Land of the Plague: Reflections from the Tragedy in Italy

The Prime Minister never misses a chance in press conferences to say that if we do not take precautions against the deadly virus, we will end up like the countries currently descending into oblivion, such as Italy and Spain. But what is truly happening in those places?

"They don't treat people over sixty here," Rabbi Sandy Wilshansky, a Chabad emissary in Milan, says tearfully. "It's not that life is valued differently here than elsewhere," he explains, "but because people ignored the guidelines, did not take the warnings seriously, and failed to grasp the possible decline. People thought that as long as they didn't see it with their own eyes, it didn't exist, leading to a situation with masses of patients, insufficient ventilators, and a collapsed healthcare system. Don't forget the healthcare in Italy is regarded as one of the best in the world; it's really sad."

The Jewish Mind

Rabbi Sandy is one of Chabad's emissaries in Milan and manages the local Chabad house. Normally, the Chabad house is open twenty hours a day, welcoming any Jew who comes to visit with open arms. On Shabbat, the place can host up to a hundred people, and on Passover, the number rises to 300 Israeli guests dining together at a single table.

What are these days like for the Chabad house?

"Desolate," Rabbi Sandy replies to me, "there's no other word for it. We're used to celebrating the Purim party with 800 people every year, but this year, because of the pandemic, no one came. We'll also celebrate Passover alone. People are not leaving their homes; it's impossible."

But thinking that a Chabad emissary does nothing is also impossible.

"That's right," he confirms, "we're not just citizens here; we're Chabad emissaries, and right now we bear even more responsibility. For instance, since we are foregoing a large Passover seder, we initiated a project to distribute seder kits to Jewish homes, to people who have never conducted a seder on their own. But merely leaving them the kit at home is not enough; we also need to teach them how to conduct the seder themselves. This holds additional value, as they will finally know how to do it and pass it on to future generations. 'So that you may tell in the ears of your son and your son’s son...'"

Rabbi Sandy recounts that the Jewish mind has not rested. "People sit in their homes in isolation to avoid contracting COVID-19, but in parallel, 'horns grow on them'; it's not easy at all. And when it comes to the elderly, the frustration increases exponentially. Therefore, we quickly established the 'Friendship Line.' It's a phone number, manned on one side by volunteers sitting at home, where anyone who feels the need to talk can call and converse about whatever they wish. The weather, the stock market, Trump, the coronavirus, or even about Gantz."

And people are calling?

"People are constantly calling. The line operates twenty-four hours a day. The elderly are very scared about the situation here. Nobody knows where it is heading, as meanwhile, the death toll rises by the hundreds and thousands every day. Medical teams are busy evacuating bodies instead of treating the sick. Therefore, on our line, we calm people down, relieve their boredom that leads to thoughts, and along the way, we weave in words of faith and strengthening in Hashem, the coming Messiah, and the imminent redemption."

Rabbi Sandy sighs heavily when he talks about the pandemic. "A few days ago, a dear Jew was taken from us, Michael Shama, a member of our community who had been its secretary for decades. He couldn't overcome the coronavirus, and today he is no longer with us. Furthermore, there's also a great pain that he did not receive purification rites, and almost no one was at his funeral because of fear of infection. It's a great sorrow to think about that he wasn't honored with a funeral and purification rites as every Jew deserves."

And what about the spiritual needs of the community these days?

"Everything is closed. Synagogues, schools, mikvehs. Everything. Nothing is open. It's a very difficult adjustment. Some things can be eased in hindsight, but some involve serious transgressions. There are people who are not strong enough and might fail in serious transgressions.

"Regarding matters such as prayers in a quorum, reading the Torah, weddings, etc., we have no choice and adhere to the state instructions. In most areas, gatherings of up to five are allowed - a father, mother, son, daughter, and a dog. We compensate ourselves with a line of Torah classes we established, offering lessons all hours of the day to anyone interested in simple and clear language, filling the spirit with spacious spiritual void. People understand now that all that one truly possesses are Torah and good deeds. There’s a saying going around: 'People invested millions of euros in soccer and only a few thousand in medicine. Now let’s see those players heal them.'"

Rabbi Sandy Wilshansky

Outside the Sword Bereaves

Rabbi, where do you draw strength from when outside the sword bereaves and inside there is terror?

"You remind me of a parable, about the Angel of Death who comes to the world and meets a guru, a priest, and a rabbi. He tells them: 'Know that in two years, Hashem is bringing a flood to the world.' The guru immediately tells everyone: 'Ladies and gentlemen, you have two years to enjoy life, have as much fun as possible. Eat and drink because tomorrow we die.' The priest immediately gathers the Pope, the bishop, and all the clergy for a mass confession of their sins. The rabbi, on the other hand, announces to the public: 'We have two years to prepare how to live underwater.' That's exactly the difference between us and the rest. We are currently underwater, and we need to know how to live with it, and thank Hashem, that's what we are doing."

As mentioned, Rabbi Sandy is a Chabad Hasid, and if in regular times the expectation for the Messiah is always on his lips, in the current situation, it's spontaneously uttered. "We feel the footsteps of redemption here," he tells me, "I don't know enough about the purification laws that will be observed in the future when the Temple will be rebuilt, but anyone paying attention will notice it closely resembles today's distancing practices. Touch, a distance of four cubits, saliva, and various distancing practices. It could be that Hashem is preparing us for these purification laws that will be observed when the Messiah comes and the Temple is rebuilt, speedily in our days."

This is not his only insight. "Maimonides says that the emergence of Christianity and Islam was to bring the nations of the world closer to recognizing and understanding there is a Creator of the world. The world believed in stars and idol worship, and these religions introduced the notion that no, Hashem created everything, and through this, it will be easier for them to understand and accept the redemption, that Hashem and the Torah of Moses are the truth. The same is happening now when everyone talks about the coronavirus. What is corona? In Latin, it means crown. People will internalize the crown, and then we will see the crown of Torah, the crown of kingship, the crown of the Messiah."

The Last to Turn Off the Light

Don't you think, in such a situation, to try to move to Israel?

"That's not a question for a Chabadnik," Rabbi Sandy tells me, "because a Rebbe's emissary will be the last to turn off the light and the first to light the light of redemption. My children study in Israel, but once the education ministry announced the schools were closing, I brought them back here. It took them thirty-six hours to travel. Initially, they went to Istanbul, then to Lyon, then waited fifteen hours before catching a flight to Basel, to Lugano, and from there a train to Milan. I was very worried about the entire journey, but thank Hashem, they are here, and we adhere to all the rules and pray."

In conclusion, Rabbi Sandy feels this is the collapse of the 2020 Tower of Babel. "The world, which was sure it was invincible, bows to an invisible virus, smaller than a mosquito. We need to learn from this that if a Gentile in China sneezed, and two months later, a Jew in the cellars of Mea Shearim enters isolation, all the more so can the spark of every Jew light up the whole world, as the Baal Shem Tov famously said."