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| Image for illustration purposes only (VIN) |
Because Israel has had a spike in COVID, especially in Arab and Charedi locations, they have ordered a month long lockdown beginning on Rosh Hashana.
That is being rejected by the Chasidic communities who will defy the order and Daven in their Shuls with their Chasidic Rebbes. Instead of seeing it is a health issue, they accuse the government of being anti religious. There will be demonstrations immediately following the concluding services Sunday night. The anger is palpable. The idea that the government is doing this to reduce the number of COVID cases and possible deaths is rejected by them.
But the divide is not just between the secular and the religious. It is true even within Orthodxy and is not limited to Israel.
Rabbinic leaders that guide the OU/RCA are responding one way to the pandemic while rabbinic leaders that guide the Agudah are responding in another. Each reflecting a different emphasis - both claiming to be promoting the will of God.
The former is allowing public prayer in Shuls for the upcoming Yom Tovim but taking every possible precaution to minimize the possibility of getting infected. Including following the recommendation by health officials to minimize the time spent in buildings. They are therefore omitting some of the Piyutim (prayers) in order to shorten the service.
The latter – while adhering to some of those precautions are compromising on that precaution so that there will be no omission of any of the Piyutim. So that the time spent in a Shul building will essentially be the same as it is every year.
But at least their disagreement is civil. There are many Orthodox Jews who cannot understand how the other side could be so ‘wrong’. Sometimes words are exchanged that are hurtful and can lead to violence.
Those of us that see what COVID has done, how many people have died from exposure to the virus through carelessness of others get angry when we see people behaving as though there was no such thing as a virus. No masks. No social distancing. Business as usual. We wear masks and socially distance because we fear the consequences of a disease that has proven to be so deadly.
On the other hand those of us who act so casually with respect to COVID don’t think they are doing anything wrong. They don’t get why we are so worried about it. And when they are for example challenged for not wearing a mask properly (or not at all), they sometimes get angry.
There are good people on both sides of the divide. But that there is any divide at all is not good. We have become so polarized that I am beginning to wonder if ‘Humpty Dumpty’ can ever be put back together again.
As one of those on the cautionary side, I have seen so many good – even great people I highly respect that are basically ‘non believers’. They just don’t think this pandemic is as serious as those of us that do think it is.
They believe the whole thing is overblown. That the huge numbers of deaths are by people that have been frail, sick, or unhealthy. And that if you are healthy, you will not get that sick if at all. And that if you do, you’ll get over its unscathed or maybe even symptom free.
These naysayers are not necessarily Trump Republicans. They are Jews some of whom are great human beings in so many other respects but reject all the angst over COVID. They refuse to ‘play the game’ except where they have no choice (such as shopping in a store that requires masks). Otherwise, they wouldn’t be caught dead in a mask. No pun intended.
I have lost some of my respect for these people. They have lost some of their luster. Something I never thought could happen.
It’s not that I don’t respect them at all. I do. It’s just that my respect has been diminished by their refusal to take this pandemic seriously.
On the other hand, I’m sure they see those of us taking the virus seriously as we do as overly fearful and foolish - since they say nothing will happen to us if we lighten up a bit – the way nothing has happened to them. (So far.)
I do not recall a time when there was as much animosity between Americans as there is now. The same thing can be said for us. I guess that old Yiddish adage is still true: Azoi V’Es Christilts Zach, Yiddlet Zach. Which means that attitudes in the general culture eventually permeate our own Jewish culture and become our own.
It is easy to blame the phenomenon on the President. It is true that he is a polarizing figure. But it is also true that he did not create the polarization. That has existed long before he was President. He has just taken advantage of it and exacerbated it. And the pandemic has accelerated it to unprecedented proportions. (As has the extreme violence sparked by protests against police brutality dis-proportionally inflicted against black people. But that is beyond the scope of this post.)
To be absolutely clear. I don’t believe that the leaders of the Agudah are Republicans or that the leaders of the OU/RCA are Democrats. But there is little doubt in my mind that their views on COVID reflect those views respectively.
I do not see myself that way. But that is beside the point. Which is that instead of bridging the gap between us in common cause to defeat a deadly virus we are now more divided than ever. An invisible little virus exposed our differences, precipitated animosity, and it is accelerating. That depresses me almost as much as how those divisions impact dealing with the pandemic.
