1.
So, how is it over there in America with the Corona virus? Everyone asks me, is it as hysterical as in Israel? Honestly, I'm exactly the right person to ask him this question, because in recent days I've been both in the US and in the Holy Land, so I can really compare.
And the answer is, as of this moment, that these two friendly countries have never been so far apart in worldview. Not even in Barack Obama's difficult days. The difference is abysmal: in one country, cancellations of performances, masks, isolation, fears. In the other, it seems that they still don't understand the story. And maybe they don't want to understand. Only last night did Trump wake up and decide to temporarily ban flights from Europe to the US.
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In practice, the US is really lagging behind Israel. While in Israel, awareness of the Corona virus has reached its peak, the US is far behind.
The WhatsApp groups of schools and synagogues here remind me of Israel about a month ago. They are now in the joke section of that time. In other words, the humor is also in a fairly early stage, as is the awareness of the pandemic.
And it's quite surprising, because in some very central communities, like New Rachel, and in well-known educational institutions, like Yeshiva University and SAR School, there are already sick people, and hundreds of people are in isolation. But still, it's not present in the discourse here like it is in Israel.
2.
Which approach is more correct? Israel's almost complete hysteria, or Trump's almost complete indifference? Who is right, the stricters or the lenient ones? Time will tell.
But one thing scares me personally (I mean, one more thing, there are a lot of things that scare me these days): what will happen once here, in the US, they start taking Corona seriously. Oh, it's going to be extreme. We've only been on a mission in the US for six months, but I understood one thing from the first moment: the most striking American trait is formality and good order.
Everything here is by the book, by the book. There are rules, there is protocol, and no one deviates from it. No one even tries to deviate from it. There are of course many positive things in this (after you get used to it), but do you know the stigma about the English being very neat and tidy? Great, so that's the mentality of the Americans. What's it like in England? I don't want to imagine.
And when I write "Americans" I mean not just the authorities, but literally everyone. Yes, I'm generalizing. I haven't met a single American here who deviates from the rules, the protocol, the order, the queue, the line, the row, the box. Look at the attached picture, for example.
I took a picture of her this week at a gas station in the US at 1:30 a.m. You know how you have to clean the public toilets for a few minutes, and then the cleaner places a little sign next to the bucket warning the public of the slippery floor, so that they can please use the other stall? So that's what it looks like in the US. Fences, warning signs in all directions, yellow markings, a safety margin.
At first I thought maybe Trump was in there. While this overly serious cleaning man was setting up this perimeter fence there, around three poor toilets, he could have finished cleaning long ago. But there has to be order. It's a good thing they didn't put an electric fence in there too. Well, I know why they didn't. There's no need. Not a single American would think of going near this sterile area. To him, it's a field of anti-tank mines.
In short, what I'm saying is that it's pretty scary to think about what life will be like here, and what exactly the rules and regulations and restrictions and exclusions will be, once America starts taking the Corona story a little seriously. Because in America, as mentioned, there is no such thing as "a little seriously.".
3.
And back to Israel: Exactly a month ago, in a completely different era, when the coronavirus was a story of the Far East, a prayer gathering was held at the Western Wall led by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the rabbi of Safed. His son, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, from the Union of Community Rabbis who organized the event, said after the prayer: "We cannot remain indifferent to the illnesses and deaths spreading around the world due to the coronavirus. Our hearts are with the Chinese people who are suffering greatly, but it does not stop there. The Jewish people have a responsibility and should be busy being good to the entire world. The power of prayer is immense, and through it we not only try to influence and ask God to stop the epidemic, but also create a sense of caring and empathy for the Chinese people.".
It's amazing what we've been through in the month that has passed since then. In China, they apparently managed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but what will happen in Israel? I'd like to think that the attitude towards the coronavirus is completely exaggerated and everything will be fine. But even if I'm right, how much fear and panic this story has already created. It certainly doesn't contribute to health.
Last Wednesday, on an El Al flight en route to Israel, I drank orange juice and swallowed it wrong, which caused me to cough a little. I immediately ran to the back of the plane and choked on my elbow so as not to cause unnecessary panic. All I need is for them to now publish the entire itinerary of "the coughing passenger from flight LY 008 from New York to Ben Gurion Airport who claims he didn't swallow orange juice properly.".
So it's true, a prayer meeting can no longer be organized. That is, it is possible, but as soon as more than a hundred people come to it, it will be canceled. And perhaps this is also part of the decree, that it is no longer even possible to gather all the Jews. But it is (still) permissible to carry a private supplication from the bottom of your heart. You can even say it into your elbow: Heal me, O Lord, for I am terrified, and my soul is greatly terrified.
4.
And on a completely different subject: Many moving responses were received here about the column's aggressive campaign to study the Daf Yomi. Many thanks to everyone who shared and will continue to share their experiences.
Of all of them, here is one response, not exactly exciting, but it seems to me to have practical importance: "You wrote that one of the reasons to study Def Yomi is Jewish identity," Rabbi Dov Kidron of the Halacha Berurah Institute wrote to me, "You wrote that one needs to know the approach and view of Chazal to the mitzvot, and then added: 'So it's true, the Gemara is not a book of practical Halacha, but it is the most comprehensive Torah work that touches on all issues of life.' You raised a point here that is missing from many Def Yomi lessons. Many times people ask in the middle of the lesson: So, what is practical Halacha? Like who makes decisions? People want to come out of the lesson with a conclusion, with something practical.
""This disadvantage of separating the study of the Gemara from practical halacha exists not only among those who study the Daf Yomi, but also among the great scholars. The one who devoted a great deal of time and thought to this is none other than Rabbi Kook zt"l. He sat and wrote for ten years the halacha arising from every issue in the Gemara and Mishnah, and managed to do this for the entire Shas, so that in the end they would print the Shas with his work 'Halacha Berurah.'.
""Rabbi Charlap zt"l wrote about this idea at the time: 'When the world is blessed with the discovery of a printed Shas and around it the Halacha Berura, then they will realize the wonders of the work and how necessary it is and how much benefit it brings, whether in knowledge or in opening the gates, the gates of light of the Halachaic Torah.' And indeed today, after decades, almost the entire Shas has been published with 'Halacha Berura and Halacha Clarification,' and many people see the great benefit it brings to study.
""I don't expect everyone to move from Schottenstein to the gemaras of 'Halacha Berura,' but if in every Daf Yomi lesson there were one person (perhaps the musar of the lesson) who had the gemara of 'Halacha Berura' with the rulings of Maimonides and the Shulchan Aruch in the issue, and he could enlighten the eyes of the students on the rulings of the halacha in practice, it could be a huge upgrade for the entire lesson, especially in Tractate Shabbat.".
""It is true that studying the Daf Yomi cannot be a substitute for studying the details of the halacha. In the introduction to the part of the Mishnah Berura that deals with the laws of Shabbat, the Chofetz Chaim writes in the name of Rabbi Yehonatan Eybshitz that it is impossible to be saved from desecrating the Sabbath without thoroughly studying all the details of the laws of Shabbat. But let's start with the minimum, and that will be very helpful: Studying 'regular' Gemara should not be compared to studying in which you immediately see the rulings of Maimonides and the Shulchan Aruch, which sometimes even help you understand what is happening in the Gemara itself.".
• The column is published in the newspaper 'Bisheva''
