Please address my points. Namely this one: MASKS WORK, EVERYONE SHOULD WEAR THEM WHEN AROUND OTHER PEOPLE. THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF MASK WEARING PALE IN COMPARISON TO THE ADVANTAGES THEY BRING IN PROTECTED PEOPLE FROM COVID-19
I would definitely agree that if two people who haven’t had Covid are face to face with each other, it would be safer for them to wear masks. I don’t believe it’s been scientifically proven, but it is mistaver.
There’s a broader issue that you dismiss too easily, whether forcing to people to wear masks for long periods of time is really so insignificant as you suggest it is. I’m not going to bother trying to convince you that it’s emotionally unhealthy for someone to be forced to do something which they abhor (whether it’s physically or psychologically uncomfortable is irelevant) for long stretches of time, because you have demonstrated an inability to hear anything outside of your own personal experience. You are apparently not that uncomfortable in a mask, and that’s fine, but you are not the only person in the world.
A certain rabbi wrote an article lamenting that many of his younger members have not come back to shul after the initial lockdown ended (I found it ironic since during the lockdown, he publicly, although without naming him, lambasted a different rav who kept his shul open on a limited basis). I’m told many of those people (not specifically in his shul) have suffered tremendous decline in their frumkeit. Going to shul isn’t just to accomplish a technical din of tefillah b’tzibur; it is immensely important socially, and for many people, it’s a tremendous connection to frumkeit.
Hearing from many people how much they hate masks (again – physical or psychological doesn’t matter), I definitely feel that when all of the minyanim insist on masks, many people simply won’t come. And the casualty isn’t just tefilah b’tzibur, it’s their whole yiddishkeit.
I’m all in favor of mask only minyanim for those who want them or need them from a safety perspective. But not having mask optional minyanim has a huge, not small, downside, despite your dismissal.
Our communities, as well as society at large, have suffered tremendously over the past year. A big part of that has been the people we lost r”l and the people who got sick and still haven’t fully recovered. But there’s also a different “pandemic” which is only beginning to be addressed, and that is the emotional, and for us equally important, spiritual decline many, many people have suffered.
When multiple rabbonim who I respect, and have respected for many years, do not insist on masks in their shuls, and in fact don’t wear them themselves (at least the ones who already had Covid), I will not accept as anything less than complete insanity the notion that they are all “pro-death”. I believe the explanation is as I said, that they believe the downside of insisting on masks is worse than the safety risks.
There are also rabbonim for whom I have immense respect who do insist on masks, and that’s fine too. Unlike you, I will not accuse them of being “pro ODT” or “anti emotional health”. I understand that in a very difficult situation, they prioritize physical safety. You should have the same respect for rabbonim who have assessed and for their kehilos prioritized the other, non physical downside, and not mandated masks.
I’m not trying to convince you to take your mask off, just (probably hopelessly) trying to show you that there are intelligent, responsible, and caring Torah leaders who don’t believe we should all be wearing masks in all of the situations you do, with legitimate reasons.
(I post this knowing the risk that you will completely distort my words, perhaps claiming that I said that if someone wears a mask in shul, they will instantly turn insane and/or frei. I hope that’s not the case, but rather that you will begin to hear that those who disagree with aren’t therefore evil.)