Why would you make light of this "pandemic?" What about the million victims who died from it?
First of all, this disease does not qualify as a pandemic or outbreak of pestilence according to Judaic Law [1], at least not to the degree that would justify "social distancing" policies and banning asymptomatic people from the public. I've addressed this fact in numerous previous posts.
However, there is a much more important point that I'd like to address in this post. Who told you that a million people have died from this disease? How are you so sure that these numbers are anywhere near accurate?
Rabbi Moses Maimonides, leading codifier of Judaic law, ruled definitively:
When a Jew hears a gentile [say] in the course of conversation [that a man died], he may testify that he heard these statements, and the man's wife may be granted permission to remarry on this basis.
When does the above apply? When there is no rationale to explain [why the gentile would make these statements if they were not true]. If, however, there could be a reason for the gentile's statements, and he is making them with another intent in mind [his word is not accepted].
For example, [a gentile] told a Jew, "Do such and such for me, or else I will kill you, as I killed so and so," he is not making these statements in the course of conversation, for his intent is to cast fear upon his listener.
Similarly, if a person heard the gentile legal authorities say, "We executed so and so," their word is not accepted. For they will use falsehood to reinforce their position and to cast fear [among the populace]. The same applies in all similar instances. [2]
This is exactly the case with these alleged covid deaths. Who is telling us these numbers and what is their agenda?
What is their criteria for establishing a "covid death," who dictated that criteria, and what is the agenda behind such criteria?
If there is the slightest suspicion that this spokesperson or policy maker wishes to cast fear among a populace, then they have absolutely zero credibility, at least as far as Judaic law is concerned.
Generally speaking, we may take the government's and/or medical establishment's word for things. However, when practical Judaic law is concerned, like whether a woman may remarry without a get [3], or whether we may shut down Jewish schools, yeshivot, synagogues, prohibit Jews from attending seders or sukkahs, or to force masks onto the faces of two-year-olds and others... in all these circumstances, we need actual proof of this alleged disease's actual fatalities.
A state government which has been caught deliberately fudging the numbers (numerous states have), or when a clear agenda to force a populace into compliance with dubious state policies, and there is an obvious need for the ruling power to "reinforce their position and cast fear on the population," then the alleged data cited by political or medical organizations are not reliable.
One must wonder: if this disease is indeed so lethal and highly contagions as they claim it is, why would there be a need to unscrupulously beef up numbers? Why would they need such a low threshold of certainty in their diagnosis of this condition? Clearly, there is some unstated agenda to make this disease appear more deadly than it really is.
In fact, the CDC has already admitted that their numbers are skewed by the real possibility that 96% of these deaths may have been due to multiple other co-morbitities.
Moreover, no scientific evidence exists to prove that a positive test result for covid is unequivocally reliable. The current PCR test was never designed to be definitively diagnostic. The data is clearly missing.
Consequently, there is no reason to believe this staggering number, or any other number provided by state officials. Likewise, the very criteria used to define a "covid death" is dubious and lacks credibility.
While I do not dispute the data that a million lives worldwide were lost, there is insufficient evidence that these lives were in fact lost to a contagious air-borne coronavirus. And as I mentioned above, even if the numbers were true and verifiable, it still would not justify such unprecedented assault on our freedoms, as I've addressed in another recent post. How much more so when there the numbers are totally unreliable.
Lastly, many people have accused me of lack of sensitivity to those who perished or suffered (and may still suffer long-term effects of this illness), or to their bereft families. This is patently false. I am deeply aggrieved over the loss of a dear family member, allegedly due to covid.
Quite the contrary. It is is out of a fervent wish to honor his memory that I cannot remain silent when our rights are being unjustly trampled in what now appears to be the gravest assault on human rights in a generation.
Instead, I solemnly wish to honor his memory and not allow compromised government officials (and media) to politicize his death, exploiting my family's tragedy as a cheap means of "casting fear on the populace" and enforcing medical tyranny here in "Land of the Free."
Moreover, I seek to challenge the false societal norms that silences all dissent into submission.
Sadly, some friends have broken ties with me. They are incensed that I'd disrupt their weltanschauung and challenge the official party line. They find my posts disrespectful to people who suffered from covid, or to all the millions of people who live in fear of covid.
They are shocked by my utter disregard for their "covid courtesies" in a time of widespread angst.
What they do not understand is that I challenge the very data that is driving their fear.
They fail to grasp that I speak out to defend their own rights that they have unwittingly relinquished in their unreasonable panic over a largely-imagined "deadly" plague.
Some day they will thank me for speaking out.
Some day they will deeply appreciate my refusal to remain silent.
Some day they will regret their angry reaction to my dispassionate demand for truth and accuracy.
Trust me, it is not easy for a small-community chabad rabbi to risk annoying so many community members and supporters. But that is irrelevant. The truth must be delivered. And if every other rabbi is silent, then I have no choice but to speak up..
I speak in the name of truth of Torah and halacha.
I speak in the name of the saintly world Jewish leader who sent me here to Massachusetts to serve as his personal representative, the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
It is my holy calling to serve as his mouthpiece.[4]
If you are upset with my message, address your complaints to him. He educated me and entrusted me with the lifelong mission to never desist from stating the truth, especially when the education of children and our religious freedoms are concerned.
I do not regret the position I've taken, not for one moment. This is not about me. Never was, never will be. It's about standing up for the truth, and we are not permitted to remain silent.
The truth will ultimately prevail [5].
I do not know how or why G-d chose me for this awesome calling, or what merit I possessed to have been blessed with the information and temerity to speak out, but all I can say is that it’s been a humbling experience.
If you are one of those people who have been avoiding me due to my position on covid policies, I invite you to discuss this crucial matter in person, by phone, or at a "safe" social distance ;)
May G-d bless you and yours with a sweet new year, a year blessed with true freedom, health, and well-being.
Notes:
[1] However, someone who presents with symptoms is certainly deemed to be a choleh sheyesh bo sakana, i.e. a ill patient with a potentially fatal disease for whom we are required to violate Sabbath to save his/her life. See Shulchan Aruch 316:23, contrasted with ibid 330:1, as discussed in my previous blog post.
[2] Mishneh Torah, Laws of Divorce, 13:12-13, based on Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 121b-122a. Thank you to Rabbi Daniel Green of Brooklyn, NY for pointing out this law and its relevance to our times.
[3] Religious divorce.
[4] See published transcript of the Rebbe's talk on 3 Shevat (and Parshat Bo) 5752.
[5] As the Psalmist wrote: “אמת מארץ תצמח – Truth will ultimately sprout forth from the earth.”
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