common, you dont have 100%, you unfortunately have 99 left … you may think it is worth the price, the question is, of course, what Hashem thinks about it.
Of course, it was a very difficult decision for every Rav and teacher to close a shul or a school. Both spiritually and financially. Maybe it was an akeida-type test.
In the other aspect I agree – pandemic caused a lot of re-evaluations – WFH, online schools, relationship with family whom people used to see only for a couple of hours. Every depression does, but this one was unusual and abrupt. Many re-evaluations are to the good. So, it is possible that some people figured out that they were not getting much from a shul. Hopefully, this will be a signal for shuls to work on their spiritual value. It would have been worse if things would continue downhill without everyone noticing – until it is too late. Still, it is early to conclude whether people stopped going to shul or switched to shtibles. Currently, a lot of MO members WFH and many continue being careful, so it is not surprising they are not in shuls. Maybe membership payments will show soon (could it be the reason for some to be vocal now?!).
>> Who are we to judge what is a good reason or a bad reason
Rav’s point was conditional to someone’s judgment on being careful, on which he did not opine: if you are not careful and go to other places, then you should be in shul. This makes sense and is also a very humble psak: he is decomposing the problem into public health and shul, and judges only the second one where he is a baki. In this way, we are both right – if people in your shul are not careful in other places, then they got to be in shul. So, everyone is consistent.