A New Modern-Day Plague

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We are entering the Pesach (Passover) holiday in the midst of the greatest health challenge that the world has had to confront in living memory.  The Coronavirus epidemic has changed the world that we know in so many different ways.  It is almost difficult to see how things can ever go back to the way that they were a few months ago.

In Israel, in spite of having gone into lock-down at a relatively early stage of the outbreak of the virus, we are now having to deal with an infection rate in some ultra-Orthodox areas which is threatening to infect as many as one third of the citizens living there.  The government has already placed the city of Bnei Brak into a quasi-military rule in attempt to stem the further spread of the infection, and other neighbourhoods and towns are set to follow suit.  Much has been written about how it has transpired that the ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods in Israel, and indeed in other parts of the world, have become disproportionately infected by the Coronavirus.  Most of the theories range from the fact that this element of the population is disconnected from much of what surrounds them, including news media and online information.  These theories also discuss the fact that instructions are only respected when they come from the community's Rabbis, rather than from secular or governmental authorities.  And the fact that the Rabbis are generally reluctant to quickly assimilate the assessment of the civilian authorities, when they prefer to allow their religious-based responses to take effect.  In this case, the Rabbis ruled to keep schools, yeshivas and places of learning open when the government ordered them closed.  The Rabbis insisted upon praying in the presence of a minyan (a quorum of ten men) when the laws of social distancing implemented by the government prevented this.  Additionally, functions to celebrate weddings and other family events were ruled to continue when the civilian authorities decided that these presented a risk to life and limb.  One of the most recognised leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, 92 year-old Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, was found to be praying with a minyan at his home as recently as last week in spite of having finally publicly ordered his followers not to do so.

As a result of these actions and inactions, Israel heads into the Pesach holiday period with great uncertainty.  It seems as though the huge number of people who were recently diagnosed as suffering from the Coronavirus from the ultra-Orthodox community have set us on an irreversable track to a medical catastrophe that will result in tens, possibly hundreds of deaths from the virus in the coming weeks.  It is ironic that this is set to coincide with the first few weeks of the counting of the Omer (the 7 week period that links Pesach to Shavuot) during which it is traditional to observe rituals of mourning.  The reason for the observation of these mourning rituals is because of the events that took place in the first century AD when 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died in a plague.  It is believed that they stopped dying on Lag B'Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer.  In a strange but very sad and unfortunate déjà vus, we are on a path to relive this to some degree, although hopefully not nearly to the same extent.  The reason that is commonly given and widely believed for the death of Rabbi Akiva's students is lashon hara, the speaking of negative things behind people's backs, whether true or not.  Lashon hara is one of the reasons being used as a way to explain why the world is having to endure the effects of the Coronavirus.

There can be little doubt that lashon hara is prevalent in all communities, is undesirable and is a problem in our society.  It is a problem that has been in evidence over the centuries, and seems very difficult to control or reduce.  It has been used to explain the occurrence of many disasters in Jewish history over the centuries, including the destruction of the Temples.  To me, on this occasion, it seems too easy to use this as an excuse for the current pandemic that we are suffering, and to explain the deaths of those who are suffering from it.  It is simply not acceptable to explain this as being because of lashon hara, and not to take a deep introspective view about the community's general lack of adherance to the orders of the civilian authorities.

There can be little doubt that the leaders of the community chose not to take note of the deliberate and highly-justified restrictions that were quickly imposed on our society to retard the spread of the virus.  They decided, in direct contradiction, to command their followers to continue to behave as before.  Word went out to keep shuls operating when others in Israel were closed, to keep schools open when others in the country were closed, and to keep operating as usual without consideration of the instructions by which everybody else was living.  This indicates that the leadership knew exactly what the civilian authorities were ordering, and they took their own independent decision to ignore these orders.  The Israeli minister of health, himself a follower and Rabbi from an ultra-Orthodox sect, should have brought the government's message to the ultra-Orthodox leadership and ensured that they followed the instructions in the same way as all other citizens in the country were required to do.  Instead, he stands accused of ignoring these instructions himself, and attending public events at a time when this was expressly forbidden by the government that he is a minister of.  The fact that he is also now inflicted by the virus cannot necessarily be inferred from this, but it is certainly shameful that he did not take heed of his own government's instructions.  More than that, the fact that he did not take it upon himself to bring this critical message to all leaders within the ultra-Orthodox community will surely hang as a black cloud over his head when the final death toll is tallied.  This is equally true of all senior leaders within the ultra-Orthodox community, who simply chose to ignore and contradict the expert opinions that are unanimous in their views that staying home saves lives.

When the dust settles on this set of tragic events and things revert back to some semblance of what we knew before, it is my sincere hope that lessons will be learned.  It is difficult for me to believe that the ultra-Orthodox community will not be affected by what is happening in their neighbourhoods now, and the disastrous mistake in ignoring civilian warnings and instructions.  The tension between them and the democratically-elected government in Israel has been one of the enduring stories of the State of Israel from its founding moments, and the current evens have the possibility of changing all of that.  In spite of the tolerance that has been shown to the ultra-Orthodox community by successive Israeli governments, including exemption from military service, government funding in a significantly disproportionate manner, incorporation of ultra-Orthodox parties in government coalitions and many other leniencies and concessions shown over the years, the ultra-Orthodox community has incessantly battled against governments and civilian authorities.  There are many within the ultra-Orthodox community who do not recognise the existence of the State of Israel and its government, while still being willing to accept social benefits from the state.  The sight of members of the ultra-Orthodox community screaming insults at Israeli police and accusing them of being Nazis, while police were instructing them to maintain social distancing in order to protect their own lives, is part of this tense and unacceptable relationship.  If the events surrounding the Coronavirus cannot change that, it seems that nothing will.  It is my hope that one of the most important outcomes of the virus and its effects, is a change in the relationship between government and ultra-Orthodox.  And a general change in the relationship between the ultra-Orthodox and other sectors of the population.  There is enough space for all of us to live with mutual respect.  Are my dreams unrealistic?  I hope not.

 The leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community have been exposed and shown up during the course of this pandemic.  Their refusal to take heed of the advice of scientists and civilian authorities has cost some of them their lives, and has cost the lives of many of their followers.  It raises a real question regarding the direction in which their leadership is taking their community.  Their advice on many real-world issues must surely now be in doubt.  I hope that the new generation of leaders that rise up following this episode will never forget the failures of their predecessors, and will find a way to do things differently going forward.

Chag sameach.