Hakatan, mo’adim l’simchah
I shudder as I realize you approved of something I wrote, maybe Moshiach is knocking at our door.
I beg to differ on your conclusion.
I am no fan of deBlasio, and though I think he’s a walking disaster, since I live in EY I don’t have a right to pass judgement. That said, viewing closing shuls and schools as a gzeiras shmad and presenting it as such is a tactical and strategic error. A gzeiras shmad intends to sabotage and ultimately destroy religious observance. To claim that this is the case here is a weak, even absurd argument.
One can argue, as Syag does above, that there is discrimination owing to ignorance of living conditions, and in general, the Orthodox community is doing its part in preventing the spread of the disease. That is a fair argument, even if one disagrees with its validity. But that is not what this video portrays. The public attitude shown by a well known (?) community activist is one of blatant defiance, threats, and what I describe as a “the Orthodox community controls public policy, and we’ll get rid of you (read “goy”) soon enough” attitude.
This is contrary to what the chachomim have said for generations, and anyone who is familiar with the teshuvos , writings , and public policies of the Gedolim of yesteryear will see that this is true. I have suspected for many years that this policy has changed, and maybe deservedly so. I certainly would agree with this change, it’s no secret that I’m a Zionist . I was wondering if anyone else has noticed it.