The Right Side Of History

Boruch Hashem , the messages I have posted on this blog have resonated among many and have started to make an impact. Thank you to the literally hundreds of people who have reached out with words of encouragement, constructive criticism and ideas for future things to address. As I've said repeatedly, I have no desire to do this. My most fervent wish is to have our leaders reverse from the disastrous course that we are on ASAP. I hope and daven that I can soon shut down this blog. Until then, I will continue to do my part in being a voice for reason over fear. Many have reached out to me with submissions for "Guest Posts". I apologize that I can't accommodate most. I am happy to present here the first of a three part essay on a topic that I believe has been relatively ignored to date. It's generally just assumed that any preventative measure that an individual or community takes to prevent the spread of Covid falls under the Halachik...

So it finally happened to me. After hearing all Chol Hamoed from people in the community about how schools were contacting parents to inform them that their kids needed to quarantine for interactions that had occurred days before, my wife & I received a phone call on Thursday evening from the nurse of one of the local Yeshivot we send our children to. We were told that one of our children was found to have been in "contact" with someone who had tested positive for Covid a couple of days prior but whose symptoms had started sometime on Shabbat. However, this "contact" potentially happened within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms so they were requiring our child to quarantine for the next 7 days (14 days from the contact). To protect the privacy of the person who tested positive, I will not share any of the details of this "contact" other than to say that it happened 7 1/2 days before we got this phone call, it was for less than the 15 minutes that the C...

As I have reviewed my recent writings in light of the abundance of feedback I've received, I would like to apologize for two matters. 1)  My preamble to the ad published in the Jewish Link detailed the drama that led up to its publishing (as I understood it). This allowed some to make the incorrect inference that the RCBC as an entity sought to censor my writings. That is not correct and I apologize for contributing to that misunderstanding. It is correct that some Rabbonim, upon seeing an early version of the article, advised against its publication. 2) I recognize that my passion to find a healthier and happier place for our children and the frustration of watching what I consider to be terribly misguided efforts, all poured out in this space in my critique of a communication from a local school. Whereas I fully stand behind the substance of my remarks, I apologize for including the name of the school, for not giving recognition to the...

This is really addressed to those over the age of 60 or those with underlying medical conditions who are at greater risk of poor outcomes should they be infected with Covid. But it's worthwhile for everyone to consider whether it's appropriate for them to be davening indoors and certainly to be encouraging the at-risk population to avoid indoor minyanim at all costs. I have gotten the reputation among some of not taking Covid seriously, which is just not accurate. I try to come to conclusions based on what the data tells me, not on emotions or fear or personal experience. I’m certain that I also have biases as we all do. I am not a doctor but I firmly believe that the issue at hand here is not a medical one, but one of statistics and data. And this is an area that I am quite qualified to opine on. We now have data from over 100 countries which have experienced different mixes of policies as it relates to masking, social distancing, shutdowns, schools and various other public...

This is a "Guest Post" I am publishing here with the author's permission. I know his/her identity and he/she is a very thoughtful and prominent member of our community. I am not generally a fan of anonymous opinion pieces but given the fear culture we currently find ourselves in, this person's legitimate concern for retaliation from his/her employer, and the importance of this topic - I am posting it. Reading through some of the comments to Gershon's piece, I was personally struck by how many of the comments revolved around the issue of masking. Masking, according to these commenters, is set science, and the anti-maskers are espousing a view that will only put others in danger. In the spirit of free and open discussion, I would like to address some of those concerns so that people can begin to understand that the current protocols, which now have unfortunately centered around masks, have led us down a path that is both decidedly anti-science and is, in fact, eleva...

My OpEd that was censored by the local media in Bergen County now has over 18,000 views since I published it less than 48 hours ago. The feedback I have received has been overwhelmingly positive. As I suspected, the "silent majority" is in fact the overwhelming majority. We can and will put pressure on our leadership to change course and follow the actual science instead of caving to those who want us ruled by fear. Thank you to all those who have commented, given feedback and spread the word. In the interim, I will use this newly created platform to publicize those who continue to needlessly instill fear in our community and particularly within our precious children. I would much prefer not to do so and sincerely hope that this is my last post. But it is critical that we dissuade others from following in the path of fear-mongering. Without further ado, here is the letter that one of our local Yeshiva Day Schools sent out last night followed by my line by line commentary on i...

Sacrificing Our Children on the Altar of Covid Fear  by Gershon Distenfeld   Preamble: I sent an early draft of this OpEd to the Jewish Link of New Jersey last week as I've published there several times before and they indicated a strong interest in publishing it. Over the course of the next few days, I shared the draft with a few people for feedback to sharpen my thinking. One of these people asked if they could share my draft with a Rabbi in the community who had a differing view. I agreed since I always welcome different perspectives and was eager to hear counterpoints. Unfortunately, instead of engaging with me on what I wrote, this Rabbi went straight to the paper and lobbied hard to have my views suppressed. He also apparently shared my draft with other members of the RCBC (Rabbinical Council of Bergen County) and word soon made its way to several Heads of School of Bergen County Yeshivot. In total, my contacts at the paper inform me that at least 8 community leade...