Do you know of blessings by some other rabbi that do work?

With God’s help, after Simchat Torah 5781

A look at the daily coronavirus reports on the Clalit Health Services website shows that in the Land of Israel, although the rate of infections is the sixth highest in the world, the rate of severe cases and deaths is very low relative to other countries. Here we are in 142nd place in the world. In other words: the overwhelming majority get the virus lightly.

Many other sources indicate that the percentage of severe cases and deaths in the Haredi public is lower than its proportion in the general population.

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky not only blessed and prayed, but also instructed (together with the vast majority of the great Torah sages from all circles) to follow the Health Ministry guidelines, to continue study in the yeshivot in small groups, while being careful about ventilation, hygiene, and mask-wearing, according to the framework approved by the Health Ministry.

It seems that those who obeyed the rabbi’s instructions carefully succeeded. Out of about 30,000 yeshiva students who were tested at the end of the term, 90 percent were found clear and went out for the intersession break. And the small minority of 10 percent who were infected were sent for the break to yeshivot whose students had all been found clear and gone out for the break, and those yeshivot became “corona hotels.”

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky’s insistence on not shutting down the voice of Torah even in hard times led to an agreed and successful framework, showing that it is possible to protect both body and soul together. To be careful and cautious—yes. To shut down the world of Torah out of panic and loss of composure—no!

Best regards, S.Tz.

Dear S.Tz., it’s plainly obvious from your writing that you haven’t studied even a single day in a Haredi yeshiva. Do you really believe that in yeshivas they keep the guidelines…?

With God’s help, Isru Chag of Sukkot 5781

To B.G. — greetings,

Of the 30,000 yeshiva students who were tested, 3,000 were found positive—that is, about 10%, the same percentage as in the general population.

Moreover, it appears that most of the “positives” were concentrated in a small number of yeshivot, in which dozens or hundreds of infected students were found in each yeshiva.

This implies that the overwhelming majority of yeshivot came out completely clean, because they were careful about the guidelines, as instructed by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein.

Best regards, S.Tz.

Perhaps the ninety percent who were careful are “Haredim,” whereas the ten percent who were not careful are “Hareidim,” because since they added two extra yuds to their Haredi-ness, the saying “two yuds, three opinions” was fulfilled in them, and therefore they didn’t obey the guidelines 🙂

Best regards, Shimshuyin Leitz

In the title:
The tests prove it

Paragraph 2, line 1
… that most of the “positives” are concentrated…

When will they throw the clown from Belz into prison on bread of affliction and water of oppression and seize all his property?

Who is the clown from Belz?

His holy eminence Yissachar Dov Rokeach, may he live long.

That’s the son of the bloodshed-spiller Aharon, may his name be erased?

With God’s help, Isru Chag of Sukkot 5781

In Belz they indeed did not agree to close educational institutions and synagogues, nor to move prayers outdoors or reduce the number of worshippers in the synagogue in order to keep distance between them (as was practiced in most other circles).

However, presence in the public sphere was restricted in Belz with a severe warning in the Rebbe’s name: “Anyone who does not feel well and feels weakness, or has symptoms, should not remain in the study hall and should return home” (see the article: “In the name of the Belz Rebbe: Corona spread in the study hall,” on the Kikar HaShabbat website, from the 13th of Tammuz 5780).

This announcement came following a public proclamation by the religious court of Machzikei HaDat, in which it was stated among other things: “We hereby come to warn very stringently every single person who feels in himself any symptom of the infectious illness—may God protect us—not to leave his home as long as he is not fully back to health, and Heaven forbid to circulate among others, so as not to cause damage, God forbid, knowingly or unknowingly” (ibid.).

Belz’s focus is on someone who feels weakness or any symptom—such a person is put into isolation at home “until he is fully back to health.” (And as stated, it seems that most of the great sages of our generation are stricter even regarding the healthy, that they should keep their distance from one another out of concern for asymptomatic infection with the virus.)

Best regards, S.Tz.

As for the “test of results,” one could say that Belz’s method is succeeding. In the article “Pray: these are the severe coronavirus patients from Belz Hasidism,” altogether only 7 names of severe patients are listed, from a Hasidic group numbering in the thousands and perhaps tens of thousands. This implies that the rate of severe cases is very low.

Even so, as for us, we defer to the view of most of the great sages of our generation, who are stricter and rule to follow the doctors’ and Health Ministry’s guidelines, to maintain distance between worshippers, and to prefer prayer outdoors; and we cannot learn from the Belz Hasidim who shelter beneath their rabbi’s wings. We are obligated to act in accordance with our rabbis.

For the words of the Belz Rebbe on the night after Simchat Torah, see the article: “The Belz Rebbe: Rabbis are interfering as if the Torah is in their pocket” (on the Kikar HaShabbat website)

S.Tz., shame on you.

It seems that Belz’s method—that anyone who feels weakness or symptoms should stay shut in at home until complete recovery—can be carried out in a relatively small Hasidic group, whose members constantly feel that they are “under the watchful eyes” of the Rebbe and the community, and the chance is negligible that someone with symptoms would dare walk around outside.

In societies where obedience to the rabbi is less self-evident, there is greater concern that people with mild symptoms will not refrain from going out into the public domain, and therefore distancing measures need to be strengthened.

Best regards, S.Tz.

A protest over the honor of a Torah scholar.

A protest against stupid protests.