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common, you are asking in essence – would I follow someone’s opinion without applying my own intellect (and giving an example of a ruling that to my best knowledge nobody gave anywhere)? just because that person is a Rav of some city? The Rav is appointed by a kahal, not by Moshe Rabbeinu. So, you can not imagine that one can be in a city where they select a person who is not worthy listening to? or makes bad mistakes? Rambam does not think so in Halakhot Dea, ch 6, he even thinks that this happened quite often in his times.
וְאִם הָיוּ כָּל הַמְּדִינוֹת שֶׁהוּא יוֹדְעָם וְשׁוֹמֵעַ שְׁמוּעָתָן נוֹהֲגִים בְּדֶרֶךְ לֹא טוֹבָה כְּמוֹ זְמַנֵּנוּTorah also lists karbonos for leaders’ mistakes before regular people. Again, please do not misconstrue this as saying I’m only accepting opinions that correspond to mine, you are asking me to accept an opinion that is, in no particular order: not issued by others; is contradicted by a large number of Rabbis and official organizations; clashes with multiple government regulations in numerous democratic jurisdictions; clashes with scientific facts and opinions that I am qualified to verify; risks human lives; has no visible benefits.
And, with all of that, you seem to object to an idea of simply asking for explanation of the psak? Conceivably, the Rav knows his community better than I do. Maybe the situation in the community is so dire that if one person wears a mask, it will depress everyone, they’ll take kids out of school, kids will stop keeping Shabbat and start doing drugs. And I did not think about it, and the Rav did. I see myself accepting this explanation. I’ll probably move away, without anyone’s feelings hurt. But you seem to be saying that I should accept unquestionably just because someone passed a shulchan oruch exam and got hired by a kahal.
TGI, I understood Leyzer bringing distinction between children asking questions and children reading school-prepared Divrei Torah. While the latter approach has a lot of value, does it prepare them to listen to their parents’ Torah or to dominate conversation with ideas brought from school? For some reason, Torah wants us to get together as a family unit. Maybe parents whose children come to the seder with answers instead of questions have an extra challenge – get kids raise from reading those stories to start asking questions.
Is this the 6th son? We have 4 that eiher ask questions or stay silent. None of them have a hutzpah to lecture parents. Lubavichers add the 5th – who did not come. Modern schools/yeshivot (to separate from old yeshivot) added the 6th – the one how has answers and no questions.
Common,
I would have first asked for an explanation of their reasoning, and if after considerable research, I would come up with other facts, I would present those facts to the Av Beis Din and hear what he has to say.So, if we actually fulfil the mitzva of helping kids ask questions and then attempt to answer, now the difficult part: what do you do when questions are uncomfortable – say, kids see inconsistency or hypocrisy on your behavior? or if you do not know the answer to the question and there is no internet to look up under the table? Do you say – I was wrong, I do not know, or try to come up with tirutzim?
This is a teaching moment. Some seforim say it is important for parents to say “I do not know” in front of kids to model the right behavior.
As we discussed before, maybe Hashem wants it this way?! Who knows what kind of damage can happen when one side gets a longer advantage. This is an Israeli version of the filibuster.
Let’s imagine possibilities:
1) Raam joins Likud government and leads Israeli delegation to Mecca ….2) an anti-state coalition of Haredim, Arabs, Meretz – 30+ seats – joining Likud in the government. Will lead to an Arab-speaking Sephardi kibbutz in Hebron
I looked up hespedim about R’Falk and saw one that admiringly describes the phenomenon I saw in other places: at the firs hilchos shabbos class at Gateshead, he pointed out that there are a couple of things that many make mistake in… Girls were dismayed when they realized it – and ran to the phones to call their mothers and teach them! The article does not mention what the issue was, unfortunately, so I can’t evaluate the issue on the merits, but now I do have a bad feeling about where my family stands.
There are only 2 days to the BIG shabbos, so could someone who called or got a call from Gateshead share it with us? I think you can share Torah for free even if you paid high tuition for it.
Hesped also says that “of course” R Falk “was the last person” to encourage girls to learn Gemorah, but he would refer to machlokes in Gemroah when explaining material. This should be called “skirting the issue”.
Each of the parts of the Jewish people have something to contribute … If Amerikaiim feel that they have approaches that have value, maybe they should continue them in Israel, with necessary adjustments instead of assimilating? Put a small group and start learning together, possibly part-time in English, and part time b’Ivrit to facilitate transition. Add zoom with your American community, if necessary.
One Rav who moved to Israel was immediately asked – which party are you for? He replied – “Moshe Rabbeinu”.
common, good question. First, I don’t think it is a coincidence that each of us live in places where guidance corresponds to our own thinking. It is either we chose them, or they taught us. In your case, both are equally likely. In my case, it is probably a mix – I moved to the place, and then learned from these Rabbis…So, to begin with, your question would not happen often. Several hard cases with the “non DT” Rav come up. In one case, it involved choosing between hurting two person’s feelings. Rav was very definite in his suggestion, and I eventually did the opposite. Many years later, I still do not know what was the right decision. I blame myself in the way I asked the question, possibly not describing all relevant details. In another business dispute, the Rav made a suggestion that I did not expect and that required me to lose face and some pretty serious money to pacify a not very nice person. I followed up and was showered with brochos and hatzloha after that. Maybe Daas Torah is a hard mitzva, and so is the reward?! With kid education, the Rav first made off-hands skeptical remarks about my kids substandard secular education, I did not change the school, but took a remark into account. Later on, he suggested to consider online schools when I asked how to deal with schools. I did not like the idea to begin with, but explored it and it worked well. SO, this looks like 2.5 out of 4 when getting unwelcome advice. With a “pro-DT” Rav – he pro-actively advised me on a choice of school once (commenting that in this case, he can recommend) and I followed up but might have done same thing anyway, and when I asked for further advice, he acknowledged that the problems are real, but did not have a solution besides suggesting who to call. With Covid rules, his guidance was to listen to DT from Roshei yeshivot and to a local hoshuve yeshivish doctor (who gave out CDC-type advise). He was open to further corrections as long as it did not contradict. At the end, we do together what we both consider right, and separately the rest, with some tolerance. When DT letter came implicitly calling for healthy people to get tested to decrease official positivity rate, I did not point it out to the Rav and simply helped him propagate the rest of the information to the public.
I am happy with my score, overall, but you grade me.
RebE >> seder is not for you but for the children for the year, instilling proper emunah and betochan in them
exactly, thanks for putting it this way. We actually rearrange everything in the house in order to trick them into starting to ask questions.
common, I concede this point! I have a couple of questions here – first, what exactly is someone listening to? In my case, there was a signed letter from the Beit Din, followed by a letter signed by a majority of local Rabbis. Both mentioned specific rules and a need to follow state instructions. My small minyan has rules, and so do larger shuls, quoting from their online rules: Such as denying access to the minyan to “those who attended an unmasked minyan in the last two weeks”. I am asking you and others – what are specific rulings, whether public or given to you, and did not see a clear answer. Maybe I missed them.
after you learn your own “daas Torah”, next question – is there a range of behaviors and which one to choose. For example, is not wearing a mask a hiyuv or reshut? Is sending kids to school? I can see some saying that kids have to be at school, for their sake or for community sake. So, within the allowed area – are you machmir? on what?
3rd – when I got that psak, I really did not have any problems with it. We already flew in (flimsy) masks when nobody did and explaining SD to people on Purim while delivering shalah-monos (most laughed). Still, later on, I looked to some degree at what the opposite opinions are. That was one of my motivations to read this board. I eventually shifted somewhat from focusing on extreme measures to helping people deal with whatever circumstances they are. (Lead to some miscommunication. I was so eager helping a school principal planning safe environment, that he thought I will send my kids in person, so he did not even ask. And I did not say, because I thought he already knows that we will not).
>> encouraged to wear a hat and jacket
“How do we know Yaakov Avinu weared a shterimel? – VeYetze Yaakov ni Beer Sheva …”
Both sources seem to stress the focus on local customs and how one would approach an important person. No bare legs (back to this thread). Sh’A is also directing this to Chachamim and their students. These days, we don’t seem to even bother mention this qualification, but it used to be a difficult one to achieve.
DaMoshe >> scares people away by being way too stringent.
a good point. Another side is – where do you concentrate your efforts of improvements. For example, kids that learn chumros in school, presented as halakha and then criticize their mother’s kitchen- instead of helping her. Try picking up chumros that would require you to make a continuous effort but not immediate validation by outsiders. Wake up early, prepare breakfast for your mom, teach younger siblings, help an old lady with groceries. In this case, you will be sure that you are actually doing a right thing rather than just looking for external approval.
Everyone who says – this is my way/minhag to run seder – should actually read the Hagaddah. There are four sons – and each of them has a different personality, different questions and requires a different approach. So, unless you sent your kids to the same teachers and trained them to ask same questions or, lo aleinu, sit quiet, they are going to ask different questions and you will have to talk about afikoman halochos with some of them, get into teeth with the other, talk about feelings with the third, and make the fourth one interested …
the two approaches offered above: let them read DT written by someone else or lecturing them – will, of course, make your life easier, but this is not what the seder is for.
richashu, thanks for the link. I am glad that these are so open-minded chareidi schools: if you want, they let you wear a mask or a kippah or tzitzis, but they don’t force you to. tizku b’mitzvos.
As heilike Berdichever said after watching the video – how holy are your people, Aibishte, will they admit everything, but they will not lie!
common >> thats you opinion and no one else besides some OO rabbi
why are you repeatedly accusing me of some non-kosher connections? I am following guidelines by the local beit din and majority of shul and kollel Rabbis. I said majority to be sure, but I did not see any people in authority violating public heath policies. Some were not pro-active and were laughing at them on the previous Purim, but they changed their behavior when they sobered up. The fact that some people still walk around in black hats and without masks does not change the halachic guidance.
Goldilocks, I believe it is not recommended to wash medical masks, better air dry.
If by “pretty” mask you mean a less effective non-medical masks, then this might be no difference.
Consult your local Orthodox nurseYserbius, I hear you, but it is not right to answer baseless claims with questionable appeals to authority and dismissals. Ask people for their source of information and then help them analyze it. A mindful BY grad with an MS or an MA claimed here that noone is sick in her wonderful community – this is a statement that can be analyzed. I don’t know, maybe she is still going through the sad Lakewood numbers that I posted in response.
For another example: my kids talked to a kid from an anti-mask family. They asked for motivation, nicely as friends (not sure how come my kids are nicer than me). The kid parroted what he heard from the parent: not more dangerous than car accidents. They jointly looked up the numbers, the kid admitted his error. Next shabbos – several kids from the family walking in a mask, a couple fo nmore weeks, a father walking with his head down and a scarf on a chin, pretending that he is just cold, not to admit that he was forced to, I guess.
>> it’s the issue of promoting it as a replacement to vaccination, which a lot of frum people unfortunately are … . Furthermore it seeds distrust in doctors and experts
I agree on the first. I also think we need healthy skepticism towards medical recommendations. Current crisis gives a lot of examples of how science is imperfect and works through uncertainty. And scientists sometimes being unscientific giving public policy recommendations without having the data. So, it is the job of the public and leaders to process scientific results. And, hopefully, people with Talmudic skills should be good at that discussion. If you can deal wthi sfek sfeika and four amot of halakha, you should be able to reason about double masks and 6 feet.
So, if you meet lots of people who argue HCQ v vaccine, you need to be able to process the facts
they are claiming. I somehow meet more anti-maskers than anti-vaxers. Maybe because first are easier to see, or maybe I live in a place where Jewish community has a sizeable number of medical researchers who gave a number of public zoom lectures early on.Toi,
I understand your feeling, but would you imagine similar jokes to “you retzuyos are not kosher” – “burn it”?
mask is a “mitzva of the year”. You don’t get repulsed by a need to not eat on Yok Kippur, or a need to buy a $100 fruit in the fall. I feel it very strange that people are repulsed by whatever Hashem wants us to do today. Just because it is different from what was required yesterday?Maybe this _is_ the idea of Pesach? Imagine how CR would erupt if they were told to buy a sheet, shecht it in their house and then put the BLOOD in the placa of heilike mezuzahs?! We would have to run out of town with outstreached hands and jump into the Yam Suf running away from people’s anger!
So for new minhagim
– use old masks to make a fire for matzah baking
– number them and use them to count omer. You can actually use them for measuring omer by volume!
– use old stinky masks to ensure compliance with SD!
– use them as kippot
– (seriously) do not WASH masks, air dry them not to destroy filtering materialLeyzer, a very good point. Aren’t kids supposed to ask questions and adults answering?
One thing that last several generations of kids are missing is curiosity. Schools give material in a way that encourages memorizing. It is not a just in the Jewish world. Everyone googles things now instead of analyzing or experimenting. We have most interesting discussion on Shabbos when we are limited to halakhot and world history that is in our minds and books. Why would someone ask “ma nishatana” if he could just look it up?! I think I’ll make this a point of discussion during Seder, thanks, Leyzer.
>> he can remember her last name
Of course he does – after she accused him on throwing little her under the bus. Maybe after his own bitter VP experience (*), he decided to torture her.
(*) Biden recently started opening up how Obama’s people disrespecting him. He is dissing them more than he is dissing Trump now. BidenCare = ObamaCare + Trump’s vaccines
My family minhag is to wear a mask properly, not to chew in a mask, and keep it so that the huldas from the neighbors will not reach them. So, we have nothing to worry.
If you keep your mask down so that a kezayit of hametz can fall through, or wear it on a beard that holds breakfast leftovers, you need to worry.
Torah: nyu study that showed patients given the additional zinc had a 44% greater chance of survival
Jan 2021 article Andrew Ip, etc Hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of outpatients with mildly symptomatic COVID-19: a multi-center observational study – seems to be saying what you are saying: a retrospective study of 100 people with HCQ v. 1000 without, matching seems to be done pretty well. This and other similar study show benefit and only minor adverse reaction (2%).
>> Lt. Govenor a right of center Dem
Common, I am still suspicious, maybe Progs are looking towards the next election. They would not eat one of their own without looking to the future?
I agree re:behaviors in public office. There is a big difference between inappropriate behavior in private industry, given overall permissiveness in the society, and using public position for any kind of private advantage. Such a person is a shaliach of the voters, so he implicates all voters in his averos. This goes beyond your Gov. Just looked at an article about financial disclosures from the new administration. It appears (I did not review in detail, and the article was partisan) taht a number of people who had no significant life experiences except serving in Obama’s administration – all became successful in business in last four years, multiplying their wealth. L tzad shut, maybe Trump’s economy lifted even those questionable boats
>> He answers, it
Well, at least if someone says “President Harris and I”, we know exactly who he is. Or maybe her future VP, lo aleinu.
I am glad that we came to appreciation of what these companies provide.
We often tend to think that “baalei tzedokah” are only those who donate their money to worthy causes. Does being paid for doing a mitzva makes it less of a mitzva? We allow even taking money for teaching Torah, so kal vehomer, anyone who does a mitzva of heeling people, helping people take cheap vacations, buy online goods desreves our appreciation. I think it is Ben Azzai who contemplated how many people are involved in making his breakfast? So much so in our time, when right now someone in China is packaging something you are going to buy tomorrow.
Yserbius, there is nothing wrong in trying to understand what is happening with the trials. It is well possible that some HCQ protocol might work, maybe for some population groups and not others …
I’d say if someone gets covid, is there a reason not to try hcq? At the same time, obviously, it is not an argument to not use vaccines. This is like not locking the house doors because you got security cameras.
Maybe it is easier to visualize via money presuming you pay for everything yourself? a vaccine will cost you $100. a serious case of covid would require a cheap hcq/zinc after a $200 covid test and probably a $200 doctor visit.- If it does not work, you might be on the hook for $10,000s of medical treatment. In any case, you might have some later complications that will cost you $1000s for vitamins and medicines.
Health,
I am not a boke on specific protocols. But I see some testing of HCQ/Zinc
Sherief Abd-Elsalam Do Zinc Supplements Enhance the Clinical Efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine?: a Randomized, Multicenter Trial Biol Trace Elem Res. 2020 Nov 27 : 1–5.other than that, go to some baalei tzedokah and organize a trial, somewhere in a country where you will be allowed. It is not that difficult with some persistence.
>> half-minutes
a helek is 3.3 seconds
Just keep an atomic clock on the wall.
common, what will be the outcome? If progressive cancel Cuomo, who will be the next governor? Someone totally crazy?
Charlie: Need to abide by its minhagim. (Halachah actually requires that.)
You might be required to shake Lulav Sephardi way, but do you have to eat kitniyot in private?
Maybe if you are invited to a seder and afraid to insult the baalat habait, you can say that you can’t stand spices and nuts?!I know of a Sephardi Rav who tells his kahal to use Ashkenazi Eruv, but does not seem to carry anything himself. Maybe that is why he wears the mask properly? so it would not be considered carrying. CALLING ALL “HASIDIM”
Health: Fauci: I’m waiting for a Double – Blind Study
Health, medical researchers are going through a large combination of treatments, ways to take them, and patient groups. Think, if you have 10 potential cures, 10 ways to administer them (early, late, dosage, etc), and 10 different patient groups (age, health, gender) – you need to run 1,000 trials – first with animals, then phase 1/2 that now seems to be combined, then 3 – requiring thousands patients each. This is a huge enterprise. There were several HCQ trials, they failed. some people say that protocol was wrong – possible. But there are hundreds of other things to try also.
What may be right – that trial planners may be biased towards complex medicines with simple protocols. Tinkering with chemicals is easier than organizing precise human behaviors. As a less controversial example, more people take flu vaccines than wash their hands after using bathroom or skip a day of work or school when they are sick. More people take blood pressure medication than eat healthy food, etc.
torah>> unless we know it stops transmission-which btw we do NOT know at this point.
several good news on this front in the last 2 weeks:
one dose of Pfizer reduces asymptomatic transmission by 4x (UK, Lancet). This is 4x reduced transmission, at least. (presumably, viral load of those infected is same or lower).
After 2 doses, 10x reduction in asymptomatic transmission (Israel).
Moderna – 60% reduction after one dose.So, this seems to point that those who are most likely to transmit (16 to 60) should be given vaccine from public health perspective. From personal POV, if you are young and not careful – you are very likely to get a virus (unless others vaccinate). So, even if you have 2 risks – from a wild virus or a vaccine that represents a part of the virus, virus seems like a less healthy alternative.
At the end,
Did we study Gemora on COVID
Bava Metzia 107a – everything in the hands of Heaven except cold and heat?>> one of the few things CT Lawyer and I agree on
Spirit = Ruach Shalom?
Redleg > Democrats aught to be careful
They will not be. They believe in progress, so things got to go in their direction. Everything else is a travesty. Trump/McConnell were able to put a lot of conservative judges due to the weakened filibuster, but they did not learn the lesson, unfortunately.
Another footnote: Reagan & Bush I upheld civil rights of the entire Eastern Europe. And Bush II upheld civil rights of Iraqis. And Trump of citizens of IS and Ukraine.
HCQ is not 100% solution, and so are masks and vaccines. Even Dr Z mentions that in his opinion only young & healthy might not need vaccines. If you look at costs/benefits, if I understand your concern correctly, then you are questioning whether ALL young & healthy, even those who are not sick, need to take a risk of vaccine if the benefit is marginal.
How do you compare it with HCQ, vitamins – preventive measures also involves healthy person taking these substances. Just because a chemical is called “vitamin”, does not mean it is a chemical that affects the body. For sure, HCQ was never taken by whole population – and you have to take these repeatedly v. 1-2 times for a vaccine. If you are talking taking them only when sick, it is not clear whether all people are capable of selecting the right time to get it, and also it does not prevent you from passing virus to other people, while SD, masks, and most likely vaccine do. Plus consider remaining uncertainty of medical opinion, I think Yaakov had higher confidence in his zechus than we do.
If you are still not sure, use a mussar approach when you are not sure whether your opinion is unbiased or you are simply lazy, physically or intellectually: expend the required effort and then think again. For example, go buy masks, wake up early to go to an emptier store, learn at home and teach your kids one day a week. This should not hurt much.
>> Not a concern today, though
yes, but we acquired this minhag in return for having those beans for centuries that made us so numerous, rich, and smart. It is worth it.
Catch, yes. The price difference maybe not that important for small working families, but think how many Jewish families were able to afford vacations because of them! Yes, they charge extras, but for those for whom it matters (or who pride themselves on not paying retail), a little planning helps: give home water to all kids before security, pack all extras into one suitcase. Repeating a not well known secret – if you drive to and buy in the airport, you also skip their “online ticket fee”, and they might even assign your seats for free if you come when it is empty and you ask _nicely_.
Mr. Biden is also following in footsteps of
1) Dubno maggid, who explained his amazing parables – “I first shoot, and then paint the target around it”. So does Mr. Biden – first, found 100 mln doses that Trump left under the table for him, then declared the goal, and then achieved it EARLY!! We need to acknowledge that he is a baki at creating good impressions.
2) Urim VeTumim and respected poskim – rather than making a detailed point and risking mixing up the names or the reasons, he simply responds to prepared question with a nod: Is Putin a kill? A nod. Is Harris a President.
Ashkenazim should not be envious of rice on Pesach – and not just because of a month of Selichot.
Apparently, kitniyot is connected to new medieval agricultural practices developed in Northern Europe that involved growing beans same fields as grain in different years. That would raise a concern. This practivce was responsible for Northern Europe drastically increasing amount of available protein from beans, while Southern Europe relied on animal protein. Animal protein is limited by amount of grain you can grow. Total amount of protein determines the size of the population.And that is how an obscure group that come from a 100 Jewish men now constitutes a majority of Jews, while lumping an incredible diversity of genes and minhagim as “Sephardim”. This is hinted in Hagada as it says Jews left “b’ yad RAMA” and, of course, by the enormous amount of protein in Karban Hagigah and Pesach that we consume!
Charlie,
I would still vote against the 17th. Most of current turmoil is because we are trying to have one system for the whole country using 51% majority. This maybe makes sense for core ideas – slavery, civil rights, but for the rest, we could live nicely with CA having Obamacare (at their own expense) and Utah having RomneyCare. This country has hat most countries in the world do not – open competition between state governments, not just private businesses. If you don’t like CA taxes – you can easily move to TX. Much easier than from Poland to Germany.So, progressives in it’s desire to achieve their goals quickly, starting 100+ years ago, federalized all issues, and ruined the good thing. Presidential elections will be less dramatic if we were to exclude vaccine shots, medical insurance, fracking, business taxes, and other non-federal issues. Presidential debates would be about China, Russia, and Mexican border. Last year, they even skipped foreign debate, concentrating on more “important” issues.
Torah, as in the famous cartoon, the restaurant owner taking phone reservations: “Is it for a real doctor, or just a PhD?”, Dr Biden will be embarrassed to answer: Sorry, just an EdD earned while my husband was a senator.
I was first envious to see that her thesis is in “top 20 most read” theses this year. But then I opened it (and some twitter chachamim who pointed this out), and I feel her embarrassment. First, it is pretty revealing that her first page is about counting how many different sub-groups are in a typical community college. But then, she does math – “out of typical 20 people”, 3/4 are white, 1/4 are African-American, 1 is Hispanic, and the rest are Asian. CALLING MR. YANG’s MATH
>> Call Somech for guidance if you need help in Lakewood.
Or simply do not go to places with a lot of people, especially without masks, and you will not need help, b’Ezrat Hashem. As my quick numbers seem to show, 3/4 of niftarim in Lakewood are above the norms around it, and thus are preventable.
I dont’ understand how different measures are used in opposition to each other. If it is a genocide, as you mention, then we need to do it all – SD, masks, vaccine, HCQ, (safe) davening. Yaakov did not choose 1 out of 3 things to do when meeting Esav, he did all 3.
charlie, while I am on board with the notion that Putin encourages discord in Us, as well as in other democratic countries:
40% is for the Senate, not for hoi polloi of representatives who are supposed to represent people’s passions.
It was probably a mistake to make Senate elections direct (17th amendment, 1912). This makes Senate in some aspects similar to Representatives, diluting the diversity of the forces embedded in the constitution. Progressive period has a bad streak of amendments (all in the name of improving people’s lives, of course) – Senate election is between direct federal income tax and prohibition and women’s votes :).Rav Yohanan called Vespasian Ceasar, so it is OK
He used “President Harris and I” rather than me, so I would say Mr. Biden is a pretty educated Senator.Mindful, thanks for the information.
I am glad everyone is safe around you in Brooklyn. Here
As of November 2020, 215 people in Lakewood died from COVID according to Ocean county health department (1/3 of total for the county). Lakewood population 105K is 1/6th of the total Ocean county. So, the death rate is 2x over the surrounding towns. You need to take into account ages of population. 8% of Lakewood are over 65, 15% in Ocean county. So, this is about 4x time disparity. So, about 150 EXTRA people died in Lakewood…
For the context, NJ has highest mortality among all states in USA.I looked at Lakewood nursing homes – 7 deaths are attributed to COVID, so this does not explain the numbers even if there is 2-3x undercount in nursing homes.
So, things are not so good in Lakewood. Do you have any explanation about this difference between the numbers and your perception? Maybe these deaths are happening only among Lakewood non-Jews, like makos mitzraim? or do you think, just a hundred neshomos is a fair price to pay to save 100,000 people from mental aggravation?
Isn’t it the ultimate irony? D-s are saying that in order to protect various minorities they need to abolish a legislative practice that is directly protecting .. minority opinions.
There is a legitimate reason against filibuster – that it light lead to inability to address issues of importance to the country and make the country lose in international competition. This happened in Polish Seim where each member had a veto and Poland ended up falling behind and being swallwed by empires around it. I don’t think US is in this position (yet). I don’t see 40 pro-China or pro-Russia senators stopping us from addressing external threats. If we don’t spend another $2T dollars immediately, the republic might survive.
Mindful, hard to understand your environment –
could you describe it in general terms – what geographic area? what kind of yeshiva/general education your friends have? what kind of doctors are these – small offices? national hospitals? how old are your friends? do they wear masks in shul?