Where Are Their Masks?
There is a lovely picture in last week’s issue of The Jewish Press of girls who attend a seminary in South Florida enjoying a Chanukah boating activity. It looks like two dozen girls are crowded together on the boat smiling and waving. But where are their masks? Not one girl in the crowded group is wearing a mask. Is that what we teach them in seminary – that wearing masks is unnecessary?
Judith Rosenberg
Bergenfield, NJ
Horrified
I read the article by Rabbi Chananya Weissman two weeks ago with horror. People are still becoming deathly ill from Covid-19, and many are dying.
Rabbi Weissman writes that since we’re all going to die one day, why not let it be from this virus. But if that’s his reasoning, why not drive at 100 mph without a seatbelt?
We’re supposed to do our hishtadlus and only then look to Hashem for help. We don’t stand in the middle of the highway amongst speeding cars and say, “G-d will protect me from harm.”
Dini Schick Bigajer
Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Weissman responds: The real horror of the situation is that otherwise intelligent people have lost the ability to think clearly, calmly, and rationally. I did not write that we might as well die from coronavirus. I wrote that our reaction to it stems from hysteria and that the arguments people make are not properly balanced based on Torah or science.
To use Ms. Bigajer’s comparison, perhaps we should not drive in a car at all since many die in car accidents. Perhaps we should not cross the street lest a car crash into us and kill us.
Why do we not worry about such accidents and trust G-d to protect us from harm, but when it comes to the novel coronavirus, all the normal rules go out the window, and the only thing that matters is reducing our odds of getting it ever so slightly, by any means possible, without regard for anything else?
Our reaction to the virus is killing people in many ways, literally and metaphorically, to a greater degree than the virus itself. The propaganda, hysterics, and tyranny posing as protection of people’s lives are the real horror.
A Responsible Leader
I want to say a heartfelt thank you to President-elect Joe Biden. By modeling safe and mature behavior and by displaying a deft touch in working with people with different views, you are the hope for a healing and productive future.
I deeply admire how you stayed the course by not abandoning your core principles for political expediency. For example, when your strong lead in the polls was being whittled away, it might have been tempting to hold large rallies like Trump was doing. It seemed the momentum was shifting his way.
But you would not budge from what you thought was right. Very small, socially-distanced rallies with people wearing masks were the order of your days. It was important for you to win the presidency, but I think more important to you was your own well-being, your family’s well-being, and the well-being of each and every person who came to hear what you had to say.
Henry Clay said, “I’d rather be right than president.” Well, you were right and you will be president. Bravo!
Alan Howard
Pure Vindictiveness
In November, Biden said, “Let’s give each other a chance. This is the time to heal in America.” Phonier words have never been spoken. Democrats are in the process of trying to remove Trump from office only days before his term expires. This comes from pure hatred and viciousness.
Biden has said not one word to Congress about halting this pointless and highly divisive exercise. He said that as long as they work on the impeachment for only a “half day,” he’s okay with it. Is Biden planning to heal only half of the country?
With all the serious problems we have – Covid and financial – why are these lawmakers wasting their time with vindictiveness? It’s obvious these people don’t care one iota about our country.
Josh Greenberger
Brooklyn, NY
Where Has MLK’s Legacy Gone?
Unfortunately, with the victory of the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic Reverend Raphael Warnock in Georgia, the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – who was an ardent supporter of Israel – has disappeared from the black community. The likes of Louis Farrakhan are now apparently the order of the day.
Nelson Marans
New York, NY