News

My wife Karen and I made aliyah from New York to Ra’anana last month with 22 other new olim. In the weeks leading up to our move, we had heard the news about the virus that was coming out of China and we realized that it was likely to come to America. In fact, the first case in New York was in a community very close to where we lived.

While the country is shut down over the Wuhan virus plaguing the planet, the Presidential election trudges on. After Bernie Sanders quietly exited the race, former Vice President Joe Biden picked up the remaining endorsements from the holdout Democrats, including his former boss Barack Obama. More notable, however, is the first ever endorsement by the radically anti-Israel advocacy group, J Street, which endorsed Biden over President Trump last week.

Since the end of February, most citizens in countries around the world have remained glued to their televisions. CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and various local news outlets have all dominated our brainwaves. Whereas in autocratic states the news media is simply a tool of the government, in democracies the role of the news media is to provide citizens with independent and objective reporting of the facts.

Three weeks after first falling so ill that I knew I became another statistic, I finally have the strength and clarity of mind to contribute an article to the Queens Jewish Link. My experience with coronavirus will go down as a minor one, as I, thankfully, did not require hospitalization or assistance in breathing. However, I share my story because those who are afraid to get the disease should know someone who had it, and those who have it should know there is an end in sight.

Last week’s parshah was Tzav. It tells of one of the most glorious days in the history of the Jewish people, the dedication of the Mishkan, when the Sh’chinah came to dwell among us. Yet on this greatest of occasions there was unspeakable tragedy, the sudden death of two sons of Aharon. We are about to celebrate a Pesach unlike any that most of us have ever seen. We will celebrate the festival of freedom as virtual prisoners in our homes. We will sing the Hallel while crying for those we have lost and fearing for the future.

Shortness of breath… febrile… weakness – these have been the words ringing in my ear as the report is being given to me as the change of shift happens. “Admitting diagnosis – rule out COVID.” It has been a very exhausting, overwhelming, sad, and frightening, to say the least, these past few weeks. How one small virus has overtaken the globe! But is it really the virus?