Irrelevance of religion in the Corona crisis

By the way, some claim that many of the infections occurred during the Purim celebrations, which is also a certain theological problem.

Aaron, it's very strange that you say that.

When there were major national events, such as Protective Edge or the Second Lebanon War, I don't remember the rabbis speaking out so much, certainly not like the Corona. In fact, I don't remember hearing even one religious interpretation of the Second Lebanon War (I suppose there were some, but they were really negligible). During Protective Edge there were a little more, because of the three boys, etc., but it's still negligible compared to the Corona.

And right now during the Corona, I don't think there's a single rabbi who's mouth is watering (well, maybe just Rabbi Mikhi).

The Bible, up to the part where the formation of the Jewish people begins (Parshat Lech Lech), clearly tells us that problematic behavior is supposed to bring destruction to the world - reality speaks to the whole world when we behave immorally. (Like the post that Rabbi Mikhi visited a few days ago).

Also, there is no shortage of sources that when there is a calamity, it affects everyone. The righteous and the wicked.

Chaim, we have experienced the destruction of a temple twice. I am guessing that a significant portion of the dead died right on the Holy of Holies. In the Holocaust, Jews were burned in synagogues, more than once or twice.
So I didn't quite understand your question. It is well known that a physical place is not necessarily protective.

Shabbat Shalom!

Shalom Ehud.
It was reported that Bnei Brak leads in the percentage of infections by a considerable margin – percent of the population, compared to half a percent in the city after it – Tel Aviv.

I assume you explain this by saying that ”The Holy One, blessed be He, is meticulous with His followers,” right?

According to this, the catastrophe in Italy is also related to the above rule, that ”The Holy One, blessed be He, is meticulous with His followers,”? Maybe because the Vatican is located there? Or is it related to another rule?

https://www.bhol.co.il/news/1090514
https://www.maariv.co.il/corona/corona-israel/Article-756647

I reread your words.

You are essentially claiming that the world as a whole has sinned (in what?), and therefore “permission was given to corrupt”, and henceforth the rule is deterministic, right?

Hello Aharon,

According to Rav Kook's teachings, all of reality is one unity (unity, not uniformity).
Therefore, everyone depends on everyone else, and we see this now – Technically, this whole huge thing probably started with some Chinese who ate an animal that he didn't cook properly. Like chaos theory – the butterfly effect.

As someone who believes in the will of God that works in reality, my opinion is that a certain threshold of sins has been crossed. And here it is perhaps a general threshold of sins, which is associated with all of humanity.
But as a believing Jew, I am optimistic, and therefore every descent will also end with an ascent (i.e., above the place from which the descent began).
In any case, the world must move forward, and if there were no sins, the world would move forward in more pleasant ways, without the drastic decline that we are experiencing today.
The difference between me and the rabbis who tell us specifically what we sinned against (“evil speech”, “fornication”, “forbidden foods”, etc., each to his own opinion) is that I don't know what we sinned against. Again, I just believe that a certain line was crossed.
I can say that it is advisable for everyone to correct everything they can. This is always true, and especially now, in a time of crisis, when it will surely be better.

Regarding determinisms, I personally am of the opinion (which of course also appears in the Sages), that when there is an illness, then the chance of divine intervention is not high, because the measure of justice has already been sealed. Therefore, in my opinion, if we take 100 chronically ill atheists for whom no one prayed, and – 100 chronically ill religious people who were prayed for a lot, if we examine who was saved, we may not see any significant difference in the percentage of religious people who were saved.

The greatest wisdom, in my opinion, is not to be sick at all. So the main thing is prayer.
On the other hand, when a person is sick, then perhaps the measure of justice has been sealed (whether it is a mild or severe illness).

Why should a person still seek healing even when he is sick?
Because “even a sharp sword . . .”

What is this like?
Imagine that a person was convicted of a crime he committed, and then sentenced to – 3 months in prison.
Was the measure of justice sealed? Yes.
Is his punishment justified? Yes
Is the chance that he will change high? Probably not.
Is he still allowed to send a letter of pardon to the president – Yes!
And perhaps, even though the measure of justice has been sealed, there will be more mercy here.
But we must remember, God is merciful and gracious, but I understood that He is not a forgiving one.

It is important for me to emphasize that this is only my opinion (based, as stated, on Chazal), but there are also opinions that praying for healing will necessarily help even if a person is already sick. But this is a tautology, because always if the prayers for healing did not help, one can say “you did not pray enough”

If you have 45 minutes to spare to absorb optimism, you are welcome to watch this:

https://youtu.be/OtGU7dSDpdM

I accept your words, even though I don't agree with them.

I'll just ask your opinion, if the pandemic came because of a “global threshold of sin” that was crossed (right now), what benefit will the pandemic bring?
Will the Chinese repent?
Will the Germans and Italians repent?
What do they need to “strengthen”?
Suppose you know what they need to “strengthen”, are they also aware of it? Is there a way for them to be aware?
If the pandemic is a supreme reaction to behavior, and it is not useful to change it, then it is just a “nerve release” of the one who sent it.

Hello friends
If I understood correctly, in Aaron's question there is a hidden assumption that religion is God's sending to explain all the events of the renewed reality,
This may have been true when there were prophets, or Urim and Tomi,
but since there is no priest and prophet, we have no way to really know what happened because of what.

But all of this is only one aspect of what religion is.

There is another thing that religion is still very relevant in. In its consistent demand to be good and do good.
And this is true as in any event, also in the event of 'Corona'. And perhaps even more so.

For most of us, such an event, more than it threatens physical harm, is a fundamental challenge to the 'group identity' that we tend to develop.
Suddenly, we have been disconnected from the automatic social mechanism that set our agenda. Suddenly, it becomes impossible to escape from home to work. Suddenly, the educational institutions that used to hide real care for our children are gone. We are locked up at home, so it is also impossible to ignore unresolved problems in relationships. And all religious services built on grouping and the company of people are closed in on us.

This is an excellent opportunity to stand in front of yourself and ask, perhaps for the first time in your life: Wait, so who am I?!

And here religion comes in its purity, inviting you to be who you really are. To discover the good in you. To bring out the love. To bring out the inner self.

Return to the source of "One was Abraham"

This is indeed an opportunity for all of humanity. But religion has prepared a beautiful prescription for the reformed person.

Hi Aaron,

What they added now may be true – an opportunity for a person to introspect. I can't say for sure if it's true or not, again, because I don't know what G-d wants. That everyone should make their own efforts.

Regarding what the nations have to learn – as a nation/people, I don't know what the general providence is over them, unlike my people Israel, it's clear that there is a G-d will involved for all of Israel (for example, G-d may even help a wicked Jew succeed, if it serves the common good).

Therefore, it's hard for me to say specifically what they need to improve as a people. As far as I'm concerned, each of these peoples should look at the 7 commandments of the sons of Noah + do the deepest spiritual contemplation possible and see what they can improve.

How can the people of Israel help with this?
To reveal G-d to them. To call upon His name and make Him king over the whole world. “All the inhabitants of the earth shall know and acknowledge…”.
We too must have a part in proclaiming His blessed name.

On the 4th of Nisan 5751, the close connection between the ‘Open Society’ and the recitation of the Shabbat was revealed. Although due to the strict adherence to limited minyanim, it is not possible to continue the custom of reciting Popper‘Open Society’ during the recitation of the Shabbat, but there is no need for this. Since prayer must take place in the open space, the society of worshippers must be an ‘Open Society’ 🙂

Indeed, our society is becoming open, and the barriers are gradually being removed. The secular do not go out on Shabbat and the religious do not go to synagogues, and everyone has no one to lean on except their Father in Heaven.

With the blessing of Aviv Kochavi, Shabbat

One of the advantages of Torah scholars these days is that everyone is gathered in their homes, and that we have educational material around which we can gather for joint study - the Bible and the Mishnah, books of Halacha and books of Emunah and Musar, can serve as joint study material that connects the "whole house of Israel, great and small."

With the blessing of "Yosef the Lord" upon you and upon your children, blessings be upon you, O God, who made heaven and earth, may God bless you.

Ehud,

You claimed that the message to the nations is to improve in the 7 commandments.

The Chinese did not have the opportunity to be exposed to the 7 commandments, because the Bible was not familiar in their culture (what's more, the 7 commandments are not explicitly stated in the Bible).

Therefore, I would suggest that representatives of the Jewish people send them the 7 commandments, with an explanation and good advice: Keep the 7 commandments, so that you do not catch another corona.

In the year 2017, the children of Sang

Leah-He-Rong, greetings,

In addition to many of the ten tribes who exiled to the land of China, there were also children of Judah in China who arrived there via trade routes from Persia and Afghanistan. Among them are the members of the Kaifeng community, who for centuries maintained a Jewish community life, read the Torah in Chinese and were called Chinese names (including a Jew with the typical name Ai-wei-yi 🙂

In searching for the roots of his Loewinger family, the commander discovered that there was a village in southern China (on the border with Burma) called Loe-Wing (where the 113th volunteer squadron of the Flying Tigers operated in 1941, which assisted the Chinese in the fight against the Japanese, see the Wikipedia entry for the Flying Tigers)

So I assumed that Loe-Wing Hundreds of years ago, there was a Jewish community, where, among other things, the paprika merchant Ching-Ching-Chi lived, who came there to trade in Hungary and was forced to stay there due to the Mongols taking over the route to China. On Shabbat, Ching-Ching-Ching went to the synagogue in the manner of a Jewish ruler, and when the rabbi asked his name to introduce him to the Torah, he proudly answered, "Ching-Ching-Ching-Yi," and immediately the rabbi called out: "Samson Zvi will stand hungry," and from then on the man was called "Samson Zvi Loewinger," and he is the father of the Loewinger family to this day.

To our brothers, the Israelites who assimilated among the Chinese, the reader of generations calls out: "Wu-Han" (Blah: Where is the rooster? How long will you defile yourselves with bats and pangolins and other abominations and creeps? Return to the ways of your ancestors and eat only the pure species that are kosher for Jews.

Greetings, Ching-chong-ching, Le-wing man

Simply put, it is not our job to look for clues about why God did this to this nation and not another. Everyone needs to “clean up their own yard” and look in their immediate circle, in themselves and in their immediate surroundings, for what they need to fix and improve, and when everyone works on their own “yard,” the whole world will look much better.

In particular, the words about the people of Israel are true, which, in relation to the nations, is “a dog with limbs.” The heart, unlike the brain, cannot give “individual instructions” to each and every organ. What the heart does is to inject energy. Life forces that empower the entire body, thereby increasing the natural resilience of the entire body.

Let us be strengthened in faith, and let us be strengthened in kindness, in attention to our family, and in attention to individuals in our community who may need help and encouragement. Let us be strengthened and strengthened in Torah and in prayer, while observing health restrictions. Let us act with caution but not nervously, and the comment of Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg, שם קרואן האמטריה העלה על האלהים הע

Aharon Shalom,

I don't think there is a cultured person today who has not been exposed to the Bible and its commitments that stem from the Bible.
Secondly, I know that there are those who take care to convey the messages (including to the Chinese).
Rabbi, Rabbi Uri Amos Sharki Shlita, is involved in spreading the Jewish faith throughout the world, and in my opinion he has also reached the Far East (although his words probably did not fall on too many ears).
You are invited to visit his website to get an impression:

https://noahideworldcenter.org/wphebrew/

By the way, in my opinion, the people of the Far East did listen to him, they do not eat the genitals of animals.

This is where our importance stems from.
And indeed you are right, the people of Israel have a role in the world, and our role is to announce His kingdom, blessed be He, to the whole world.
The time will come when we will shout it out as a country.

By the way, there is no need to threaten or intimidate, because we do not know the exact calculations of heaven (as I have written more than once), we must persist in spreading the faith in the world in the most pleasant ways.

On the 4th of Nisan 5751

And maybe we can learn something from the Chinese? It turns out that during the outbreak of SARS, the Chinese sent traditional Chinese medicine experts to the places where the epidemic was spreading, who contributed to stopping the epidemic. And so with the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Chinese sent traditional Chinese medicine experts there who outlined ways to deal with and treat the coronavirus.

For the insights of traditional Chinese doctors, see the article "Corona Virus": The Coronavirus and Chinese Medicine Against It - A Fascinating Interview with a Chinese Expert, on Tom Rothenberg's website.

Best regards, Sh”ts Ish Le-Wing

From what little I understood from the article, it seems that the combination of humidity and pollution helps the outbreak and spread of the epidemic. Perhaps it is worth directing people at high risk to move ‘until the fury passes’ to the dry and clean Negev areas?

According to the above – https://bshch.blogspot.com/2020/03/blog-post_4334.html, the epidemic broke out following the attack on the Gur Hasidim by the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi David Abuhatzira.

The advice was that the one who will be the rabbi of the yeshiva, Rabbi Shaul Alter, would contact the scholar ‘Itzik the Chinese’, who speaks both languages.
The Chinese Itzik would write a petition that would be signed by a billion Chinese people, and its content would be support for Gersh Alter.

The People's Republic of China would also send a delegation to Gersh Alter at the Yeshiva of the Discontented’ in Jerusalem, with a letter of ordination, stating that he would be the rabbi of the state. At the coronation feast, twelve challahs made of high-quality sushi will be placed, and at the wine ceremony, a zivu will be served as a king's hand.
The Rebbe Shalit will wish for life and blessings, and with his help there will be salvation and healing for the entire world.

When our esteemed Rabbi Shtzel carries out this great tikkun, he will be worthy of his position and his office, for his hands will perform miracles and wonders.

On the 4th of Nisan 5775

To Chazal – Shalom Rav,

The idea of a plague coming among scholars who did not show respect for one another was already expressed in Chazal's words about the disciples of Rabbi Akiva who died between Pesach and the assembly for not showing respect for one another. So without getting into this or that controversy – it is really worth it for us to be careful to show respect for one another even when there is a dispute.

And perhaps that is why the days between Pesach and the assembly are special for strengthening ourselves on this issue, since the feeling of freedom by its nature increases a person's determination to stand on his own opinion, and hence disputes grow. But we must remember that the foundation of everything is that we all stood before G-d to receive His Torah out of unity and humility.

This consciousness of unity and humility in receiving the Torah – It should bring us closer together out of appreciation and respect, and then the Torah, with all the development of self-thought that comes with studying it, will become the elixir of life. The correction will therefore come not from China, but from Sinai 🙂

With blessings, Sh”t

Although it is not the right time to “cling together out of appreciation and respect” because in the decree of the kingdom we are prevented from approaching within the boundaries of the other person (the commandments of the meter of the law), it is true that the greater respect for the Rabbi is evident, which is only permissible.
In his role, he serves as the “rabbi who prepares” for the holy place (?) of the law, as Abraham the Hebrew, for the whole world is in this past and is in the other past, as a Risha of the One who does not know, a resin of the highest, above and beyond our comprehension.

And did the people of Minnawa have any connection to Israel?
Was Job from the Jewish nation?

A man will die for his sin!

And yet, the Chinese have no historical memory with the people of Israel, but they do have a present memory.
(Assuming they did not orchestrate the spread of the virus …)

They sanctified industrialized culture, the shallow ordering of purchases from abroad that causes the people of Israel to sink even further into Western culture.

However, it is not in this context that the Chinese deserve to be punished, but for the cruelty that was born among them, and I will detail some of the shocking culture of this terrible people.

Eating aborted human fetuses, eating animals while they are still alive, plundering fur and skins while the animal is still alive, roasting the back of the animal/buttock while the animal is still alive and eating the roasted part, trampling on human dignity by the government.

And with all this, I do not think that we still have a prophet who can translate the word of God for us. Sages translate the words of prophecy that were delivered to them, not the word of God. Therefore, a sage who tries to give a translation of the word of God should remind him to whom the prophecy was given.

But if we continue with the religious interpretation of the punishment for humanity, we will have difficulty understanding why it also befalls those who wear kippahs and grow beards from the Haredi community. We will come out as hypocrites if we think that humans are free from the ’. Every day in prayer we confess our sins and there is no righteous person on earth who does not sin. We all sin, but the ’ is long-suffering and full of grace and truth.

If I am mistaken and have prophetic eyes on reality, then first of all it is forbidden to criticize the people of Israel, but we will come out as arrogant if we think that there is a sector that fulfills the word of the ’ precisely. I have many difficulties with the sectoral religious conduct of our brothers from the Haredi community, despite all the understanding I have towards them. I think these difficulties have a basis in truth to the extent that the Almighty, the great God, the heroic and awesome God who loves all creation, gives us all an educational punishment. He starts with the Haredi sector to awaken it. Come out of your own confines. You lovers of My covenant, go, go out and spread My covenant, influence your secular brothers instead of shutting yourself away in yeshivas and becoming private religious. But the Haredi public does not pay attention to this, just as it did not notice the coming of the pandemic and its isolation from the people prevented it from receiving from professionals, and therefore it is an educational punishment of measure for measure.

I believe that the Almighty is hidden in history and our job is to discover it. In order to discover it, we must not pull it out of the stomach but must investigate seriously, pray from the heart, observe carefully, and only then hope that people of truth will reveal to us a blemish of His will. Teach me, O Lord; I will walk in Your way.

I hope I phrased it in a way that answered the question. I wish the whole world good health in the name of God. Amen!