JayMatt:
Let’s get some facts out before we continue to get nowhere fast.
1. NY Non-Jews have recently made enormous strides in “normalizing” and legislating mishkav zachar marriage.
2. Sandy hit NY hard.
3. Sandy hit NY Jews hard.
I don’t know why you can’t find it, but there are 2 Lekach Tov pieces of interest here.
The Lekach Tov in Korach on 16:26 says on “Suru na…” Oy laRasha viOy LiShicheino. And on the same passuk in “Pen Tisafu…” he says “why even though they did not sin…miKan sheNitna Rishus LaMashchis liChabeil”.
So you can’t disagree with the application without disagreeing with Chazal. Whether or not anyone else affected had his own aveiros, though the lekach tov does not discuss it, is anyways irrelevant. Whatever the reason for this chazal may be, the bottom line is that once he has permission to go then he can also strike others, CH”V and therefore your OP and further denials to this effect are incorrect and against Chazal. I was hoping you would retract at least that…