Why Charedim?

Ignoring the ban: Lag B'Omer yesterday in Meah Shearim (TOI)

There has been a lot of discussion about why the Charedi community in both Israel and the United states was hit so hard by the coronavirus. There is no doubt about it. They have been hit hard. Harder than any other demographic it seems. In Israel it was Charedi cities like Bnei Brak and Ramat Bet Shemesh B …or neighborhoods in Jerusalem like Meah Shearim that suffered 37% of all COVID infections in Israel. Charedm are less tan 10% of the total population in Israel. To put it the way Tehila Kalagy, a Charedi academic who studies health policy in her community did in the Times of Israel:

“We thought it would be bad for the Haredi community, but not this bad,” 

The same kind of disproportionate COVID infections are happening in Charedi communities in the US and UK.

The question is why? The answer is obvious and mentioned here before. Cities and neighborhoods that have the kind of population density that these do; and the kind of social interaction that a religious lifestyle entails makes them extremely vulnerable to the highly contagious virus that is spread by people long before they even knew they had it. 

Added to that was a slow response to the social distancing policies that some rabbinic leaders had, and you get a perfect storm of people that were quickly infected without realizing it (not having any symptoms yet), and then spreading it exponentially over the next few days - until they realized they had it.

Although in some cases there is deliberate flouting of the ban on social gatherings (as was the case in yesterday’s Lag B’Omer bonfire lighting ceremony in Meah Shearim)  this is not to fault mainstream Charedim. It is to explain why their percentages are so huge. You cannot really blame them for the slow start either. None of us at first - knew how deadly and contagious one could get while yet being asymptomatic. The reluctance to so drastically change how we live our lives was pretty much how all of us reacted at first. Even though there had been warning about the possible consequences by some health officials. Nobody really believed it until someone in their own community got pretty sick. Then the bottom fell out and… here we are.  

As I have mentioned before, there is always a spiritual component to a sickness that plagues the entire world and which affects us in disproportionate ways.As noted we know there are medical and sociological reasons for the spread and for who gets hot the most. 

But for people that believe in God and that here is a purpose to everything He does, the question arises about why God has allowed this particular virus to be unleashed upon the world. A devastating virus whose physical nature is particularly damaging to the nature of the  Charedi world? If you believe God interacts with the world, this is a valid question.

As I have also said in the past, what perhaps is not so valid is the speculation by some rabbis as to what they specifically believe God’s reasons for doing this are. That is one of the things that upsets me whenever such ideas are put forth. Especially when women get blamed. One will invariably hear things like the following: God is punishing us because women do not dress modestly enough. Or because their Shaitels (wigs used to cover the hair of married women) are too long? Or because of the Women of the Wall.

Or is it other pet peeves such as the widespread misuse of the internet; tolerance of Gays; gossiping too much (Lashon Hara); talking in Shul during Davening…  and several other assorted pet peeves I can’t think of on the spur of the moment.

I don’t have any answers. Nor do I think the typical ‘culprit’ is any of those just mentioned.

I have said this before too. We all need to d a bit of personal introspection about how we could better our own lives in the eyes of God. There any not necessarily only one thing common to all of us. Is there anyone among us that could not improve ourselves?

That being said, it should not be lost on anybody that - as noted - it is the Charedi community that is getting hit the hardest. Not that there are not other Orthodox Jews that are being hit. There are. No one is immune. But why is it mostly Charedim? 

Some rabbinic leaders have recognized this as a legitimate question and offered their own thoughts:

Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian branch of non-Hasidic ultra-Orthodoxy, told followers that their community was bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic because secular Jews weren’t as prone to divine retribution as the religious, whose sins are judged more harshly by God. 

Interesting perspective – but why then does it affect Charedim more than Modern Orthodox Jews or Religious Zionist Jews? There is not a doubt in my mind that he considers them observant even though he rejects their Hashkafos.

My thought is the following. Which in no way is intended as bashing Charedim and should not be taken that way. Just using the logic implied by who us getting hurt the most in a world that God controls.  

There must be something about the Charedi world, something that is specific to them and does not apply to other observant Jews - which has gotten God’s attention (as it were).

I am not going to speculate. But perhaps the Charedi leadership should examine what that might be and how to fix it.

Just thinking out loud.