The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Tuesday the 29
th
of Tammuz 5780 and July 21, 2020
Where have all the people gone?
Dictionary: Quandary:
noun, plural quan·da·ries.
“A state of perplexity or uncertainty, especially as to what to do; dilemma.”
The quandary which I deal with daily is the question of “to mask or not to mask.”
Even though the law in New Jersey states clearly that any gathering indoor requires everyone to wear a mask.
Also, all (or at least a vast majority) of doctors are emphatic and unwavering in their insistence of wearing masks.
Nevertheless, among some in the Orthodox population, there is the assumption that the plague is over and done with.
One Yiddish paper even ran a headline,
“And it came to pass, after the plague
” (
VaYehi Acharei HaMageipha
).
Indeed, at Simchas in Monsey, Brooklyn, Lakewood, and other Jewish neighborhoods, life has returned to normal.
I have witnessed weddings and pre-wedding parties and other social events where unmasked men were sitting shoulder to shoulder, sharing Glenlivet and other delicacies.
I have had people greet me by extending their hand towards me in an apparent attempt at a handshake.
And it is just not among the Orthodox population.
At a visit to the doctor last Wednesday, I saw nurses hugging each other and embracing as if no one ever heard of the word Corona.
The expected “second wave” from the protests never materialized, and even the doctors who insist to me that we must remain masked indoors, are stumped by the “facts on the ground.”
As there does not seem to be a resurgence of the virus in this neck of the woods.
So what does one do when the “Top Grass” says to mask up, and the “grass-roots” says to unmask?
In the case of
saphek
(doubt) to one’s health, in Jewish law, we err on the side of caution, which means “mask-up.”
This causes friction within the Kehilla.
No one likes wearing a mask.
No one likes to daven with a mask.
However, medical opinion tells us we should mask up.
Therefore, in the Shul, we “mask-up,” for nothing else, it’s the law.
Yet, the tension and friction and passionate opinions regarding the mask has turned many a shul into a war zone.
The maskers insist on everyone wear the mask properly.
The non-maskers tell the maskers, “Hey, chill-out, no big deal here.”
The maskers tell the non-maskers, “You are potential Rotzchim” (murderers).
The rabbi receives letters daily from those who claim the Shul is too lax in its enforcement of masks and from those who claim the Shul is too strict in its insistence on masks.
The only thing both sides agree is that they are boycotting the Shul until the Shul either loosen’s up or becomes more vigilant.
Fifty percent say they will not come if they have to wear a mask, and the rule is enforced.
Fifty percent say they will not come if the rule of wearing a mask is not enforced.
That leaves us with what we had for three months: an empty shul.
I wonder what Hashem is saying?
Whose side is He on?
“If Not Now, Then When?”- Hillel
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel
Passaic, NJ
