Dan Wiseman

What would have happened had the Jews refused to obey the Covid-19 lockdown decrees from the start in March rather than having acquiesced with the rest of the country?

What would have occurred had the Jews fought back against “religious persecution” and said they have the right under the Constitution to practice their faith as they saw fit? That response might have been a tremendous statement about the importance of religion, and an amazing demonstration of Jewish pride for their children.

Would there have been a backlash against the Jews for “putting public health in jeopardy,” or would they have been prescient that these draconian measures are now in their ninth month with no end date in sight despite there being several vaccines coming to the rescue? Perhaps had the Jews refused, they could have been a true “light to the nations,” and America’s Christians would have also arisen to fight the completely non-sensical “public health,” decrees that include allowing strip clubs to remain open but limit the number of people who can attend religious services in what used to be called the United States.

We do not know the answer to this moot question, but one thing is for sure, Covid-19 has had its Jewish moments, including the most egregious one: the voluntary mass closing of most Reform and Conservative congregations, and the Orthodox re-opening with mask wearing, which has been ignored under certain circumstances leading to altercations with the authorities and each other.

How is it possible that Jews, who are taught to die for their religion, if necessary, could “roll over,” so easily? How many stories do Jews teach their young about the heroic efforts of their ancestors to maintain their religion at all costs? But in March, the Passaic County Health Department, for example, told the Orthodox Jews there in New Jersey to close their synagogues or else and they did.

The Passaic rabbis folded immediately with their perfunctory, religious “rulings,” on why their Jews must obey them and the local health officials. The rabbis of Passaic preserved their authority by surrendering to Passaic County Democrats, who masquerade as public health experts. In turn, the local Orthodox rabbis told their congregants that they must surrender their Constitutional freedoms. The fear was on, and anybody who opposed what was happening was asked to leave, specifically, they could not attend synagogue without a mask, nor even hold services outside without social distancing.

In another Orthodox community, Washington Heights in upper Manhattan, it was not even public health officials who closed minyanim, but other terrified Jews! One rabbi in a few-in-number synagogue wanted to put his faith in the Almighty and pray. He is an old man, short of stature, but a giant in courage. He said Jews should not be afraid, and he led his small flock of worshippers in the thrice-daily devotions, until the other Jews in his congregation told him he could no longer flout the local health edicts. This type of policing now also includes Jews telling other Jews at synagogue that their mask is too low over their nose. Here is an idea: anybody so concerned about germs at synagogue ought to stay home altogether.

Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations capitulated, too. Not really capitulated but were all too happy to close for the sake of destroying the Donald Trump presidency, which is what Covid-19 has always been about. Reform and Conservative Jews converted completely to virtual services. Watch a Friday night service, and a person can witness the incredible scene of a Jewish Reform cantor singing behind a plexiglass partition while wearing a mask over his or her mouth, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NOBODY NEXT TO THEM! This is all about catching those “Covid-19 droplets,” which must be contained at all costs, despite the fact that 99.9 percent of Americans have survived the “pandemic.”

Finally, we have the ongoing war between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio against Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jews. It is cops and robbers and the perfect storm. Orthodox Jews typically are less inclined to vote Democrat, and everyone in New York City hates the Orthodox Jews, who do not appear to care about what goes on in the rest of the world, much less the city, and the Orthodox Jews always feel that they are hated and being discriminated against reinforcing their belief system, so everybody wins in this tussle.

From June to October this year, de Blasio and Brooklyn’s Jews fought an ongoing battle over Covid-19. Playgrounds in Jewish neighborhoods were closed in the heat of the summer. Rioting and looting by “progressive” groups was OK with de Blasio, but my Big Fat Jewish Wedding in Boro Park and Williamsburg was not. By October, at the time of the Jewish High Holidays, hundreds of Jewish men were protesting in the streets against de Blasio, who responded that those who did not wear a mask would be fined $1,000 and mass gatherings would be subject to penalties up to $15,000.

During Covid-19, many Jews have behaved the same as most Americans: like sheeple. They have allowed the tin-pot dictator Democrat governors of New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, California, etc., steal our American liberties to worship, to make a living, and to travel freely. But for the Jews it is worse because the Jews continue to vote in alarming numbers for Democrats, blindly supporting the party of lockdowns and Israel-bashers Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. In Florida, Trump received 40 percent of the Jewish vote, but that is the best the president did anywhere. Too many Americans, Jews included, are running around with their “hair on fire,” and this can’t be “good for the Jews,” in the end.