I didn’t go to my nieces wedding….

I didn’t attend any protests this week. I could have. They were right down the street. Nor for that matter. did I attend my nieces wedding in New York yesterday. Granted it was a bit further. But that’s not why I didn’t attend. I would fly across the world to celebrate with my twin sister and family. So why didn’t I just get in the car and go? And why didn’t I just walk down the street and protest? Do I not love this niece as much? Not a chance. She’s adorable and lovely and it broke my heart not to be there. I felt truly disconnected. Do I not believe that our society needs to call out and protest racism and police brutality when it rears its ugly head? Without a question. Under normal circumstances I would have been the first to show up. And though I am aware that there were those who were quick to polarize and politicize, I would have disregarded the risk of being misunderstood, of being branded as subscribing to one ideology over another, or leaning in one political direction over another. I’m a big boy. I take risks like that all the time. I even wrote an article pointing out how the initial knee jerk response of protest against this vicious and clearly racially motivated murder sparked a universal outcry reminiscent of the Jewish Maxim that likens destroying one person to destroying the entire world etc. Which brings me to my main point. Why didn’t I participate in all these events? It’s because as far as I know we are still very much in the middle of the most deadly epidemic we have ever known in our lifetimes. I am still social distancing folks. I was very quick to shut our local house of worship. I didn’t know whether I would be alone on this or not, but I felt strongly about it. When Orthodox Jews were choosing to come together and pray, or attend the funerals of their beloved leaders, they were making a choice about their life and their priorities. One which I disagreed with on grounds of Pikuach Nefesh ( A Jewish ethos that places the Value of preserving life at the very top in the hierarchy of its guiding principles) I STILL disagree with them.

A brief excerpt from a recent New Yorker piece; Miranda Yaver, a political scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies public health, decided to join the protests in her city, despite the personal and pandemic risks. Yaver has an endocrine disorder that requires regular treatment, which makes her more vulnerable to covid-19. Still, she felt compelled to participate. “Silence is what allows for the perpetuation of these disparities,” she said. “I’m scared there will be terrible covid outbreaks because of these protests, but I’m also scared of what happens when we allow racial injustice to go unchecked.”

I hear her. I hear the protesters all over the world, including the ones down the street. I hear the Chasidim who made the same exact choice as Miranda, though they did so without being read their “Miranda Rights.” To the contrary. They were very publicly castigated. I love them all, though not nearly as much as I love my niece. I understand them. I hope they understand why I wouldn’t join them. I hope Miranda will now extend understanding to “Reb Chaim” from Boro Park. They have more in common than they imagined. I wonder if. “Reb Chaim”, Miranda, and all my other fellow brothers and sisters who “protested, mourned, and prayed” en masse, are aware of the magnitude of their choices and its impact. I think its important for them to recognize what Miranda, the political scientist from LA, who must be an extraordinary human being for essentially risking. her own life to uphold her principles, honestly acknowledged. That in doing so she just may have risked mine as well.

Much Love and Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yossi