Chronicle poll results: The COVID era

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Is the COVID era over?” Of the 285 people who responded, 84% said no; 9% said yes; and 7% said they didn’t know. Comments were submitted by 92 people. A few follow.

It appears that the majority of the population has capitulated to the virus, accepting COVID as if it were just another minor ailment. We don’t know the full impact of infection(s) and what we do know is not encouraging. I’m in a minority of people who are still social distancing, masking in stores and only going to restaurants when outdoor dining is available. I lost two elderly family members (pre-vaccine 2020) who were otherwise healthy.

The severity of the illness is over; however, sadly, in years to come, when people finally realize the long-term negative effects of the vaccine, the era will continue.

I wish it was but is not. Will it ever end? It’s become exhausting. How many boosters can we get? I think I’m done with COVID boosters.

Jacobs op-ed title gets it wrong

The title of Rick Jacobs’ op-ed is as disingenuously humorous as a line from a Mel Brooks movie (“Why we’ll fight Israel’s new extremist political agenda with the determination of the Maccabees,” Jan. 6). You plan to fight “Israel’s extremist political agenda” just like the extremist Maccabees fought the Hellenists? Maybe you ought to understand two simple facts. Fact No. 1 is that the Maccabees were more like the Taliban than you would be comfortable admitting. In fact, the first man they killed was a Hellenized Jew. Fact No. 2 is that you, dear Mr. Jacobs, represent the Hellenized Jews.

Diana Connan Forgy Pittsburgh

‘A basket of deplorables’

The Republican Jewish Coalition has expressed disgust with newly elected Republican U. S. House member George Santos, who was welcomed into its fold based upon one of his countless lies, including the one in which he claimed to be the Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors (“RJC CEO: George Santos ‘will not be welcome’ at our events,” Jan. 6). Was the coalition expecting honor and integrity from someone who was present at the infamous “Stop the Steal” rally of Jan. 6, 2021 — one who later boasted of writing “a nice check” to defray the legal fees of the rioters who pummeled police officers, desecrated the Capitol and threatened the lives of lawmakers and the former vice president?

The Republican Party is unrecognizable from what it was in a better era. Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election even after the insurrection, and he has elevated to a prominent place in the party Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the notorious and dangerous friend of antisemites, white supremacists and QAnon conspiracy theorists. So much for McCarthy being the “patriot” and “man of God” he was characterized as by one of the individuals who nominated him for speaker.

Not all, but much of the Republican Party of today, and of which I used to be a member, is comprised of, as Hillary Clinton might say, a basket of deplorables.

Oren Spiegler Peters Township

As a hospice volunteer, I assure you COVID is not over. There is an increasing number of people — not all elderly — who, sadly, are dying.

My paternal grandfather died in the 1918 flu pandemic. As a result, I am very hesitant to take the COVID virus lightly. I continue to wear a mask when out, and I continue to be cognizant that the threat remains a very real one.

COVID will never be over. Our willingness to live with daily limitations is — or soon will be, it seems.

I define the COVID era as that period of time when our lives were significantly changed to protect our health and that of our families, neighbors and communities. COVID is here to stay but we have learned to manage it.

It is time to put away the ridiculous, useless masks and get back to regular living.

Life is not bilateral

Ignoring COVID has not made it go away.

Enough is enough. This sickness is no worse than many of the flus we experience. Some demographics are more susceptible than others. We did not have to shut down, and we no longer need to fear it.

Time to move on.

COVID-19 will probably always be with us. We have to protect ourselves and find ways of dealing with it. We all must think of others and not only ourselves to combat and control it as we have with many other diseases.

COVID is permanent at this point. Get vaxxed! PJC

Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Should George Santos be forced to resign from Congress? Go to pittsburghjewish chronicle.org to respond. PJC

The letters to the editor in the Jan. 13 Chronicle, basically about the polarization of Zionism, really struck a chord with me — an ugly tritone chord.

All of life is not bilateral! Why does it seem we all keep operating only from two sides — not even on a spectrum, more like a tug-of-war rope with the ends full — and that we just continue arguing about who is “correct?”

None of us is two-dimensional, black-or-white, up-or-down, left-or-right in attitude. We all have multiple points of view about many things — that can be charted in threeor four-dimensional charts — and no political idealist can responsibly represent an entire community by claiming to support the extreme in a two-dimensional continuum.

Checks and balances in any governmental system are meant to slow things down and keep us balanced, in equilibrium, such that all can thrive.

Every day in prayers we say that the angels call to one another in praise of the Almighty — they call “zeh el zeh” — and to demonstrate it we turn from one side to the other and back again, as if angels stand in a line and speak only to their neighboring angels. Maybe that is true, but I prefer to picture them flying about and calling to each other in at least six dimensions. Why limit our vision?

We must stop this (human) polarization to bilateral extremes and the attitude that we must wipe out the opposition, or free society will fall. We must learn to accept everyone as members of our communities. All Jews (Reform, Orthodox, unaffiliated, married to non-Jews, descended from Jews, whatever) are members of the Jewish people. All Americans are equal Americans, and Israelis are Israelis. People are all people.

Exclusion by legislating, judicial decisions, battles, etc., is wrong. These exclusions serve nothing but elevating the egos of those who “believe” in some ethic or moral that not all agree with, and they exclude those who should be full members of the society.

Exclusion proliferates, even as we call for “inclusion.” When we legislate against something that not everyone agrees is bad (Reform Jews, abortion, secular education, LGBTQ rights, etc.), or when we legislate for something that not everyone agrees is good (gaining territory by military attack on others, gerrymandering inequality, unfair tax laws, etc.), we are enacting divisive things into law. This only furthers the separation and the fights that ensue, and divides us unnecessarily.

Kwall:

Continued from page 13 change will impact the movement’s camps and youth groups, likely weakening their ability to create an environment with the type of religious cultural norms and messaging many Conservative Jewish parents still value, and to which they presently devote substantial financial resources.

Equally significant, this change will negatively impact those Conservative rabbis and their families who do not want to officiate at interfaith weddings. Several years ago, a prominent Reform rabbi told me that her colleagues who do not officiate at intermarriages will either not get jobs or will have difficulty retaining their current positions.

Currently, the Conservative movement is a big tent. Traditionally religious Jews feel at home, and so do Jews who are less observant but still interested in affiliating institutionally with synagogues that maintain stronger religious norms.

Lifting the ban on performing intermarriages is likely to result in diluting the halachic brand of Conservative Judaism and destroying the movement’s much-needed centrist religious space. PJC

Roberta Rosenthal Kwall is the Raymond P. Niro Professor at DePaul University College of Law. She is the author of “Remix Judaism: Transmitting Tradition in a Diverse World,” “The Myth of the Cultural Jew: Culture and Law in Jewish Tradition” and “The Soul of Creativity.” This story originally appeared in the Forward. To get the Forward’s free email newsletters delivered to your inbox, go to forward.com/newsletter-signup.

Again, life is not bilateral. The answer is multidimensional thinking and leaning together into a central balance rather than continually tipping one way and the other.

Audrey Glickman Squirrel Hill

Correction

A step was omitted in the kosher pasta Bolognese recipe which appeared in the Chronicle’s Jan. 6 issue. One cup of pareve milk substitute should be stirred into the sauce after the tomato paste is added and before it is set to simmer for 2 or 2½ hours. The Chronicle regrets the omission. PJC

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