O pinion
We Need to Build Compassion and Understanding
BY AMANDA BERMAN
IN BROOKLYN ON the sixth
night of Sukkot, an anti-mask
populist convinced members of
the Orthodox Jewish community
in Borough Park to turn what is
an annual celebration of forth-
coming rainfall, called Simchat
Beit HaShoeva, into a violent and
hateful display of ignorance.

The physical
violence, including the brutal beating of
two men, and burning of masks
that occurred is nauseating, repre-
hensible and dangerous. Those
responsible absolutely must be
held accountable. Our hearts are
with our friend Jacob Kornbluh,
a widely respected journalist
with Jewish Insider, who was
assaulted in his own commu-
nity for doing his job while
supporting mask-wearing as an
urgent public health mandate.

And we are deeply concerned that
on Monday, after the arrest of
the agitator responsible for this
heinous violence and misinfor-
mation, Jacob was again targeted.

Enforcement of social
distancing and other lifesaving
precautions in the Orthodox
community is not anti-Semi-
tism. Stigmatizing all Orthodox
Jews based on the actions of a
few, however, is.

Most Orthodox Jews have
taken and continue to take
the pandemic seriously. L.A.’s
Orthodox leaders quickly
mobilized to contain the
spread of coronavirus, arguably
saving countless lives. The
Orthodox Jews who contracted
the disease early and survived
then donated blood plasma by
the thousands in an effort to
save the lives of people of all
faiths and creeds, who were
struggling to recover.

We need to ask ourselves:
Why are we — especially those of
us who call ourselves progressive
Jews — so complacent about and
comfortable with the singling
out and generalizing of the entire
Orthodox Jewish community?
This community isn’t monolithic;
it’s heterogeneous, nuanced,
multifaceted and complicated.

Parts of it experience high
rates of poverty, low rates
of health literacy, language
barriers and deep, multigenera-
tional mistrust of government,
stemming from centuries of
persecution and medical abuse
at the hands of public health
authorities. This isn’t the first
time public health officials have
done a poor job conducting
outreach to Orthodox commu-
nities. Mistranslating Yiddish,
acting slowly and failing to
use well-known communica-
tion channels to give Orthodox
Jewish communities the infor-
mation they needed to combat
a measles outbreak last year is
one example. This knowledge
is essential background infor-
mation to this conversation.

Outreach to these specific
Orthodox communities has been
uneven at best and irrespon-
sible at worst. Guidelines for
social distancing have not taken
into account the challenges
that specifically impact many
members of these Jewish
communities, which often
don’t have internet access. As of
mid-September 2020, there were
no Yiddish-speaking contact
tracers employed by the city.

In neighborhoods where most
Jews speak English, Hebrew
or Russian — not Yiddish —
loudspeakers twice blasted
information in Yiddish despite
criticism. Some of the outreach
has been appropriate and sensi-
tive — but some has not.

We must call out the bad
behavior of the loud but few
who act poorly, while also
elevating and uplifting the
voices of the many who act
as good neighbors and good
citizens. Jews have a duty to hold
ourselves and our siblings in the
Orthodox community to the
highest standards in protecting
human life, understanding
our commitment to pikuach
nefesh — that the preservation
of human life takes precedence
over all other commandments.

At the same time, each one
of us must also demonstrate
compassion and a willingness
to listen to those whose tradi-
tions, experiences, languages
and religious observances
are different from ours. Only
through this balance will we
grow together as a broad and
diverse Jewish people.

The behavior we witnessed
this past week is uncon-
scionable, inexplicable and
shameful. But the definition
of bigotry is allowing the bad
behavior of the few to define the
whole — a New York Orthodox
Jewish community of more
than half a million people.

The Anti-Defamation League
reported months ago that
discussion of Orthodox Jews
on social media, especially on
Facebook, has become deeply
troubling, including “compar-
isons of religious leaders
to Adolf Hitler and positive
affirmations about the Jewish
community being ‘wiped off
the planet.’” This happened
before these protests. And it is
dangerous beyond words.

Anti-Semitism has been
rising at a troubling rate —
affecting all American Jews
— but the most frequent targets
of violence are often attacks
on those who are most visibly
Jewish, like our Orthodox
siblings. From the terrifying
shooting at the only kosher
supermarket in Jersey City to the
Chanukah stabbing in Monsey
last year, to growing numbers
of violent hate crimes, Jewish
people faced more than half of
NYC’s hate crimes last year, and
these crimes were concentrated
in Orthodox neighborhoods.

At a time of rapidly rising
and violent anti-Semitism, we
all have an absolute obligation to
push back on that narrative by
anyone who perpetuates it. This
includes elected leaders like New
York Mayor Bill De Blasio and
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who must
continue to demand enforce-
ment of the mask-wearing and
social distancing rules, while
also refusing to allow or perpet-
uate the wholesale vilification of
any select group of people. They
need to improve their engage-
ment with this community, and
they need to do it immediately.

When it comes down to it, we
as Jews urgently must remember:
It isn’t “us” and “them.” We are
all one people, and we must
protect one another. l
Amanda Berman is the founder
and executive director of Zioness,
a national organization that fights
for the inclusion of Zionists in social
justice spaces. A graduate of the
University of Pennsylvania and
Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N.

Cardozo School of Law, Berman
was listed by the Algemeiner
as one of the top “100 people
positively contributing to Jewish
life” in 2018.

Effecting Change Through Interfaith Interconnectedness
BY MARCIA BRONSTEIN
22 OCTOBER 15, 2020
RELATIONSHIPS REQUIRE
forging ties with others
and bridging differences.

Relationship building is the
most challenging part of
advocacy, the work I cherish
the most. It requires communi-
cation, trust and the ability to
work together on each other’s
issues. And advocacy work also
requires compassion.

With the beginning of each
New Year, Jews start reading
the Torah from the beginning
with the book of Genesis. This
is the biblical story of creation
and it is marked with sin
and mistakes. Just after God
finishes creating the Earth and
everything in it, God makes
humans. Adam and Eve were
given one rule — eat whatever
you like from this world, except
for one tree. But they eat from
that tree and fail. The next
generation fails even worse
JEWISH EXPONENT
when one of their sons murders
the other. The world seems to
have a depressing start, as we
appear doomed to harm one
another and disappoint our
creator. Our ancient sages taught
before creating the world, God
created repentance. It was a
corrective to the shortcomings,
missteps, sins and offenses that
are integral being human.

Repentance, growth, change
and forgiveness were built into
the very fabric of the universe.

So, we learn from biblical
stories that the idea of compas-
sion, change and growth makes
all things possible. The way
things are today is not the way
they always have to be. The idea
that radical change is possible
is also built into the fabric of
my organization’s DNA.

See Bronstein, Page 24
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



O pinion
KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
Unity Is the Answer for
My Haredi Israeli Town
BY CAROL UNGAR
LATELY, THE MEDIA has
been flooded with stories of
Orthodox Jews who are derelict
in following pandemic proto-
cols. This sort of behavior runs
contrary to the Torah values
which command us to protect
life above all else.

In my home community of
Kiryat Yearim, a small haredi
Orthodox town of 6,000 just 15
minutes outside of Jerusalem,
we take COVID-19 seriously.

Our local government
dispatched a hazmat-suited
crew to clean our streets and
parks. They set up testing and
contact tracing. They also
embarked on a public relations
drive to urge us to take this
seriously. People listened. It wasn’t
long before the media hailed
our triumph.

While there have been some
close calls since, including
several confirmed cases in the
past week, my only explanation
for how we have been largely
able to beat back this virus
when others have not is unity.

Here, our rabbis, doctors and
local government officials are
all on the same page.

Now, the virus is back in our
country with a vengeance. Like
most Israelis, we are tired of
living this way, but we realize
that we have no choice. The
Torah, which informs all areas
RBG Chose Burial
shade. They now have Torah
scrolls, borrowed from the
shuttered indoor congrega-
tions, and improvised arks to
store them in.

We have adapted, limiting
the number of men called to
the Torah in the name of social
distancing. This Sukkot, our
synagogues will pare down
the hakafot, the ritual circling
ceremony, to the bare basics,
transforming the usually festive
parade into a socially distanced
procession of worshipers. A
few congregations will skip the
whole thing, having the men
recite the verses that accom-
pany the ceremony while
standing still. We received a
robocall informing us that on
Simchat Torah, there should
be no dancing and no kissing
Torah scrolls. And of course,
we must wear masks and keep
social distance.

Simchat Torah is just
MUCH HAS ALREADY BEEN SAID about Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, and much more will be said in the days — indeed,
years — to come (“Jewish Philadelphia Remembers Iconic Jurist
Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” Sept. 24). She has earned her place as a
political and cultural icon.

For Jews, she was the very face of Jewish liberalism. For that
reason, it is noteworthy that Ginsburg, with all her progressive
ideals, chose to be buried, rather than cremated.

Although it is a biblical mitzvah to be buried, we find that
growing numbers of Jews, particularly liberal Jews, choose
cremation, believing it to be somehow more “progressive” than
traditional burial. But there is a difference between true liber-
alism and mere fashion, and we can be certain that a mind as
reasoned as Ginsburg’s discerned that difference.

The decisions she authored impact every American, but it is
Ginsburg’s final decision that Jews — across the political spectrum
— should take to heart when considering their own plans.

Ginsburg was a liberal icon, but she was also Yita Rochel bat
Tzirel Leah. She was born a Jew, she died a Jew, and she chose
burial, because that’s what Jews do.

Rabbi Elchonon Zohn | National Association of Chevra Kadisha
Not a Good Comparison
In discussing some people’s discomfort with Ruth Bader
Ginsburg z”l lying in state and in repose before her burial, Rabbi
Lisa Silverstein (“There’s No Singular Jewish Way to Mourn or
Grieve,” Oct. 1) points to the halachic precedent, places in Jewish
law, where delayed burial is permitted. I do not believe there is
similar leniency for cremation and, therefore, she made an unfair
comparison. Shiva rituals may differ depending on one’s custom, but it’s
simply not at all the Jewish way to cremate. Instead of holding
In my home community of Kiryat Yearim, a small haredi Orthodox town of
onto years-old guilt when she persuaded a family to bury rather
6,000 just 15 minutes outside of Jerusalem, we take COVID-19 seriously. than cremate their loved one, I hope Silverstein will consider that
she did a good thing.

While it is sad and emotional, shoveling scoops of earth on
top of our loved ones in the cemetery is one of the most Jewish
Come for a walk. You will of our existence instructs us to a day away, and it will look things a person can do. To deny that to any Jew is a tremendous
see men, women, even small take great care in preserving very different. Plans aren’t yet loss and disconnect from our peoplehood. May we know no
children wearing masks over our lives. “We err on the side complete, but one local rabbi more sorrow and live biz hundred un tzvantzik (until 120). l
their noses and mouths.

of strictness,” says our Mayor I spoke to floated the idea of
Rachel Steinerman | Bala Cynwyd
In our town, COVID-19 hit Rabbi Yitzhak Ravitz.

no procession, just one man
us early and hard.

Now we have been forced to carrying the Torah scroll.

STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER
Back in March, we experi- increase our vigilance.

One thing is for sure — the
We are a diverse community. The views expressed in the signed opinion columns and let-
ters to the editor published in the Jewish Exponent are those of the authors. They do
enced an outbreak after a Purim
Even though we are in the traditional kiddush, the after
not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Publishing
party attended by an overseas middle of the Sukkot holiday, services collective snack of
Group, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia or the Jewish Exponent. Send
guest who had the virus. A few every synagogue in town is cake and Schnapps, is canceled.

letters to letters@jewishexponent.com or fax to 215-569-3389. Letters should be a
maximum of 200 words and may be edited for clarity and brevity. Unsigned letters will not be
dozen residents got sick and shuttered. Worship services
All of this puts a damper on
published. thousands went into quaran- have moved to parks, parking this holiday, which is meant to
tine. No one died, but one lots and backyards.

be a time of joy. With inter-
woman, a much-beloved old
Because this is our second city visits banned due to the
timer, nearly lost her life. Thank town-wide lockdown, the lockdown, not much social-
G-d, after many months, she’s outdoor shuls are now well izing is going on for many of us.

Tell us what you’re thinking and interact
almost completely recovered. organized. Some of them even The only guests in our Sukkot
with the community at jewishexponent.com
For a brief moment, our sleepy have names (Ginat HaBitan, or are the metaphysical ushpizin,
Connect with us on
town achieved public notoriety the Garden Lean-to, and Ginat our Jewish matriarchs and
as the COVID capital of the Esther, Esther’s Garden). They
See Ungar, Page 29
Jewish state.

also have erected awnings for
Join the conversation!
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