Wondering if this is also part of social distancing.
Shopping cart up a pole.
No one else up there.
Safe from Coronavirus, hopefully.
Maybe some illusive toilet paper to be found in the sky mall?
Desperate times calling for desperate measures or an anxious society is losing its mind. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Social distancing is the new norm.
Shaking hands is a no-no!
Even in the park yesterday, they had a sign prominently displayed that read:
Thank you for practicing social distancing. Please stay 6 FT apart.
We might as well all just wear t-shirts or little reminder signs on each of us with:
Keep the F*** away from me!
That about sums it up without putting up a specific distance range. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This photo is sort of what it feels like to be in lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic.
You’re stuck inside, but still have to keep everything moving anyway!
As we enter the next phase with people itching to go back out and “restart” life and the economy and the second wave where more people unfortunately get sick, we are really as they say:
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
That where bad thing can happen (G-d forbid) and it’s never a good place to be. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was a pretty cool statue at Baltimore Penn Station.
No people though on a Sunday or because of COVID-19.
I imagine this is what a ghost town looks like.
The statues stand tall but the remnants of the people are hiding in shelters.
End of times or a new beginning…we’ll see. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This sign was just too great.
Advertisement with the little slips at the bottom to tear off.
Free Cure for COVID-19.
Please take an information strip below
And what do the strips say:
Stay the F**K at home
I wonder why no one took any of the strips? LOL
Like every meaningful issue, we have people on both sides of the aisle fighting it out what is the right thing to do.
And when it comes to life and liberty, passions certainly run high. 😉
(Credit Photo to my son-in-law Itzchak for sharing this with me from his friend in California)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Coronavirus: A Modern Leprosy.”
What an interesting time this week during the coronavirus for my bar-mitzvah parshas of Tazria and Metzora, where we learn about how to handle someone with the plague of leprosy…What’s fascinating though for our times is that right here in the Torah, long before medical science understood germs, washing of hands, and disinfectants, we have the first instruction on quarantining someone who is sick. The person with leprosy is deemed impure and is put outside the camp in quarantine, repeatedly checked (e.g. tested) by the Kohen, until they are healed, at which time they are purified before being allowed back in. What we don’t see with leprosy is that the whole community is put in a state of quasi quarantine as we are doing now globally with the coronavirus.
In the end, I see this coronavirus blowing up with some people forever anxious and germophobic and others becoming complacent and careless about the whole thing. Either way there will be more sick and dying people, as well as anger at the system that over time repeatedly failed us. This week’s parsha is a good reminder to go back to the ultimate wisdom of the Torah and read again how we handle the leper and manage with a thoughtful risk-based management approach and an eye on the ultimate purity—physically and spiritually—of the individual and the community.
(Free Photo via Pixabay)
Remember before Coronavirus when times where a little more innocent…
When we didn’t have to worry about viruses spread by eating live or wild animals or that “escape” from weapons laboratories.
It’s good to be a little nostalgic.
Shabbat Shalom! 😉
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
What will restarting the economy after Coronavirus look like?
Well Israel has a well-thought-out 4 Phase Plan (pending approval) and I would imagine that the U.S. plan will look something very much like this:
– Phase I: Tech and Finance, some Import/Export industries, 50% of Public Sector, and Preschool
– Phase II: Commerce/Retail Stores, Elementary School (ages 6-10)
– Phase III: Cafes, Restaurants, and Hotels, and most of the rest of the Education system
– Phase IV: Leisure and Entertainment: Culture, Sports, Large Shopping Malls, and Flights
There are 4 additional key provisions to this plan:
– 2 Week Buffer between phases to review and evaluate success before moving forward with the next phase.
– “People over 60 and at-risk populations will not resumenormal activity throughout the four phases.”
– Resuming these activities occurs with the exercise of continued caution (e.g. social distancing, testing, etc.)
– Expect 2nd outbreak in the Fall and therefore continue to build up healthcare capabilities in preparation for this
This sounds like an excellent plan as a basis to reopen and one that we can and should build upon. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal and thank you to my sister for sharing this with me)
Latest Coronavirus news reported by Reuters from South Korea…
Virus appears to be “reactivated” after person is already cleared of it.
91 patients so far!
Is this the result of faulty testing or is this not your typical virus???
Folks, it does not look like we are in clear by a long shot on this yet.
Be careful and stay safe! 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal and thank you to my sister with a PhD in biomedical science for sharing this with me)
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Synagogue or Sickness?“
When I was a kid and my father would {strongly} encourage me to go to synagogue. My father was a man of deep faith and he used to say warningly to me: “It’s better to go to synagogue than to the hospital.” Obviously, he was implying that if I didn’t follow G-d’s word, then G-d forbid, he would punish me and instead of going to Shul, I would go to the hospital. Maybe not the best way to teach someone to want to go to prayer services, but I know he meant it out of complete love for me and ultimately for my best.
Yet ironically, now with coronavirus preventing us from practicing the many communal aspects of our faith, so many of us can only but wish that we could just go to synagogue to celebrate the holidays and Shabbat together once again. Unfortunately, for now at least, we don’t even have the option to go to synagogue—the choice has been taken from us. G-d willing, hopefully soon, we can once again go—with willingness and love—not only to pray at synagogue, but also to the holy Third Temple in Jerusalem itself.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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