16 | The Jewish Press | April 30, 2021
Voices The Jewish Press (Founded in 1920) Abby Kutler President Annette van de Kamp-Wright Editor Richard Busse Creative Director Susan Bernard Advertising Executive Lori Kooper-Schwarz Assistant Editor Gabby Blair Staff Writer Mary Bachteler Accounting Jewish Press Board Abby Kutler, President; Eric Dunning, Ex-Officio; Danni Christensen, David Finkelstein, Candice Friedman, Bracha Goldsweig, Margie Gutnik, Natasha Kraft, Chuck Lucoff, Eric Shapiro, Andy Shefsky, Shoshy Susman and Amy Tipp. The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the Federation are: Community Relations Committee, Jewish Community Center, Center for Jewish Life, Jewish Social Services, and the Jewish Press. Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: wwwjewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment. Editorial The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org. Letters to the Editor Guidelines The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha. org. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de KampWright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450. Postal The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.
Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole.
A different narrative ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor In March of 2020, when COVID-19 was still new and stories came flying from everywhere, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency posted an article about Rabbi Daniel Nevins, the dean of the rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Nevins became ill, tested positive and subsequently recovered. “Within hours,” Ben Harris wrote, “Nevins was hooked up to a machine at the New York Blood Center to donate blood plasma. In the race to develop effective treatments for the disease, researchers are investigating whether antibodies from the blood of people who have successfully fought off the disease may provide treatment for people with more serious symptoms.” It was the kind of feel-good story we all like to read. But it’s a story that is accompanied by an uncomfortable truth. Rabbi Nevins is one man; there are thousands of others who made the same choice as he did: they donated their plasma. The difference: unlike Rabbi Nevins, they did not get photographed with a big smile on their face; they were not clad in laid-back jeans. Instead, they were modestly dressed, had wigs or beards and hats. They quietly and quickly mobilized when the need was there and they helped save countless lives. Yet, in the middle of all the stories about how high the death toll was in many Hasidic communities, much of the media quickly began to play the blame game. Here was the story: Hasidic Jews got sick and stayed sick, because they wouldn’t follow the rules and didn’t keep their distance. Life cycle events drew crowds in the thousands; politicians, especially in New York, were at odds with the orthodox community who just wouldn’t play by the rules. I admit, I fell for it too; there were so many articles about it, and only once I noticed I kept seeing the same images used for different stories did
it become clear to me I was not paying enough at- nationwide study on the use of blood plasma to tention. Only when a friend pointed out that I was treat patients with severe COVID-19. On the call missing something did I become aware. that afternoon, he told the religious leaders he “Once COVID-19 prevention measures were es- needed something for his research: more blood tablished and promoted by public health authori- from people who have survived the virus. “Do what ties,” Hopkinsmedicine.org wrote, “Local and you can,” Joyner said, according to Yehudah national Orthodox Jewish leaders put forth man- Kaszirer of Lakewood, New Jersey, one of the rabbis dates for their communities to comply, and devel- on the call. About 36 hours later, Kaszirer boarded oped culturally sensitive policies to address how to safely engage in prayer services, family and communal gatherings and social support systems.” And here is a headline from the Sun Sentinel: “New York Orthodox Jews help South Florida COVID-19 patients with plasma donations.” The article continued: “The COVID Plasma Initiative, which consists of thousands of Orthodox Jews who have recovered from the virus and are now donating their plasma, recently conducted drives in New York City that drew 200 donors.” Even Rabbi Daniel Nevins donating blood plasma at Mount Sinai Hospithe New York Times wrote: “The Ha- tal in New York, March 27, 2020. Credit: Nevins sidic community has taken a tragedy and turned it a private jet with roughly 1,000 vials of blood stored into a superpower. A number of factors lie behind in coolers. It had been drawn from members of the the outsize role of the Orthodox plasma drive, ac- community through a blood drive organized with cording to public health experts and community military-like speed.” And CBS reported: “Orthodox leaders, including the close ties that bind Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities account for half society, a religious commitment to the value of of all plasma donations in COVID-19 fight.” human life and a network of organizers committed So, there it is. It’s a great story about great people to turning something bad into something good.” who did a great thing. As much as I hate to say it, The following story appeared on NBC News: not all Jewish media jumps all over a feel-good “One Saturday in mid-April, a group of Orthodox story about the Hasidic community. The Jewish Jewish leaders held a conference call with a Min- Press certainly isn’t blameless (although I’d prefer nesota doctor as they grappled with spiking coro- to personally own that blame, rather than place it navirus cases in their New York area communities. on our agency). The question is: can we do better? Dr. Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic is leading a I think we can and we must.
Sorry, but Zoom Judaism just isn’t the real thing RABBI ELI L. GARFINKEL New York Jewish Week via JTA For more than a year now, synagogues around the world have managed to continue their activities during the COVID pandemic with Zoom and similar services. There is, however, a problem. Zoom Judaism is not working. What Zoom provides is not real community. At the end of the day, digital fellowship is pyrite, also known as fool’s gold. Zoom meetings and rooms do not fulfill the fundamental needs of Jewish community, which are very much physical in nature. Judaism is a sensual religion, one that is based on our five senses. To be a Jew means to see other human beings and not just images of heads, to listen to them without the option of a mute button, to feel their embrace, to taste their food at communal meals, and to sense the leathery smell of a Torah scroll or the perfume of a beloved Jewish friend. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that Zoom Judaism was necessary during the height of the pandemic and will continue to be so for some months. I recognize that Zoom has been a lifesaver for the physically challenged and that it has quickly brought about a revolution in Jewish adult education. My concern is that some Jewish leaders believe that the pandemic has given us license to reimagine a largely digital synagogue as a permanent replacement for real, physical Jewish community. This belief is predicated on the idea that Jews will continue to find Zoom Judaism compelling long after the novel coronavirus is finally vanquished.
Jews will not find Zoom Judaism compelling. To borrow a term from environmentalism, Zoom Judaism is unsustainable. Life is an in-person affair, and Jewish life is all the more. Zoom Judaism under non-emergency conditions will promote the deifi-
Credit: New York Jewish Week
cation of what has been called the “sacred self,” the notion that our own desires for convenience and comfort take precedence over God’s command to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Some have suggested that hybrid services are the answer to this danger. Alas, hybrid services are also an unsustainable solution. It is so easy to log in and, relatively speaking, so hard to actually make one’s way to a brick-and-mortar structure, that most Jews will take the path of least resistance if they take any path at all. This path, however, will merely lead us to an atomized hive of like-minded individuals, not a community. It will do to Judaism what
Facebook and Instagram have done to friendship. Sooner or later, we will have to shut off the public streams and force those who value Jewish community to come back to shul and benefit from the real McCoy. Zoom should be used for the benefit of those who cannot attend otherwise, particularly those who are homebound, hospitalized or live very far from any synagogue. The good news is that we have been here before. When we lost the Beit Hamikdash in Jerusalem nearly two millennia ago, we lost the physical nexus of the Jewish world, one that served as a hardwire connection to the Holy One. We wisely created a new system that made the synagogue, even in those dark days, the physical home of the Jewish community. In much the same way, we must double down on the power and potential of synagogues and what they provide: a physical community that nothing else, no matter how technologically advanced, can ever replace. Rabbi Eli L. Garfinkel is the author of The JPS Jewish Heritage Torah Commentary and the spiritual leader of Temple Beth El in Somerset, New Jersey. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
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