We vs. We

A kid with long peyos is screaming to the Israeli police ´Nazis´ and coughing in their direction. Twitter-sphere is outraged and complain about the ´retard´ child and the overall low intellectual level of the Haredim. As in the case of the measle outbreak a couple of month ago, negative representations of ultra-orthodox, and religious people in general, abund everywhere in the Jewish media and social media approaches.

On one hand, especiall for secular people that probably didn´t have the opportunity to meet a representative of the religious group, the reactions during the terrible Coronavirus crisis are inacceptable. They seem to ignore authorities, built their own state-in-state, their attitude is of sheer disrespect towards the rule of law, while ignoring the risk of spreading the pandemics. Those who are outraged about their attitude might have a certain right to do so, because from outside, it is very difficult to understand why those people behave in this way.

On the other hand, those who had the chance at least once of being privy to the everyday life and customs of the religious people, know that the situation is far from being so simple. The life of the very religious people in Israel and abroad is following completely different patterns than the normal life. And I will only give a couple of examples that hopefully will bring more light into the current situation: most of them do not have access to media of any kind - TV, social media, phones (unless there are kosher, which means certified by a rabbi), radio; they go to schools focused on religous learning, not science or biology; the entire life cycle is governed by the religious order of things, which involves praying three times the day, respecting holidays and strict dietary norms; the deep belief that Torah and prayer and not the medical science or local authorities, are the best weapon against the everyday hardships. Religious people, when they need help and advice, they address their rabbi, not the police or the Internet. Their entire life revolves around their religious time therefore, asking them to stop praying in minyan or avoid going to the mikve is considered an attempt to undermine the very basis of their own existence.

Of course there are nuances to be made, as not all the religous groups reacted in the same way and especially in the context of the coronavirus restrictions, some were faster than the others in realizing the danger - although at least 10 days or more later, which in terms of pandemic spread is dangerously late and it costs lives. There is also a long discussion that I will not develop right now about how and why things are like that.

However, before starting to accuse them of being ´retards´ or attaching to them any other diffamatory attributes, it is better to try understanding the world of the ultra-orthodox. Some do make various comparison with what happened during WWII with some religious communities whose rabbis refused to encourage leaving taking the risk of ending up in the concentration camps. I am not sure that the comparisons are appropriate, as every situation has its own specifics and context. But it saddens me to see so much hate of Jews vs. Jews spread everywhere. 

It´s sad to think about the lives that will be lost because people did not listen to some very basic health requirements. It´s sad to see how children are taught to hate other Jews and disrespectfully cough in their direction. It´s sad to see so many judgemental opinions directed towards people whose life is largely unknown.

But why not use this terrible time of crisis to understand - again - that no one is safer, regardless how much we pray or not. What does it matter in those times is the pikuah nefesh - the preservation of human life overrides any other religious rule, including regarding Shabbat. The opposite of it is a sinful, foolish behavior, the ´piety of madness´. Let´s put hate and madness on hold and focus on life.

Here is an article published in the Forward which says the things for what, often, are when it comes to the stigmatization of Haredi community.