Selfishness and stupidity

amother

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 4:24 pm

I don't get why people can't just be smart and responsible.
Stay home.
Keep your kids home.
School is virtual and I am thrilled-keep my kids safe!
Don't go to simchas.

Yes it is hard and disappointing, but get over it. Yours and everyone else's safety is more important. My friend's son's wedding is now just immediate family (not postponing the marriage) B"H they will make a celebration to share with family and friends another time. Purim seuda was just my immediate family. Pesach in the hotel has been cancelled. My DD is staying in Israel for Pesach. Life goes on. Please G-d I will spend next Pesach with her in the hotel.

I understand why such a big deal is being made by health department/schools.... I can't understand why some of the Imas here are carrying on like spoiled, selfish toddlers.

On a bright note, an amazing thing I saw was a man in Florida posted on Teaneck Shuls that being Florida does not have the situation we have here and he is free to go to Shul, he will say Kaddish for anyone in need of you send him the Hebrew name. Go him! Tizku li'mitzvot!!!

hodeez

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 4:25 pm

If we can take away anything from the measles episode, it's that common sense is not that common.

amother

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 5:51 pm

I was trying I can't figure out the technology. I wish I could post the RCBC letter here. It speaks volumes.

amother

Ivory

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 5:55 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Not all the schools have gone virtual yet and not all jobs have finished transitioning to work from home.

chestnut

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 5:59 pm

What exactly is your problem with people?
And good luck having online classes in bais yakov schools or boys' yeshivos

amother

Blonde

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 6:04 pm

A friend is making a vort tonight & I really wanted to go. But I guess I won't.

Flip Flops

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 6:05 pm

As amother Ivory said, not all of us have the option of locking ourselves in our house. I've still got to be at work each day...
Until the schools and offices officially close, nobody is staying home.

zoom

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 6:05 pm

I totally agree with op.
why are we not all self isolating as a precaution?!
betetr to treat it now then wait for it to happen.
I ffeel like were all sitting ducks.

imasoftov

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 6:13 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I was trying I can't figure out the technology. I wish I could post the RCBC letter here. It speaks volumes.

Dear Friends,

We are writing with an important update regarding COVID-19 and the ongoing health situation in our community.

Last night, the rabbis of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County (RCBC), the presidents of our shuls, and the heads of our local schools gathered to meet with representatives of local government, including the Teaneck Department of Health and expert physicians from our three local hospitals: Englewood Health, Hackensack University Medical Center, and Holy Name Medical Center.

The message from the healthcare providers was clear. They need our help to slow the spread of the disease before their resources are overwhelmed. The doctors expressed significant concern regarding the capacity of our local hospitals to meet the growing needs of their patients in the event of a (expected) large surge in cases of COVID-19. They reported that while the amount of cases is still low, it seems to be increasing rapidly. Even if patients of COVID-19 will be treatable, we may deplete our resources and other patients who suffer from ordinary, serious illnesses will not be able to get the necessary care, putting their lives in danger.

Slowing the spread of the disease will allow our hospitals to best manage this situation. The only way to do this is for us to socially distance ourselves from one another. Moreover, the doctors emphasized that the most significant community closure possible will make the greatest impact in potentially saving lives in our area.

We have therefore made the very difficult decision to adopt the following policies of social distancing in our community. We intend to re-evaluate our policies next week on the basis of the expert guidance provided by the medical leadership of the three local hospitals. This panel will guide us as we continually monitor the ongoing situation as it evolves. We collectively agree to abide by the decisions reached by our lay, educational and rabbinic leadership on the basis of expert medical advice, to uniformly adhere to these standards, and to communicate collectively.

We must all try our best to stay home with only our immediate family for now and to avoid unnecessary contact with others, and particularly with substantial groups. We should only leave when it is truly necessary. Thus:

1. All community members are strongly encouraged to work from home, if possible, and to stay home whenever possible. It is critical for adults to set the right example.

2. As the schools are currently closed, there should not be playdates between children of different families. This would undermine the entire purpose of the school closing.

3. Shuls will be closed for all minyanim and shiurim effective Friday morning, March 13. There should be no house minyanim. All of the rabbis will be davening alone in their own homes. Please daven at home, individually.

4. There should be no public celebrations for smachot.

5. People should not have gatherings for Shabbat meals.

6. Shiva visits should be replaced by phone/video calls.

7. Levayot should be restricted to a small group of family members and a minyan.

8. Refrain from contact sports.

9. Restaurants should not seat customers. People should order for pick-up and delivery only.

10. The Mikvaot will remain open, at the guidance of CDC and local health authorities. Women under mandatory quarantine or who are experiencing symptoms of illness may not use the mikvah. Please consult your rav for further clarification or for specific questions.

As you can see, these represent significant changes to our lives and many detailed questions will certainly emerge. This brief outline cannot guide every particular situation. We will all have to address each circumstance as it comes up based on professional expertise and religious guidance.

It is with a very heavy heart that we are suspending so many of the most crucial routines of our daily lives and lifecycle moments. We do this only because of the compelling nature of our circumstance and the decisive medical testimonies that are consistent with CDC recommendations. These measures are adopted as a reflection of our overarching commitment to the sanctity of all human life, and we pray that these will be very temporary measures. Please take these days as a critical opportunity to intensify our tefilot to the Rofeh Ne’eman that all those ill will be healed and that our community will be shielded from any further harm.

Sincerely, The Rabbinical Council of Bergen County

amother

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 7:22 pm

Imasoftov,
Thank you !

amother

Red

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:02 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I don't get why people can't just be smart and responsible.

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Yes it is hard and disappointing, but get over it. Yours and everyone else's safety is more important.

Is it smart and responsible to destroy entire economies because of a virus? Tragically like many viruses, this virus can be fatal. Nonetheless there are long-tern consequences to shutting down entire economies, closing boarders and "injecting liquidity" (creating inflation). This isn't the black plague.

Is it a good idea to give governments a free hand at taking away G-d given, constitutionally protected liberties because there is a "crisis?" Where in the constitution does it say something to the effect of 'These liberties shall be revoked by government in times of crisis?' Nowhere. Have we all become communist China (yes they might have a capitalist economy, but the political system is still communist).

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I understand why such a big deal is being made by health department/schools.... I can't understand why some of the Imas here are carrying on like spoiled, selfish toddlers.

Because somebody disagrees with you, that simply does not give you the right to hurl names like "selfish" and "toddlers" at them. You have your opinion, others have theirs. Your opinion, my opinion and everyone elses' for that matter is just that- a subjective opinion.

southernbubby

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:10 pm

amother [ Red ] wrote:

If the virus actually chas v'sholem infected many people to the point where they were too sick to work, wouldn't that also affect the economy?

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:12 pm

I can only speak for myself but I have to work which is why I can’t pull my kid out of school. I work in healthcare which not only doesn’t shut down but needs me even more during times like these. So until and unless my kids school closes (Gd forbid) she’s there. Plus, how will all the schools who ban internet provide e learning?)

amother

Gray

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:14 pm

amother [ Red ] wrote:

It's not "just a virus". You obvuously dont understand the nuances here. This is about people's lives.
The idea is to slow the virus from spreading, not stop it. The point is so that the hospitals are not overwhelmed. It could c"v come to a point where too many older people get sick at once and the hospital won't have enough respirators for all, so they will prioritize the younger patients. Hence, the older people are in grave risk of losing their lives. It is for them that we are willing to jeopardize the economy. The economy can recover. Dead people can not.

amother

Crimson

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:23 pm

So should doctors and nurses keep their kids home from school and stay home to take care of them? So that they don't act like spoiled selfish toddlers?

amother

Pumpkin

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:27 pm

I live oot. I just came to NY for my brother's wedding, which I have no choice but to attend.
I am frantically purelling everything. Washing my hands every time I go outside. I am doing my own nails and eyebrows for this wedding.
I'm doing what I can.
But it's making me sososososo nervous that MY MOTHER DOES NOT WASH HER HANDS, will come home from a long day of working with a bazillion people in a bazillion houses, immediately open a family size bag of twizzlers, and stick her entire fist in. And then put the bag back in the pantry. I can't eat anything now in her house because of this. I'm a total basket case. I'm doing what I can, but but but....

amother

Indigo

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:31 pm

Apparently, unless tens of thousands are dying on the streets, why bother taking any precautions? Letting a few hundred or thousand rot to death is nothing in the big scheme of things.

That's the way some posters here are talking. It's very disturbing though explains why people are being selfish and stupid.

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:37 pm

How will healthy people staying home slow down the spreading of the virus? Sick people should stay home. Healthy people pose no risk to spreading the virus. The world can't shut down because of a virus that's less dangerous than the flu. People are in panic mode. Panic never helps.

southernbubby

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:41 pm

amother [ Honeydew ] wrote:

There is an opinion like that; that only the sick, or those who are vulnerable should stay home but apparently it is more contagious and has a higher percentage of death than the flu.

amother

Black

Thu, Mar 12 2020, 8:44 pm

amother [ Honeydew ] wrote:

Healthy people are potential hosts for the virus.