H eadlines
UPenn Doctor to Serve on COVID Task Force
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe
Biden has appointed a local
Jewish doctor and public
health expert to his corona-
virus task force.

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is an
oncologist, bioethicist, vice
provost for global initiatives
and chair of the department
of medical ethics and health
policy at the University of
Pennsylvania. He is the author
and editor of several books, his
writing has appeared widely
in news outlets and he previ-
ously worked with President
Barack Obama as one of the
main creators of the Affordable
Care Act.

“Dealing with the corona-
virus pandemic is one of the
most important battles our
administration will face, and
I will be informed by science
and by experts,” said President-
elect Biden in a statement. “The
advisory board will help shape
my approach to managing
the surge in reported infec-
tions; ensuring vaccines are
safe, effective, and distrib-
uted efficiently, equitably, and
free; and protecting at-risk
populations.” Coronavirus cases have
exploded in the United States
over the past several weeks. The
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention reported
almost 11 million cases and
more than 245,000 deaths in
the country as of Nov. 16.

State and local governments
are beginning to implement
new regulations on businesses
and gatherings as the case count
climbs. On Nov. 16, the City of
Philadelphia announced new
“Safer at Home” restrictions
effective from Nov. 20, 2020,
through Jan. 1, 2021. Museums,
theaters and gyms must close,
restaurants can no longer offer
indoor dining and schools
must move to online-only
instruction. Private indoor
gatherings with members of
more than one household are
also prohibited.

In an interview with The
Philadelphia Inquirer, Emanuel
called for consistent public
health messaging to battle the
pandemic. “You need everyone
in government on one page,”
Emanuel told the Inquirer,
“and you need to repeat the
message often.”
Don’t Schlep It, Ship It! Free Pick Up Available!
No matter whether it’s golf clubs, good china,
priceless art, oversized luggage –
if you can point to it, we can ship it!
If it’s valuable to you, it’s valuable to us. The
US Mailroom picks up, packs, and ships items
of all shapes and sizes, getting your packages
from where they are to where they need to be.

We cater especially to “snowbirds” as the cold
weather approaches.

Call us today at 610-668-4182
or visit our store in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

For more information,
email info@usmailroom.com
or go to www.usmailroom.com
Est.1988 4
NOVEMBER 19, 2020
He also advocated for a
depoliticized public health
care message that placed scien-
tists and public health officials
at the forefront, widespread
testing and contact tracing,
funding from Congress, and
transparent policies that would
build public trust and convince
people to get a vaccine once it
becomes available.

He emphasized the need
for a centralized strategy and
cooperation among the states.

“You need coordination at
the center, at the White House,
when you are coordinating
many government agencies and
private companies,” he told the
Inquirer. (Emanuel declined to
be interviewed for this story.)
David Agus, CEO of the
Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for
Transformative Medicine and
a professor of medicine and
engineering at the University
of Southern California, said
Emanuel’s background in
bioethics will come into play as
the committee considers some
of the most important medical
questions of our time.

“How do we decide who gets
what treatments or vaccines,
and what is the order?” he
said. “Do we want to vacci-
nate people of color because
they have a higher risk of
complications? The elderly?
Health care workers? Those are
very important decisions that
need broad perspective. And
what I think Zeke brings to
the committee is that broad
perspective, which is really
critical.” Emanuel’s appointment has
been controversial due to a
2014 article he published in The
Atlantic in which he declared
he did not want to live past 75
and plans to refuse life-pro-
longing medical procedures
like cancer screenings and
vaccines once he reaches that
age. He critiqued Americans’
obsession with living as long as
possible. Death is a loss, he allowed,
but so is living too long.

“It renders many of us, if
not disabled, then faltering
and declining, a state that may
not be worse than death but is
nonetheless deprived. It robs us
of our creativity and ability to
contribute to work, society, and
the world,” he wrote.

Emanuel’s comments about
disability and quality of life
ignited a Twitter storm and
rankled activists such as
Kristan Hawkins, president of
pro-life organization Students
for Life, and Elizabeth Land
Quant, a queer, disabled writer.

The controversy was also
covered in major news outlets,
including Fox News, Newsweek
and The Daily Mail. Louise
Hall wrote in The Independent,
“Many Republicans criti-
cized the views Dr Emanuel
expressed ... and argued it
raised questions about his
position on the government
advisory board.”
Among those GOP critics
were White House Press
Secretary Kayleigh McEnaney
and Sen. Tom Cotton.

Agus does not agree with
Emanuel’s ideas about the
value of old age, but said his
statements were intended to
create a national conversation
about aging and end-of-life
care. “Zeke Emanuel is a remark-
able thinker and a fantastic
instigator of ideas. In order
to get an understanding, you
need discourse, and he is
good at writing inflammatory
statements that will create
discourse,” he said. “Do I think
he really believes that at age
75, he’d like to go to sleep and
not wake up? No, not at all. I
think he just wanted to create
discourse around the ideas,
which he did, and that was
powerful and I respect him for
that.” l
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
New Town to Be Built in
Federation Partner Region
I S R AE L
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER
Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet
announced approval for
construction of a new town
in the Sdot Negev region on
Nov. 8, allocating 1 million
shekels for development of a
new settlement to be called
JEWISH EXPONENT
Hanun. Located in the Gaza
border region, south of Sderot,
Hanun will be home to about
500 new households.

“This is great news for
Israel; this is great news for
the communities in the
Gaza border communities,”
Netanyahu said, according
to The Jerusalem Post. “We
continue to develop the
southern towns, including the
moshavim and kibbutzim.”
The project of creating
Hanun has been in the works
since 2014, and has a strong
Philadelphia connection.

Since 1997, the Jewish
Federation of
Greater Philadelphia has worked with
the Netivot-Sdot Negev region,
sending 350 yearly visitors and
over $10 million to support
educational and cultural
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM