people if any wearing masks. Contrasting how British royalty behaved versus how our ‘royalty’ behaved made me ask the question I all too often ask. Are we really better than them? Are our best people better than their best people? 

Unfortunately my answer is not what I wish it were. Instead what is more typical is the following. There are two right wing shuls in Chicago (that I am aware of - there may be more) which have completely abandoned masking and social distancing rules. In one case, they have actually restored the full Shabbos Kiddush in all its crowded glory. They completely disregard the guidelines issued by the most knowledgeable health professionals in the country. Without any real justification other than they are just plain tired of it all and believe that most of the Shul has either had COVID  and developed antibodies or has been fully vaccinated. 

The hubris of some of our rabbinic figures in positions of power that are nevertheless laypeople with respect to COVID saying they know better than the experts makes me believe that - not only are they not living up to their mandate to be holy, but may be responsible for making someone sick. Furthermore they are dangerously close to making a Chilul HaShem. Can you imagine what would happen if a TV investigative reporter and cameraman would show up at that Kiddush? Let us just  say that the reaction to a broadcast of that  would not be the same as it was to the broadcast of royal funeral.  

So the answer to the question of ‘are we better then them?’ - is no. We are worse. They are better. At least as it pertains to how the leadership of the UK responds to COVID versus how some of our leaders respond. 

There is more to being holy than davening with a minyan on Shabbos and then having a Kiddush afterwards. It requires us to behave in a manner that will lead the world to respect and honor us as God’s chosen people. Not look at us  as people whose leaders are so self centered that they break the rules that they and every one else should be following. 

The other event that gave me pause about our supposed superiority as a people happened this morning. A segment of a news oriented program featured a medic seriously wounded as part of the American forces that invaded the beaches of Normandy during WWII. In his incapacitated state he somehow  managed to treat himself and then save 12 other wounded soldiers. 

He survived and lived a long life - dying last week at age 100.  Whenever I see a story like this – which has been more times than I can count – I think of the many times I have heard inspirational heroic stories about religious Jews told by a rabbinic figure. Stories that end with the phrase Mi K’Amcha Yisroel?! ...loosely translating to: Who can compare to the Your people (i.e. God’s chosen people – us). 

Well…a lot of non Jews can. One might retort that these are exceptions. That people like that medic are the Chasidei Umos HaOlam - the righteous among the nations and I would agree. But I think that the same can be said about us. How many of us would be able to do what that medic did? Those that could are exceptional people. I’m not sure most of us could do what he did. I don’t think I would have been able to. 

This is why whenever I hear an inspirational story about one of us followed by Mi K’Amcha Yisroel I get a bit jaded. Because as the first story indicates, flaunting the rules of health experts is not what I think is meant by that phase. And as the second story indicates we are not the only people exhibiting that kind of heroism. I think about the numerous times I have heard heroic stories like that about non Jews. And realize that we do not have a monopoly on heroism.