Covid and Friendship
It’s obvious that Chani Miller (“A Year Of Covid Precautions In Some Of Our Shuls,” June 25) means well and was attempting to spread a message of tolerance and understanding. Unfortunately, she defines that on her terms and with an implicit claim to the moral high ground. Many people who are quite educated about health matters and quite committed to their good health have chosen not to take this particular vaccine. She says that in return for us not calling her and other Covid-obsessed types “insane,” she will “attempt to limit how vociferous I am about the importance of vaccination.” Yet we with other viewpoints are silenced. Sorry, Dr. Miller, I’m not going down this one-way street with you.
Bracha Weingarten
Via email
I appreciated and sympathized with Dr. Chani Miller’s thoughtful description of her feelings at slowly “going back to normal” in her community. As she writes, there are no easy answers for how to bridge the gap with family and friends who don’t take this pandemic seriously and make light of precautions still being taken. I think everyone needs to find their own comfort level when it comes to interacting with others, whether in shul, at simchas, or other gatherings, but being kind is indeed always a good policy.
Robert Einstein
Brooklyn, NY
A Yeshiva with Integrity
After reading last week’s column from Sivan Rahav-Meir (“A Letter from America,” June 25), I would like to commend Yeshiva Darchei Torah for their integrity. Not only did Covid-19 cause immense financial damage to individuals and businesses, religious institutions such as shuls and schools suffered as well. It is an act of uprightness for a school to go above and beyond, spending time tracking down an address to return unused lunch money lost amidst the chaos and sadness of this past year.
It is clear that YDT believes derech eretz kadmah laTorah. I am sure there are many other stories like this over the past year, but in an online world where yeshivot are subject to only negative attention it would do a lot of good for positive stories to be shared and highlighted. Doing the right thing deserves to be recognized, and I encourage people to come forward with their stories. Kol ha’kavod!
Shira Hess
Brooklyn, NY
Eyes on the Dress
What a beautiful piece by Rea Bochner (“All Eyes On Us,” June 25). How we dress is not only about how others will see us and, yes, judge us, but about which “group” we most identify with on the inside. She’s lucky to have found her comfort zone where her “insides and outsides match.” Her son is a lucky boy to have a mother instilling in him love of his own Jewish neshama, which is, after all, the first step to loving our fellow Jews.
Steven Davids
Via email
I’m not sure I agree with Rea Bochner that there’s a difference between trying to classify someone based on their appearance and judging them based on it. I think we are always judging each other, whether we realize it or not. But we should at least try to remind ourselves (as her essay did) that our initial sizing-up of someone is not always correct and there’s often much more to a person than meets the eye.
David Schwartz
Monsey, NY
Pray Against the New Israeli Government?
I would like to convey my appreciation to Rabbi Uri Pilichowski for his latest column (June 25). The new Israeli government is understandably a scary prospect for right-wing Jews, as it excludes their political parties and includes left-wing and Arab Islamic ones. Many religious Jews are afraid of the opposition parties who fought their efforts to infuse Israel with a Torah seat at the table. It’s normal to have concerns, and people should be encouraged to voice them.
What’s unacceptable is the rhetoric and behavior we’ve seen over the past few months. Cursing fellow Jews and calling them wicked is disgraceful, a chillul Hashem of the highest degree. Comparing Arabs willing to join a government and coexist with Jews to Hamas and Hezbollah is despicable and will inflame tensions. Yet we’ve heard this from Israeli MKs and even rabbis as they react to losing an election.
Naftali Bennett is receiving threats from fellow religious Jews, Idit Silman was told she “needs to know how it feels to be a bereaved mother,” and Ayelet Shaked needed to hire a security detail due to weeks of protests outside her home.
Sadly, we know from history that even in Israel, rhetoric like this can lead to violent confrontation and G-d forbid assassination. Words have consequences in this world and the World-to-Come, which is why praying at the Kotel for the failure and collapse of the government is so dangerous.
Outside the Land of Israel we say a prayer for welfare of the government each Shabbos. The tradition has roots in Pirkei Avot, and the format used is at least 400 years old. Since the prayer affirms the necessity of government as a social good and the vested interest we have in its ability to make just and wise decisions, the tradition is to pray for a hostile government with the same fervor as one would for a benevolent one. The current iteration of the Israeli government will be friendlier to Jews and Judaism than any diaspora government was, is, and ever will be. If one feels the need to pray about the government, pray that G-d continues to protect Jews and Jewish values, and that the government doesn’t impede on them.
I applaud Rabbi Pilichowski for writing about this, as he is at the forefront of the fight for Jewish self-determination and an advocate for Jews in Judea and Samaria. May his words remind Jews everywhere that other Jews are not the enemy, and that our fate is always in G-d’s hands.
Robert B. Krausz
Brooklyn, NY
The Name of Pinchas
Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin writes that the names of the parshiot speak to the heart of the parsha’s message just as names do. Therefore, there is significance in the names of parshiot and in names in general.
What’s the message in the name of Pinchas? Pinchas has a name that challenged his mission, but he overcame it. If you split up his name into two words, it spells “pen chas,” – “maybe he will have mercy.” Pinchas is challenged to leave his lineage’s culture of altruism through words. He brings a new idea to the world: peace through military engagement and dichotomizes the ways in how peace can be achieved.
Steven Genack
Clifton, NJ
Two-State Solution – A Bad Idea
Thank you so much for your editorial (“Pursuing A Two State Solution Will Not Bring Peace” June 25) which states what needed to be said.
We also need to be clear about the fact that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the PA are no different in that they all work every day for the destruction of Israel. This an important reason why there can be no Palestinian State on lands currently controlled by Israel. But there is more. There is simply no reason at all to believe that a “two-state idea” would be any solution at all. After all, the creation of a de facto Islamic Republic in Gaza not only hasn’t brought peace to the region, it has dramatically increased the footprint of Iranian backed Islamic terrorism in the area.
Jews should be free to live anywhere in the Land of Israel. This is not a right-wing position, but rather a sacred Zionist principle that has been at the center of the Zionist movement since its inception. At the core of the “two-state” plan is the forced relocation of Jewish families from their homes, neighborhoods and towns, just as Jews were removed from Gaza by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s so-called “Disengagement” from Gaza.
The lands that the two-staters would give to the Palestinian Arabs for their state are territories that the Jewish People have the exclusive historic, religious, legal, and moral rights to call our own.
If the Palestinian Arabs ever decide they actually want a state – rather than the destruction of Israel – then 78 percent of historic Palestine awaits them, just a few miles east in the Kingdom of Jordan.
Until then, Israel must be guided by the principle of steadfastness – what Herut’s ideological forefather, the legendary Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky, called “the Iron Wall.” We know that the enemies of Israel will never love us. But we can force them to respect us – by remaining steadfast in our defense of Jewish rights and with our commitment to the integrity of the Land of Israel.
Moshe Phillips
National Director\
Herut North America- The Jabotinsky Movement
This is in response to the thoughtful letter from Dr. Semel (“Vaccine Science vs Politics” June 25) about JOWMA’s Covid-19 vaccine education campaign.
We do agree with Dr. Semel that the government and public health messaging has been contradictory and confusing at times. It is so understandable that trust in the public health establishment has eroded as a result.
In place of this trust, we have rampant fear, uncertainty and doubt, which acts as a culture medium, so to speak, for misinformation and disinformation. Also, the science of Covid-19 has become intricately intertwined with its politics. Dr. Semel is correct to say that terms such as “fear mongering” and “conspiracy theory” have been used by the liberal media to delegitimize opposing viewpoints such as the lab leak hypothesis.
However, there are people who take advantage of the vulnerable position we are in now to spread inaccurate information about Covid-19 and the vaccine. There are entire organizations of “anti-vaccine” physicians. The “ anti-vaccine” movement is well-funded and has been working on delegitimizing any Covid-19 vaccine well before they were approved for administration.
JOWMA aims to provide accurate medical information free of political bias. We have been discussing adverse effects of the Covid-19 vaccine openly and transparently all along. No medication or treatment is risk free. Our most recent podcast with Dr. Gregory Poland of the Mayo Clinic is about putting the risks (known and potential) of the Covid-19 vaccine in proper context.
In order to accurately assess the risk/benefit ration of the vaccine, context is of paramount importance. We are sure that Dr. Semel, as a psychologist, is aware of the framing effect. Our decisions are influenced by how information is presented. For example, when comparing the rate of death from Covid-19 in children under the age of 14 (even though the vaccine is only approved for 12 and over) versus the risk of myocarditis from the vaccine, he compares rates of deaths versus absolute numbers. Furthermore, he does not qualify the risk related to the myocarditis, as most were mild and self-limiting. Based on current data, the risk of myocarditis from the vaccine in the highest risk group (males age 12-17 getting their second dose) is about six to seven cases per 100,000 doses. The risk is lower after the first dose, and is lower in females.
Unfortunately, many are minimizing the risks of Covid in this age group. Here is data from the American Academy of Pediatrics from April 19: Over 3.6 million children were diagnosed with Covid by then. At least 297 children have died of Covid (which is 0.01 percent of the total of children diagnosed with Covid). Most of these children had preexisting conditions including asthma and obesity, which are very common. Almost 15,000 children were hospitalized with Covid-19 (0.8 percent of the total infected).
We also do not know how the variants will affect children, but we do know that they are much more infectious than the original Covid, as has been demonstrated by the new restrictions Israel has reinstituted due to the Delta variant.
JOWMA strives to provide accurate medical information free of political bias to allow people to make the most well informed decision for themselves and their families. We do not push the vaccine on anyone, and strongly urge people to consult their own health care professionals.
We have an extensive amount of accurate information available on our website and our podcast, with many episodes on Covid-19, is available on most major podcast platforms (www.jowma.org/covid19).
Here are two resources on myocarditis and the Covid-19 vaccine:
www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2021-06/05-COVID-Wallace-508.pdf.
Alisa Minkin, MD
JOWMA Preventative Health Committee
Sarah Dienstag Becker, MD
JOWMA COVID19 Vaccine Education Taskforce