I’m so sick of seeing pics of orthodox social distancing rule breakers shared like they prove anything about our community.

Guess what! They’re not the norm! We’re angry at the rule breakers too! And I shouldn’t have to defend our world to you! I will, but I shouldn’t have to!

Patient 0 in NY was orthodox, so this spread quickly in our tightly connected community, before we knew how quickly COVID-19 spread, how it spread, or how to respond to it. From day one, the vast majority of orthodox Jews and our rabbis have been following government guidelines.

It’s not sound journalism to characterize an entire community from a highly visible group of dissenters — it’s lazy, intellectually dishonest, and dangerous.

And it’s likewise not playing apologist to contextualise dissenters as what they are: a tiny, visible minority.

A good first clue into whether someone is sharing actual news of public interest or fomenting hate is to count the “they”s and “them”s.

Would people globalize experiences with one individual / one story about orthodox Jews in the same way for other minority groups?

It’s hard enough that so many of our rabbis, leaders, neighbors, friends, and family are sick, dying, or dead. We’ve gutted our communal way of life because we value saving lives above everything.

And to face unadulterated, gleeful scapegoating on top of that? I’m tired of it.

It’s vital to report about those who endanger others, and to use all tools at our disposal to help people keep themselves and others safe. You can do all of that while also calling out hatred against the minority community subjected to the most hate crimes of any group in NYC.