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common, thanks for the invite. I’ll walk. Or drive.
Btw, if you feel pressured in business, you can try resisting and be surprised by the response. I was on a business discussion, where several subs, some pretty significant, us the smallest, were invited to fly in and integrate/test their software. All parties did not hesitate to show enthusiasm and started discussing the trip (maybe because many of them would send their subordinates). At my turn, I said that we care very much about them and their project, but do not have high desire to see them right now in person, but will do if this is really needed. Everyone laughed and the online deliveries were arranged soon thereafter (for everyone).
Mr. CtLawyer. Not calling you to fly Spirit. You could still say thanks for the rest of the Jewish people. Also, without Spirit, you would not get a chance to brag about your fancy travels! I proudly flew Frontier for $40 on business, saving the client’s money, not that they cared or noticed. The alternative was to stay till the morning, bill for a nice hotel. I decided it would be a good musar for myself to do what I would have done if I were paying on my own. I was the only one in a suit on that red eye, everyone else weared T-shirts.
One of the reasons was probably because I had an un-fortune to attend a learned class about business halakha. The speaker discuss a lot of proper humrot in dealing with the opposite sex and drinks in non-kosher places, and then some kulot in dinei mamonot, such as – can you bill 2 clients for the same trip when you visiting them both, or can you bill your company for fedexed kosher food, if it was delayed and hotel reimbursed you. He did not allow much after some pilpul. After than a local Rosh Kollel interrupting with “sheker sheker tirchok”, the talk was successful. So, maybe I took Frontier to get those possibility off your mind. Highly recommend to everyone who had non-kosher business thoughts.
coffee, great, we are on the same page re: general numbers. Now, what is your point – it is too insignificant to bother? Again, count number of Talmidei Chachamim who passed away from that. That communities will not take care of their most revered members is beyond understanding. I am especially aghast at the passing of R. Twersky Z’L. I presume he understood the situation with his medical background. I know he is wheelchair-bound, so at the mercy of people around him…
Syag, you are describing your feelings of frustration very vividly, but you are not saying what do you disagree with. In person, I would be able to follow your raised eyebrows and know exactly what you mean. It is not working online. Maybe you can either express your thoughts, or make a video while reading my post and attach to your post.
The reason I am interpreting your text is to find the hidden meaning. There are people dying and you are saying – no, not in our community, so, it does not matter. I am just trying to respectably square your words with reality. It would much simpler for me to ignore, believe me. so, please do not blame me for trying to understand your point of view.
Syag,
> You estimate wrong.
maybe we are not using the same definition of “community”. I mean broader community of 1000s people. Are you saying that among 50 people in your shul several got sick and all survived? Quite plausible. If you are in NY area, the death rate is 0.3%. That is, 3 people per thousand. The chance that everyone survives out of 50 people is 0.997^50 = 86%. If you are approaching herd immunity, your death rate will be 3x= 0.9%. Still, 50 people have 64% chance to have all survivals. Someone in another shul may not be so lucky. Overall, if your claim is correct, there are 6 more people dead out of every 1,000.So, thanks, I think we see where our different views come from. This virus is indeed confounding human intuition, as any “rate event” does. How often do we see people dying when crossing the street? most – not often. Why do many people still obey traffic laws – a combination of seeing cars coming, being trained over time, and police fines. Imagine that cars are invisible, cars come rarely, and there are no fines. Just, once in a while, someone who is crossing on a red light starts coughing within hours of crossing the lights and gets sick. Will it be easy to make people obey the traffic laws? Probably not. Some will attribute sickness to randomess, others to their lack of tzniyut, others will say – it is just 1 in 1,000, not a big deal.
for a coffee addict, the cup is always more than half full!
The disease is highly contagious, so 10% of all senior citizens is a lot of people … How many people are in Moetses and how many niftarim? this is the rate you should be worrying about.This is what Romans called “decimation” and it used to keep armies in compliance. The similarity to this barbarity is striking – under decimation, those who got the short stick were clubbed by the lucky ones.
There are so many factors behind virus statistics: variants are different, population distribution by age and diseases, genetics, population density, connections and pure randomness have an effect.
it is really hard to make attributions unless you have direct cause-effect connection, like putting infected people back into nursing homes. And it is very easy to make bogus claims to support your view, please keep that in mind.If you look now at total deaths/mil per country, you see that many countries that had it OK for some time are now similar to other “leaders” – Sweden, France, Poland, Hungary … Among major Western countries, Germany and Canada seems to be only ones doing significantly better than others.
Within the US, early “leaders” are still in the lead – liberal NE (from NJ to MA) states have 5 out of 7 worst states (2500 per mln) – higher than Belgium (1900). Closely following is six poor conservative states (Deep South and Dakotas). Remotest states are at the bottom – HI, AK, VT, MN,OR,UT,WA,NH – these are at German level (300-800 ). Some states similar to NE (VA, MN, MD) and to Deep South (KY,WV) are doing reasonably well.
From taking it all together, it appears that connectivity to the world (esp Europe), high population density, large cities, being poor all contribute. In one of these factors, mobility, US is way worse off than Europe. It is much easier to stop travel thru Chunnel than between NY and NJ ..
Common, I am not flying. I am enjoying video conferencing and I drive within 8 hours from me. A lot to see…
As you just said: you are complaint and nobody bothered you. You should be thankful that they keep others compliant and keep you safe. There is no reason people in an airplane can’t put on a K95 that does not slip.
Not all idiots are Jewish, I hope you did not imply that. We talk hear about Jews as we expect us to have better midos and common saychel.
Ctlawyer: low cost, low service carriers such as Frontier and Spirit.
I think most of those who fly large families for a little vacation find using British Airways for that a tad expensive. We should thank Herb Kelleher for starting SouthWest and developing a new business model and Press. Carter and Reagan for deregulation, and for fracking industry keeping fuel cheap for allowing masses of Jews to fly to Israel and afford Florida vacations. Just average prices are 2x lower now than in in 1978 + Spirit.
A free tip: you get even lower prices on Spirit if you buy in the airport. Spirit defines part of the ticket as “online sales tax”. With that, they do not pay other taxes on top of this tax. If you pay at the airport, you do not pay it, of course. So, if you have bli ayn hara a large family, hop in the car, go two hours before Spirit has a flight (when they asre open but no lines), have one person wait in the car. If you ask nicely, they can even assign your seats for free.
common: you are pretty vague accusing airlines of being rude “on a power trip” “roaming the isles looking for reasons to complain”. Are you saying – they want you to wear the mask and you are not complying? Maybe they just want to come home safely?
Syag,
you still mostly make your thoughts to yourself when you say “don’t make any sense”. if you are trying to discuss something, you need to diverge some specifics.As to masked shuls – are you listening to yourself? if you are saying they were noit safe, it means they did something wrong.
You seem to conclude that no protective measures matter, we will all get sick anyway? My estimate would be that if your community is achieving herd immunity through direct exposure, it means you had about 3x people more dying and seriously ill than average (*). I really do not understand how you can be so calm about this. Maybe someone else can explain this to me.
(*) Presume 70% for herd immunity
CDC estimate Jan 2021 – 25% of population was infected.Syag,
I am not against asking shailos. I was pointing areas where I think it is important to ask them.Next you complain that I talk about what works for me. If I posted something that you think could not work, I am simply inviting you and others to think how to apply my experience to better yours.
Re: minyanim. First, evidence that religious communities have large numbers is large. See Israeli numbers. Do people get sick in a minyan or a kiddush after that, or a yeshiva or a store nearby, is hard to say. There is a lot of general evidence that larger unprotected gatherings are more dangerous. Would you claim that covid does churches and not shuls?
The way you describe your community points that minyanim did propagate covid (you mention that it went thru multiple people in same shuls). you also mention that maskless got it earlier – this means that maskless had higher probability. It also points out that your masked minyanim were also not safe. It is, again, your fault. I posted recommendations here months ago how to make it safer. You should have advised those minyanim on safety measures. If you did, and they did not listen, then it is not your fault. My experience is 2 out of 3 who followed some of my recommendations. Even 3rd adopted some minimal ones.
If you were not sure, whether it was your business to go and tell them – you should have asked a shailah. You still can. Let us know what your posek says – are we arevim zeb’ze or not in this case?
CTLawyer, yashr koach, of course.
accordin to adoption,org, whomever they are, 5% of Christians in US adopt, 2x over general population. 73% of adoptees are white, 37% of adopted are white. Several states have agencies that restrict adoptees to certain denominations, so you would not be able to adopt there.
>> rav’s opinion, which was that distanced outdoor minyanim are so unreasonable
I’ll put aside considerations of hillul Hashem and following the laws, as we are focused here on things that can be proved by objective research. for this purposes, I am applying this psak to those cases where objective research can be applied.
DY >> You don’t need 100% immunity to stop covig from spreading
It is not just an average number, it is about having a pool to propagate.If there were no clusters, and we were to reduce everyone’s risk by a factor of 2, and R0 would decrease seriously below 1, then pandemic will be over.
BUT if a substantial CLUSTER of population continues being totally uncareful and in constant contact with each other, then covid will continue circulate among them and also touch everyone else. So, elderly will have 5x reduced risk due to their own vaccine, but they will still be exposed to that risk.
There is a lot of evidence that COVID moves in such non-uniform way. This explains, for example, nursing homes that are deadlier near universities. Medical students, even if being careful, eventually propagate covid from the student cluster to the nursing homes.
>> What are your “hard numbers” on the effectiveness of masks?
Look at Jeremy Howard, et al An evidence review of face masks against COVID-19 published in PNAS Jan 2021. A review of various studies.
The issue includes more than masks – SD, air flow, HVAC. It is clear that all of these significantly reduce risk. My sources include multiple articles on airflow simulation, discussions with a distinguished aerospace engineer, and my own experiments measuring airflows in several rooms, including a shul under controlled conditions (with/without people; with windows/doors opened, far/near vents).
>> I agree with that, which is why I would never ask the fellow
I understand where you are trying to stand, but I do not see “elu veelu divrei elokim” here. I read with interest arguments why anti-masking can be considered a reasonable position and did not find any of them remotely reasonable. We have hard numbers on one hand and innuendo and denial of reality (might be, what if, some say, everyone here) on the other. This is a very rational/scientific event where you can get to facts if you focus on them.
Again, I can have rahmonus and psychological and sociological excuses why some of these people are not reshayim, but not asking them shaylos is reasonable. I think the Rav’s opinion was pretty much a mild opinion. I personally do not see what is the value of Gemorah learning by people who can’t figure out a reasonably simple thing, other than protecting people from inappropriate behaviors.
Important statistical question – how correlated is mask rejection and vaccine rejection? are these independent issues in people’s minds or do we have same people denying everything?
why is it important? say, 20% of people refuse each of them. If these are the same people, then you can expect pandemic to continue raging at 5x lower level. If these issues are independent, then only 4% of population (0.2*0.2) will be fully unprotected and we can expect significant reductions at the end…
Argument for independence – people are bring unrelated reasons for each of the rejections. Argument for correlation – the reasons are excuses, and the rejection in both cases is based on distrust of science and authorities, independent character, ignorance, lack of empathy.
Can we take a vote on 2 issues at the same time:reluctance to wear masks and to take a vaccine from 0 to 10?
mine: 0 and 2RebE: teaching to fish.
Agree on the principle, but not sure whether this is advantage D. It is about policy effects, not declarations. D- policies create too many disincentives to fishing. Gingrich’s welfare reform was very successful in moving people to work. Kudos to Clinton for going along. Same goes for school vouchers that help poor people to put their kids in functioning schools.er: I also agree that we need a balance between educating others and ensuring our community can thrive. It is a delicate one. I would say, if an issue is not critical for our community, we should not vote for something that is bad for the society in general. I disagree that D- will help us as “minorities”. Jews did indeed benefit from “multi-cultural” approach that reduced pressure to conform, but at this point we are seen as rich, successful (aka un-equitable) conservative oppressors, not “minorities”. I think we will be uncomfortable in any society where either Ds or Rs take full control. Maybe Hashem created them at 50% each, so that they let us live in-between…
Charlie: There was a big decline in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in NYC after the BLM rallies.
Syag: Had no more serious a spread than other minyanim.you_all guys need to start asking shaylos from your local Rabbis/PhD….
Charlee – Indeed. There is a paper analyzing this. Mobility data explained what happened: rallies scared most other people from going to downtown and going out in general.
A similar effect might happened in Syag’s shul: vulnerable people were coming less to maskless minyanim, and more to masked ones. Also, if you are saying multiple (more than 4) people getting it at the same time, it means “masked” minyanim were not really taking full measures correctly, such as closed windows; ventilation that does not have filters and goes into their faces; prolonged davening; flimsy non-medical masks bouncing on the nose; exempting chazan; reading Torah close together, etc. We discussed this here at length early on, too bad you didn’t digest this info to them.
ok, so Dr Seuss going the way of Huck Finn, etc. Given that most of “classics” will have some outdated thought, most of it is already or will be denied.
I do not have a CAT in this fight, but it seems that the real question is – what do they use instead?
Most likely, some socialist and ethnic literature, further contributing to “dumbing down of America”I would mind less, if they go to Aristotle or Plato instead of Dr Seuss, though.
> nearly half of cancer treatments never underwent the golden standard double blind trials.
I googled for this phrase, and seems that missing part is “emergency authorizations” or something like that. I agree, in general, that in emergency we should be relying more on observational studies, especially when safety risks are small. Performing small blinded studies could compliment this.
The issue is also confounded with a need to consider multiple settings – who to give, when to give, etc, as discussed above. Note that A-Z Phase 3 was almost derailed by a simple fact that there were two different doses. Uncertainty of interpreting multiple arms is harder. You can’t just say “HCQ+zin given at day X” worked, when you went through 100 different combinations – as your success is a random result out of 100.
Note that this is still science, just harder science than blinded tests. One type of such math is called “multi armed bandits” (as in Vegas): you run multiple arms and estimate two things – possible effect and remaining level of uncertainty. Sometimes you want to explore more of arms that have more uncertainty even if they did not show sufficient result yet.
>> I think socialism applies to Torah values. Government is there to support people’s needs<
> The Torah is not socialist at all. however it does encourage private citizens to give tzedakah.I think this is all avodah zarah. Torah is not R- or D- (and for sure, not communist, of course). We may vote one way or another, but I don’t think we can and should fully subscribe to any movement, whether in US or Israel. One Talmid Chacham was asked, after an aliyah during heated times, which party he belongs to, responded “party of Moshe Rabeinu”
DY, not just koron, but CORON OHR … don’t need no Torah codes, the peshat is here
nisht: do not make up your own reasons.these are not my reasons, I think most commentaries say it is to not embarrass others or not to make them used to it (Chizkuni), or make it posibble for people to come for judgment.
Moshe was wearing it all the time, except when teaching (Ohr HaChaim, Behor Shor) or only when communicating with Hashem, (Kli Yakar, Tur HaAroch) or both (Rashi, Rashbam, R Bahya). This seems like an argument for those who want to teach without masks, as student needs to see teacher’s face (Seforno, Chizkuni, Eruvin 13: R Yehuda being zoche “seeing back of R Meir”).
Moshe retained the rays for his whole life (R Bahya), so he was wearing mask on and off for 40 years. So, don’t claim it is not possible.
Seems a machloket between Onkelos saying that he used more than N95, a full mask, and Yerushalmi meikel on just a one-layer cloth mask.
What can we learn from Moshe in terms of wearing a mask?
Seems like he was wearing it to protect and not to embarrass others.
Syag >> to say you are complimented and throw in a joke and a smile, and then make sure to leave a pinch in your exit.
I am not trying to pinch anyone, h’vsh. I am just saying that it is a possibility to consider: if you see something not fitting, maybe your measure is off. Need to analyze.
As you confirmed that this is directed towards me but did not specify the issue, I’ll try to guess: my previous comment was about who is a posek. Are you of the opinion that current poskim are ordained via urim v’tumim? I am mentioning the process of how one Rav gets recognized by others, and that there are also specialists in specific areas. All of that expanding on a remark from a Rav, who has many decades in official roles in a pretty mainstream community.
Syag>> Some of your comments are very unusual
Not sure whether you direct this at me, rightwriter, or someone else, (or all of us), but it would more helpful for us if you were more precise with your diagnosis. As it stands, I would understand your polite words as a definite compliment and will try harder next time! (who would want to make “usual” comments, after all). It also may be that if you see something “unusual” or “disturbing”, it is a sign to look over what your assumptions are.
DY, we seem to have a different recollection about specific case – whether it was illegal at the time. The lesson I learned is that if someone behaves irresponsibly or illegally, he should not be relied to for his judgment.
Please note that this is not just about different opinions. I am fine if you stand for kiddush, and I sit. The question is about several opinions, each of them having downsides. I don’t think even exacting Daas Torah takes you off the hook. Say, you go to the Rav and say – my son does not know how to swim, and he needs to take a dangerous boat to learn Torah. So, Rav says he has to stay home and be an ignoramus. It is still your fault that you did not teach him how to swim (Kiddushin 30).
Same here. If your posek determined that your community can learn and daven without SD and masks (reasoning that otherwise you’ll not learn at all), it is still your fault.
And the reason I talk about people walking in the streets w/out masks, because it is a shocking indicator how careless these people are even when a required effort is minimal.
DY >> many fine talmidei chachomim who have always been responsible leaders agree on not obsessing over Covid to the level you have,
A good question, except please strike down ” to the level you have”. These talmidei chachamim may be wrong, and in some cases, they changed their opinions over time, but most importantly, they need to deal with their followers and their capabilities and limitations. I can see, to simplify, the following logic: if those children do not go to yeshiva, they will go to other places, and the whole community will disintegrate. So, I don’t need to make a judgment about their judgment.
I am talking specifically about an individual. It is not material for him that someone permitted Covid kulos for the community. If this person is not behaving as a Talmid Chacham immediately (“at night”, using Gemora language) – fine, everyone can make a mistake in a situation, but if he does not stop (“in the morning”), then he is not a Talmid Chacham.
DY, Mrs. Syag,
let’s go step-by-step so I can understand your logic.There are numerous cases and groups of people who disregard DS and masks in their shuls and schools, and who disregard state mask orders. I am excluding gray areas here. Many people, including myself, see them, and they are all over photos, and the photos are not all done by evil chilonim. Do you agree with that?
The fact that these people contributed to extra deaths seems to be straight-forwards from statistics. Do you agree?
You can argue that some communities live in small urban dwellings, etc. This is a reason not to accuse people wholesale based on statistics, but this is not a reason not to be careful, just the opposite.
Is there an over-reaction on the other side? I don’t see it, but will be happy to discuss. I personally just go around un-masked people. I have to admit that I was ready to use a chair or a foot to clear space when unmasked Hamans showed up at the end of Purim davening with their gifts – but just the look worked.
DY, to clarify: the question was during a lockdown in that state, when the activity is question was against the rules. It was an oral ruling, not in writing. Similarly, at the same early time, R Heinemann responded to a question whether one can do minyanim with people standing on different porches, etc to stay within the rules. His response – a passerby will not delve into minute details, he will just know that Jews are doing something questionable – and then, some Jew may be denied a ventilator because of that. Using this criterion, our current minyan is OK: a passerby snapped a picture of us during a snow day and – when I looked – showed a thumbs up.
Israel now reports that 90% of hospitalized are those who did not yet vaccinate. This is a picture in transition while some are partially vaccinated.
I think when US reaches same levels, the issue will resolve: priovate and Obamacare insurance will start asking for vaccination status, workplaces and schools will to. It is really issue of social convention. Right now, schools ask for flu vaccine even when kids do not go to school, and it is considered normal.
Ms. Syag >> Are you for real?
on peshat level, it seems to be the case that COVID may leave a lot of internal damage, not seen originally.
For me personally, the biggest shock of the pandemic is how many Jews and whole communities behave irresponsibly and feel no shame about it. Specifically, people who claim to learn. So, you learn all machlokets of Abbaye and Rava, subtle arguments of what is or is not real mesorah, you can use kal ve’homer, and you learn maris ayn, and all examples of behavior by Talmidei Chachamim – and then you disregard simple public health measures, kill your Rosh Yeshiva, and go to his funeral without the mask. I may have rachmonus on such a person, but for sure I do not want someone like that in my family.
Speaking about vaccines and shidduchim:
do people put there covid, mask and vaccine status on shiduch resume already?
if not, do people ask?it cuts both ways – some may not want a candidate with potentially damaged lungs, others might be happy that the candidate survived OK..
ujm: You have Gedolim on both sides.
I am with GH here. So, you are using a reference to unnamed gedolim and will only follow them when there is an anonymous opinion?! and if not, you’ll do whatever you want? Is there a specific Rav you are following on this?
Same question for tristate – did you ask? video? what is the date on the video?
DY >> Tongue in cheek much
no, very straighforward – I am arguing _these_ are issues that require more attention.
meta-question – whom would you ask? A posek is a democratically “elected” figure – it is a person who is being often asked by other deciders. Now, if most of questions being asked are not in this area, then we might not have a well-developed poskim in the areas we are not asking questions. “our fault”, as we discussed before. Maybe time to start is now.
>> Are they rodfim? Is it muttar to kill them?
Again, subject to previous conditions, you should use least extreme measures you can. Traditional measure is to isolate from the society. Frankly, this already happened. A lot of people who can do it moved recently out of big cities. So, if you or I live too close to people who do not follow the rules, we should maybe just move. Of course, there are people who, for various reasons, are not able to move.
>> if everyone else is vaccinated, why would they care if some weren’t?
If sizeable portion of population (20%) will not vaccinate, then pandemic will continue at reduced rates (20%?) level and will be endangering even those who are vaccinated. I hope it will be soon known whether one can rely on antigen tests to see who really acquired immunity, then at least we will know who should be more careful – or maybe take extra vaccines …
rightwriter,
may I ask you – did you have a chance to learn halakha and if you comfortable to disclose – where? and did you have a chance to run your questions by your Rav or Rosh Yeshiva?ujm >> Is it proper to recommend what is best for public policy even if it may be bad advice for different individuals?
Following example seems to show that one needs to be honest and recommend what is good for the person in question: students that were starting demonstrating for Soviet Jews in the 1960s asked (among others) R Soloveichik. Rav S asked someone in Israeli government – what is best for Soviet Jews. That person replied that it is better to stay quiet. Later, Rav realized that he was lied to: Israeli government thought it is based for Israel to stay quiet, not necessarily for Soviet Jews.
DY – yes, the Israeli study is the first indicating reduced transmission. this is an early study with some caveats if you read reporting to the end. Even with this condition, there are two others that I mentioned. The next question is how to stop them. Anti-maskers are visible, so you can usually walk around them and exclude from the company. Maybe in the future non-vaxers would need to wear, indeed, special signs that people know to avoid them.
This thread is drunk. Bobby Fischer had nothing to do with Open-O.
He might have been a meshugane but he was much smarter than that.
He did have great openings, though.I could not find Esther in the Parsha, but found two Vashtis… why two?
DY: I think they are wrong, but rodfim?
There might be several arguments why they are not currently rodfim:
1) If they take serious precaution measures, equivalent in effect to vaccination, they are not.
2) I believe there is no determination yet that vaccine sufficiently reduced transmission, although there are preliminary estimates. so, this would be sofek rodfim.
3) while there is a shortage of vaccines, someone else could use it.Note that none of these justifications apply to those who are not taking precautions.
It took Covid for kids to realize that they can give shaloh-monosto each other and their parents!
common,
DON’T DRINK and DRIVE!!!WALK
RebE, thanks! interesting, how a discussion about waste of time turned out not to be one!
L’ChaimHere is an exercise:
there was early report from a French hospital that smokers in that hospital are surviving COVID better than the others. Numbers were pretty clear.
Now, we have smoking as one of diseases that gives a priority to get a vaccine.question: what was wrong with that French hospital result? Drink a little and think about it.
The writer has a point. Maybe he could petition to open vaccine-free restaurants for non-vaccinated only. The food will be even cheaper as the chef does not need to care how the food smells, so he could use left-over from the other restaurtants.
I am not sure Supreme court will allow back of the bus reserved for the vaccine-free
>> why didn’t Rav Shimon Hamosini think of Rebbi Akiva’s darush
best explanation, imho, I forgot the source: R Shimon for sure saw a possibility of such an answer. He was a baki, after finding derashot on all previous ones. But, in tis case, he felt that even if he can come up with an answer, it is not the EMES here, so he just followed Emes despite losing all his previous academic work. Now, you made me thinking, maybe, even more – he JUMPED at the opportunity to
1) receive a unique award for retracting. He had so many rewards for derashot, he did not care for one more, he knew the value of retracting is higher!
2) teach his students the value of EMES at the expense of his career. So, we need to review this regularly, he wanted us toremaining question: how did R Akiva then dare to say the rejected opinion? He saw R Shimon – chachamim like that deserve the yerah like Hashem
And feel comfortable to share this dvar Torah – it is not mine, I heard it from Lakewood R Nosson Wachtfogel Z’L. I did not put his name first, expecting someone reacting to a “Rebbe” designation for Esther. I was surprised by his choice of words – maybe I looked modernishe? – but I see a big applied value in his message for the CR room on who can pasken.
>> reglaim is never mentioned in the torah,
Ex 20:14 שָׁלֹ֣שׁ רְגָלִ֔ים תָּחֹ֥ג לִ֖י בַּשָּׁנָֽה׃
plus purim, chanuka and lag b’omer – here are 6 feet min HaTorah!
masks? Hester Panim, of course!