I am awe struck by the medical professionals efforts and thank them daily and greatly. This letter is directed to the all other community members as the medical professionals work tirelessly. We need to sharpen our focus and act more to make it through the remaining weeks. I want to start off by addressing the concern regarding funerals. As a practicing LMSW, I was on the phone with a single mother whose daughter is immunocompromised. This mother, a traditional Jew stated fearfully to me that she saw many religious men gathered for a funeral in Brooklyn. I assured her that this choice to gather was the horrific opposite of Jewish values and that we are working as a community to take action to protect her daughter and others. As someone who is also involved in Jewish education, I never felt so helpless in having to represent true Jewish values with this backdrop of Jews in religious garb violating these values. I can’t even begin to further share the negative ripple effects of how this motivates our brothers and sisters from all backgrounds to view their Jewish identities. I was again distraught today to see a video of large gathering for a funeral to honor those have passed away. This expression of honor is misplaced. As I called a major Brooklyn Rav (who asked to remain confidential) in distress, the Rav agreed that this was horrible. Funerals are not meant to lead to more funerals. As community members, we have to become extra vigilant about these funerals and if we notice large funeral processions begin to gather, we should start by asking them to disperse but if they don’t listen, please call the police to honor the individual that has passed away. The Rav concurred that calling the police after trying to safely disperse the crowd is an appropriate response. People within respective communities must try to explain the gravity of the situation using pictures or videos as needed, preemptively before a funeral procession if they hear of a passing of major community leaders. Organizations aiding during shiva should set standards for service that respect social distancing. I do judge favorably and I do share in the pain of having to attend the funeral of someone you regarded as a fatherly Rebbe. However, this is a time when we need to bind all communities to the larger vision of serving Hashem and Hashem’s clear abidance to the laws of pikuach nefesh. Social and emotional investments, as often true, cannot be our trusted compasses – and in this instance, these investments blind us and guide us towards physical and spiritual death; I only wish my considerations were less dramatic than they sound. May Hashem protect us in good and in poor judgement. Malka Akhenblit, LMSW View this post on Instagram The NYPD is at the Levaya of the Kozlover Rebbe at his Bais Medrash in Boro Park at 55th St and 12th Avenue and attempting to disperse the crowd. The Rebbe was Niftar from COVID-19. A post shared by TheYeshivaWorld.com (@theyeshivaworld) on Apr 5, 2020 at 9:12am PDT NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN. DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE POSTED ON YWN? […]
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