Jewish Community Through the Pandemic

Introduction:

The major topic that will be studied within this discourse analysis is the position the Jewish community had with overcoming the difficult events that raised with the Coronavirus pandemic. Looking through three main communities around the world that fall under the traditional and cultural arch of Judaism, I will introduce questions given through a survey to people that identify within their specific community. The driving questions that will seal the path of the following discourse analysis will be surrounding the subject of the representation of the community has been shown through the pandemic, the accommodations that were provided through the course of quarantine, and if the members of each community had found difficulties in interacting or reaching out during this period. As I'm focusing on the initial months of the pandemic and quarantine (2020) a deeper view of the holidays and festivities in the Jewish calendar must be listed, a few being: Pesach (Passover), Rosh Hashana (New Year), Yom Kippur, Sukkot, etc... The pandemic unfortunately also brought death and loss, so looking at the burial and funeral rituals the Jewish community overtakes can result in a better understanding of their difficulties. These two narratives will help guide the Discourse Analysis and keep the main topic at the center of it. The comparison between the three communities, respectably being, the community of Torino, Italy, also known as UCEI; the community of Israeli Jews living outside of Israel; and finally the American Jewish community, highly focused in New York, this community will be represented by the AJC association.

Survey & Interviews

The survey collected different responses concerning the representation, interaction, and help given to the community throughout the pandemic.

How is the representation of the community been shown through the pandemic?
Does the community provide suitable accommodations during the pandemic?
Has it been difficult to interact and reach out to other community members during this situation?

Maya, an international student attending George Washington University and a member of the Jewish community of Washington DC, felt great understanding from her new community as both the Hillel organization and the Chabad brought many opportunities and activities for interaction and not just basic events.

Even if the distance was an issue, Maya pointed out how accommodations from the Jewish community were made accessible through online platforms like zoom calls and regular facetime chats, this was identified as a neutral place where the members could talk freely and even socialize, small gatherings were formed to meet up with the different members, games and speed dating sessions were enjoyed by many, including Maya, not only to know more people but actually form strong bonds that till this day are consistent.

Michal brought to the interview the difficulty she underwent in the role of the matriarch of her family, and how she had to keep her family united in this terrible situation, one question came from the interview which was on how her own community helped its members through the pandemic, this was divided with to particular events, the first one being the proximity of the Jewish holidays.

As of April, her entire family was spread throughout the world unable to come together as they always do for the celebration of Pesach, thus a table of twenty people became one of only two, but Michal came to an interesting conclusion through the interview which was how traditions of every household hold the community together and the seed of our faith brings people closer.

Jewish Community of Torino, Italy:

The first Jewish community that will be analyzed is the Italian one, established in Torino, in the northern part of the peninsula. This community is substantially smaller than the ones compared to, only having around 800 members, mostly of old age. The survey was given to the younger portion of the group known as the UGEI (young Jewish association of Italy), some interviewees like for example Caterina, Giulia, and her brother Simone talked about the scarring situation that the pandemic period had on their representation as leading members of the young community; and with the major attraction and key events being social ones where different individuals would meet and interact. With the Covid pandemic hitting and obstructing the social component of life, these kinds of events were no longer possible. Almost all the individuals that were interviewed saw this as a negative weight on the community, especially because of its size.

Jewish Comunity in the United States (impact on hasidic jews):

The second community is the biggest ultra-orthodox Jewish community outside the state of Israel: the Hasidic Jewish community of New York, placed in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park, it is estimated that hundreds of its members have died by the hand of COVID-19. Many reports stated how this and many other communities around the country are deeply upset by the restrictions that single out houses of worship as their own, disrupting their long-standing traditions, where physical proximity and constant interaction play a key role.

This dilemma sparked protests within the community against the restrictions announced by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo back in October, mainly as a result of the number of deaths increasing and how the dignity of following the Jewish Law was disrupted by these rules, Bar-Mitzvahs, weddings, and even funerals had to be conducted either virtually or from a safe distance, because of the pandemic.

The New York Times had a chance to interview some of the community’s leaders and rabbis so that this information wouldn’t be overlooked, Rabbi Mayer Berger and Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz joined this project to discuss the drastic changes in the funeral and burial rituals of the Jewish faith, like the final disposition of the body that in many cases had to be cremated rather than buried as the Jewish Law state, or the recital of customary final prayers, that became strictly virtual or over the phone, or even the mourning process after the funeral, also known as Shivah, a time of support and care that allows friends and family to come together under one roof, these traditions were almost entirely canceled because of the high-risk it would bring on the family of the deceased.

Israeli Jewish Community:

The final community in question is the Jewish country of Israel which represents the only Jewish majority state and consists of nearly 40% of the world’s Jews, most of the research will be gathered from first-hand testimony and interviews done with Israeli citizens that identify as Jewish.

Israel was hit by the pandemic, like most European countries, on the final days of February, and only in late March the government instructed a National State of Emergency coinciding with Israel’s first wave of Coronavirus cases, this represented closures through the country mainly in major cities that reached high morbidity rates.

This lockdown was also a consequence of the arrival of the major spring festival of Pesach, or Passover, this holiday consists mainly of the Seder which is a big family gathering around a feast that would go on through the night, problems obviously arose towards the anticipation of people moving around the different cities to attend this festivity and staying under one roof during the aforementioned lockdown.

Conclusion/Reflection:

Studies have shown that in smaller communities concerning minorities the impact was greater because of the lower support and interest from the larger communities surrounding them, experts were even able to say that health issues, socioeconomic inequality and discrimination were among some of the factors on why smaller communities are more vulnerable to Coronavirus.

The hardest part came to religious communities that relied on the support and their many traditions that crumbled through the pandemic, one of many is the Jewish community which represents only 15 million Jews worldwide, which comes to 0.2% of the current world population, this community is one of the most diverse groups for their identification with a religion and culture and not just race or ethnicity.

With Coronavirus being called a pandemic only around late February and dubbed the airborne virus, which comes from the mode of transmission it spreads through, it impacted and put at risk mainly elderly people from the age of fifty and over, this caused the Jewish community to become a high-risk community because of the large presence of their members between these ages.

Even with this information the representation of this religious group was misled through the media and showed antisemitic remarks propagated mainly by right winged extremists and ultra-conservative Christians.

A study from the Kantor Centre at the Tel Aviv University brought to light that a wave of Coronavirus related antisemitism was manifested mainly in well-developed countries like the US, the Middle East and many parts of Europe, Dr Giovanni Quer, director of the Centre added to the research: “The current wave of anti-Semitism is unprecedented, however, because, spreading very swiftly through the social media, it focused at first on the COVID-19 crisis and then quickly moved on because of social and political changes: Just a few days passed between the coronavirus crisis and the racism-related social crisis in the US, but anti-Semitic discourse remained just as fierce, with its proponents simply adapting their anti-Semitic narratives to the changing social contexts.”

Some of the driving questions that will be unravelled with this ethnography will consist of topics like representation, aid and accommodations, interaction, etc...

Throughout the world, the Jewish community has faced unique challenges in maintaining their customs and still keeping each other safe and healthy in a very hostile environment as the pandemic has brought, but we still look up ahead with hopes for a better representation for all of the communities that are now in need.