The Real Reason why Corona Spread to the Religious

For all our online chats, forums, comment sections, and of course, “social” media, many of us feel alone. A plague that hit the earth long before coronavirus was loneliness.

Let’s look at one of the silver linings in the coronavirus trauma: Why the Jewish Orthodox Torah communities have been hit a lot harder than others.

Where it Originated

If you read the online news, you will see that the hardest-hit city in Israel plagued with Coronavirus is Bnei Brak. The other cities that have been infected the hardest are the religious cities of Migdal HaEmek, Elad, Beitar Illit, and several religious neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

Even though the highest number of confirmed cases are in Tel Aviv, which also has the highest infection rate of every major city, the media is working hard to make it seem that Hashem is hitting Torah Jews a lot harder than He is the non-observant.

The Orthodox Jews have, for the most part, followed the restrictions issued by the Health Ministry. The Ministry is led by an Orthodox Jew who would never issue directives that contradicted Torah Law. With each new restriction, the Great Rabbis and leaders of our generation followed up with guidelines of their own, each instructing their community to do as the Minister of Health said.

The Real Reason Why it Spread

If the Rabbis turned government policy into halacha – Jewish law, then why did the virus spread faster and more fiercely among Torah communities?

Cases began to accelerate right after Purim. We were all in Shul listening to Megillat Esther. We were arm and arm as we danced to celebrate the great miracle Hashem performed for us against Amalek, our arch enemy. Unbeknown to us, as we all stood side by side in our costumes and groggers, the virus spread from one person to the next.

Even more than that – the virus spread among religious Jews faster, because Torah Jews are bound to one another. We are always together. We share everything. Our Rabbis explain that the very essence of the Jewish people is that we are a community – something which is not found in non-Jewish cultures.

Three times a day we see each other for prayer minyan. Once a week we meet with our families in Synagogue for Shabbat. Every day we learn Torah alongside one another. We share a mikveh to maintain the holiness and purity of the Jewish people. If G-d forbid anyone needs help, word spreads fast and everyone comes together to help. Chesed organizations abound, which bring needed food and other donations from one family to another. Nor do we just drop food at the door – we chat a bit and encourage each other. And of course, our joyous occasions are shared by our communities as well. Brisim, bar mitzvahs, weddings with hundreds of participants the norm… Religious Jews share a full and rich social life together.

As bad as it is, the fact that this virus spread so fast – much faster than the Ministry of Health could process how fast it was spreading and issue appropriate directives to stop it – tells you how socially active Torah Jews are. It tells you how bound we are to one another. We are so sociable, so open with each other, so inviting of neighbors into our homes for dinner, Torah, even just a snack and a chat – it took the Israeli police and the IDF to keep us from kibitzing.

This Too Shall Pass

If you aren’t observant, you can live life like an island. You can be socially distant all your life. You can distance yourself from friends, family, even your soulmate and not even realize that a bunch of 1s and 0s have replaced a real social life, love, real inclusion, and joy.

It took a global lockdown for me to realize how much I miss my daily minyan. It took a quarantine to understand how much my family wants to go back to Shul on Shabbat. It took a total lockdown to see how happy we are to be together, even if under these circumstances.

When the dust settles and things open up again, we will rediscover what it’s like to be around good people. It’s something the religious Jews have always enjoyed.

Health studies have revealed that not having friends is a higher cause for hypertension than diabetes. Having friends and people around you can improve your health and extend your life. According to health studies, the impact of friendship on life span is greater than that of not smoking, and even exercise.

Get the Message

That being said, we must also understand that if religious Jews were not spared from coronavirus, then it must be that we are unfortunately committing the same sin for which the entire world is being punished. If God was executing His judgments over a lack of Shabbat observance or of eating Kosher, the religious would have been spared – but we aren’t!

Rabbi Anava gave a masterful lesson which I recommend you watch. He mentioned something worth repeating.

In the second paragraph of the Shema, which we read three times a day, G-d warns us: Beware, lest your heart be misled, and you turn away and worship strange gods and prostrate yourselves before them (Deuteronomy, 11:16).

If we let our heart be deceived, if we let ourselves be led astray by the media lies and heresy, and by the secular world we live in doing everything to turn us away from G-d, and we worship the gods of screens, money, and lust, the following happens: And the wrath of the Lord will be kindled against you (Deuteronomy, 11:17).

The gematria (numerical value) of this statement in the Torah is 367. The gematria for Coronavirus is 367.

To rid ourselves of Corona, we must, with every action, proclaim instead: G-d will reign for all eternity. (Exodus, 15:18). This also has a gematria of 367.

We must recognize that everything, including Corona, comes from God Himself. He is the Master of the World, He makes all the decisions, and He does, did, and will do every single action – from the greatest to the most minute (one of the Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith).

Ein od milvado – there is nothing besides God! Only God has the power, and not Trump, and not Bibi, and not Corona, and not our own personal efforts either. And if God is in control – then that also means that we need to follow His rules, and repent for all the ways that we aren’t.

Blessing in Disguise

According to Rabbi Anava and a number of tzaddikim, Moshiach is coming right now. The world will get dark as he comes. The world will never go back to the way it was before, and things are only going to continue to get more difficult.

 G-d knows Torah observant communities will see this plague in our midst as a sign from Hashem to dig deeper and do more teshuva. He is helping us better prepare, with more alacrity, for the coming days by forcing us to repent!

And if we will all strengthen our emuna, say thank you for all the suffering, and try our best to repent, then G-d willing the Redemption can still come with mercy, sparing the world of all the decrees and prophesies of what happens otherwise.

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David Ben Horin lives in Israel with his wife and children.