Dear Mrs. Bluth,
I am so upset at the letter that was printed last week, from the deliveryman who ‘massered‘ on those he saw congregating in grocery stores and other places. You missed an opportunity to point out that he should have been ‘dan es chaveiro lekav zechus‘ and not become an informer by telling on them. If he was so worried about his health he should not be working at all but sitting in his house like many other old people. We younger people need to seek comfort by socializing with our own age group, and anyway, everyone knows that young and middle-aged people will not get the Covid-19 virus, only old people, so there’s no harm in us meeting and greeting each other in public if there is no old person around.
You should have told this guy to come in a hazmat suite, goggles, mask, gloves and shoe booties if he is so afraid of catching the coronavirus, and then he would have nothing to complain about. Besides, we, as Jews, should have trust and emunah in the Rebono Shel Olam and listen to our Rabbis then we would have no problem.
I hope you print my letter so that everyone will understand that we should not place our trust in the words of the Government or this Dr. ‘Faltchy’ with his false and fearful prophesy of doom and gloom. We only have to trust in Hashem and we will be OK. There is no reason why shuls should be closed, yeshivas should be closed, simchos should be only for a handful of people. You missed the chance to be a voice of reason that you usually are, so I am going to do it for you. Enough already with being afraid, it’s time to leave off the masks and gloves and go back to hugging and kissing grandparents and parents, send the kids back to school, and open the Batei Midrashos for minyanim and learning.
An Intelligent, And righteous Mother From Lakewood
Dear i a r m f l,
Usually I send my salutation and answer under the heading of “Dear Friend”, but you are no one’s friend! As it is, I am trying to maintain a civil tongue and choose the right words that will nullify every stupidity you have put forth in your letter. The only admirable take-away from your ridiculously selfish and unintelligent screed is your faith in Hakodosh Boruch Hu, that being never in question.
I am appalled that you have not seen the numbers of those who passed away due to the virus. So many Gedolim were lost to this plague, or do you not read the papers, hear the news or simply closed your eyes and your ears thinking it would just go away? You are a mother of children, someone’s wife, sister, daughter, do you not care about your loved ones, that you may be infecting THEM? Would you be singing the same murderous song if one of your own (chalila v’chas) came down with or perished from this horrible disease? And you are wrong!! Babies HAVE come down with it, teenagers HAVE come down with it, young adults HAVE come down with it and middle-aged people HAVE come down with it and a large number of them HAVE died from it. Sit down with yourself and ask yourself why Hashem has sent this to His world. Ask yourself what it is that WE as Klal Yisroel have forgotten during the years of plenty and peace. Ask yourself that perhaps that is why we have been shut out of our shuls and mosdos chinuch, until such times as we will be deserving to re-enter them with a pure heart and a repenting soul. Ask yourself about your own failing Ahavas Yisroel, for not caring about your health and the health and life of all those around you, who you put in jeopardy each time you talk into their faces. Hashem is waiting for His children to be worthy of His presence in our lives. Think about that and stay home!
As for the delivery person who had the temerity and love of his fellow man at the forefront when he sent his letter, it is because of people like him that lives are saved and the yeshua will come. Don’t stand in judgement of anyone but yourself because you will have to answer for your own misdeeds after 120 years. I am in awe at your callousness and ignorance if you truly believe that the Rabbis just chose to shut down shuls and schools just because our President, Governor and Mayor, on a whim, decided to shut down every City and State. What these Rabbis saw was so much death and sickness, it was a matter of life or death to do otherwise.
This is a time of deep introspection and evaluation. As we mourn those we have lost, as we pray for our sickened brothers and sisters still battling the virus, as we sit alone in our homes, separated from our family and friends, this should be a time for intense teshuva, to find a path back to the way of life that is dictated by our holy Torah.
This is the Yom Kippur of our lives, look away from your own misguided notions as to why this fellow was wrong and see why he was right! May we merit a yeshua bekarov, a refuah shelaima for all our sick and a consolation for all the pain and suffering this time has brought. Hashem is, indeed, standing at a distance to see if we understand what we lost, are truly repentant for losing our way and are ready to return to the children He has chosen to be a light unto the world.