@daas-yochid Chas v’Shalom! I would never insinuate that any Rov is incompetent (unless I’ve heard it from a different Rov whom I trust). Please stop putting words in my mouth. What I am saying is that the reasoning that I’ve heard from the Rabbonim and other authorities about allowing unmasked crowds is, well, lacking.
Mid 2020 there was no end of letters in frum magazines and papers from doctors and organizations begging people to listen to the guidelines, and the response was non-existent. It’s not even a question of knowing the guidelines, it’s that the seem to know the guidelines but then ignore them. The best reasoning usually boils down to what you said about forcing people to do something they find uncomfortable. But that’s something that is a major part of a Rav’s responsibility, so it’s disturbing that they draw the line here. Also, it makes no sense since there are plenty of communities that are more than happy to mask up full time in shuls, schools, stores, and simchas.
All this leads me to one conclusion: The Rabbonim (at least those who pasken that masks are optional) don’t believe that there’s anything to be done about COVID. That masks, social distancing, testing, travel restrictions, etc. won’t prevent people from getting sick. This flies in the face of not only all conventional logic, but also what pretty much every expert on the topic is saying. So they Rabbonim aren’t trusting the experts. Why not? Perhaps because they are being fed faulty information. Maybe people are being told that the experts are far from certain (they aren’t). Maybe they think that it’s still a matter up for debate (it isn’t). Maybe they just think that all the experts are anti-Semites seeking to destroy Yiddishkeit (including the Yeshivish ones?).
Kids are getting destroyed by staying home from school
Exactly. Unintentionally, you hit the nail on the head. That is why masking is important. Like I said many many times before. We can’t lockdown until COVID goes away. What we could do is try and follow the guidelines as much as possible so that we can still live mostly normal lives and not have a dangerous virus run unchecked in our communities. Out of all the guidelines, one of the least disruptive ones is to wear a mask. Do that (along with social distancing, etc.) and the COVID risk from school will be minimal enough that we don’t have to weigh one against another.
Which begs another question. You are against wearing masks. Are you also against the more difficult things people have to do in these times? Are you against families quarantining for weeks if one member has COVID? Are you against small simchas? As you against preventing people from traveling? Are you against isolating and getting tested every time someone has a fever over 100?
@madealiyah I’m still baffled by your reasoning. If everyone wears a mask (and social distances, etc) it can help prevent thousands of deaths. The negative effects minimal, at absolute worst. Why shouldn’t we wear masks? You keep mentioning “rights” but your definition is unclear. What “right” does an individual have to drive without a license? What “right” does someone have to fire off a gun in a public area? What “right” does a person have to not wear pants in public? You are ironically correct in one way. We do lose our freedoms. When said “freedom” can cause millions of deaths. So yes. COVID is causing thousands of deaths a day. If we take away people’s “right” and “freedom” to go to a store without a facial covering it can drop those numbers significantly.