The Senior Scientist: "People Are Happy, But I Am Not at Ease"

"I very much hope I'm wrong," Dr. Johann Elbaz's voice sounds worried when we speak to him. "I walk the streets and see happy, optimistic people convinced that we're already at the final stages of the pandemic and soon we can forget about COVID-19 as if it never happened. I'd like to join the celebrations, but I know the reality isn't so rosy, and the road to eradicating COVID-19 is longer than it seems."

Johann emphasizes that he doesn't believe in fake news, nor does he speak from a place of fearing various conspiracies or rumors. "I'm a scientist engaged in genetic engineering, particularly synthetic biology. As part of my job, I can produce the coronavirus in a lab. It's not complicated because I know the genetic sequence and can do it with ease. I've worked with numerous companies and have been a partner in developing various biological technologies. I am familiar firsthand with the processes every company must go through before releasing a drug or vaccine to the field. From the knowledge and experience I've gained, I can say one thing — faith is something that exists only towards Hashem. Beyond that, concerning any other topic, especially when it comes to new developments related to COVID-19, we cannot rely solely on a scientist or doctor saying they 'believe it helps.' We can hope we've found a solution, but at the same time, we must be patient and understand it will take more time before we can breathe easy."

He pauses for a moment and after a brief reflection, adds: "I feel it's important to make this clear to people so they recognize reality, and so that if, heaven forbid, we find ourselves in another wave of illness, we don't suffer not only the severe blow but also the blow of disappointment."

From a Failing Child to an Outstanding PhD

The conversation with Dr. Johann Elbaz is fascinating, as is his life story. He was born in France and immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of 13, about half a year after visiting the Western Wall as part of his Bar Mitzvah celebration.

"We lived in Netanya those days, and as a student, I experienced significant challenges," he says. According to him, being a new immigrant back then, about 25 years ago, wasn't particularly popular. Unlike today, where dozens of new immigrants might start the school year together, in his school, there was only one other child from France. "But the tough struggle wasn't just because of the language; I also had learning problems recognized in France. I suffered from learning difficulties that today would be identified as attention and concentration issues and dyslexia, but back then, no one assessed me. Eventually, I found myself a student excelling in only one subject — mathematics. Beyond that, I was terrible at everything."

Today, with years of perspective, when he looks back at his childhood, Johann is certain of one thing: "If a child struggles, the main thing that can help is the patience of the parents and teachers. They need to give him all the time he needs to cope and discover his abilities. You must not transmit pressure to such children; it will only burden them."

Speaking of learning, Johann is sure that what we've seen lately, with the education system in the country transitioning to Zoom, is the complete opposite of patience, potentially causing children distress and unnecessary pressure. "A large portion of children learning via Zoom struggle to listen, thus creating large gaps between them and their classmates. Indeed, we all strongly wish to maintain an educational routine despite everything, but we must understand that in many cases, it might cause severe damage."

"Personally, I think it wouldn't hurt to declare a 'gap year,' with no studies at all. Nothing would happen to the children if they missed some study material and caught up the following year. Meanwhile, part of the time could be used, for example, to take them on trips in the open air, which isn't dangerous in terms of contagion and can be enlightening in many other respects."

How do you explain that a child who failed in class eventually becomes a renowned scientist?

"The turning point for me came during high school," he returns to his life story, "and I can attribute it solely to the principal, who was also my math teacher for five matriculation units. He believed I could complete a full matriculation, and even though other teachers didn't want to give me a chance, the principal insisted and pushed me to try. In the end, I scored 92% on the matriculation and received such a strong sense of success that accompanied me further on."

Johann pauses for a moment and seeks to emphasize: "Today, as a believing Jew, I know Hashem controls everything. He always wanted good for me, but he also wanted to show me that I mustn't forget where I came from and who gives me the wisdom and ability and always sends messengers in this world. That's also why he passed me through such a difficult journey as a child. Thanks to these things, I can today encourage others and tell struggling kids: 'Look at me, I was also a struggling child and dyslexic, no one believed in me. If I managed to reach the peak, surely you can too.'"

"Hashem Continued to Love Me"

The family Johann grew up in tried to keep the tradition, his grandfather was even one of the well-known rabbis in the city of Batna in Algeria, but Johann, as a child, didn't feel a strong connection to Judaism. At the age of 17, he even became rebellious. "I distanced myself from Hashem and reached a point where I openly declared I didn't believe in his existence. It's clear to me I could have ended up in very bad places, but my great miracle is that despite my personal rebellion, Hashem continued to love me and protect me along the way."

He has a particularly moving story about this: "One day, I was injured in a sports accident in the army and sprained my leg. The injury itself wasn't so severe, but I subsequently received incorrect treatment during which the doctor damaged the nerve in my leg during surgery, causing an inability to move the toes of my right foot. For a year and a half, I suffered severe pain, walked limping, and went through numerous treatments that regularly numbed the leg due to the unbearable pain."

During those days, as he notes, his grandfather passed away, and he undertook to strengthen himself in keeping Shabbat in his memory. "I planned to do it only during the year of mourning; I didn’t imagine I’d continue beyond that."

And he returns to the injury story: "One day, the doctor told me there was no choice but to remove the damaged nerve from the foot. In his opinion, this was the only way to deal with the pain. For me, it was the end of the world. I was then a young man, only 21 years old, and I understood my world would look different. However, I knew there was no other option, and I accepted the decision."

The day before the surgery, where they were supposed to cut the nerve, Johann visited his grandmother, and then the unexpected happened: "At the entrance to the elevator, the door slammed right on my injured foot. I felt a sharp pain for a few moments, but as someone who was used to leg pain during that period, I didn’t attach much significance to it." Only later did he begin to discover that the pain sensation was different from the one he knew, since until then, he hadn’t felt the nerve in his foot, and suddenly, it was the injury that made him feel the nerve.

"The doctor treating me couldn’t explain what happened, but the reality was that I no longer needed surgery. Since that day, I walk normally on the leg without any pain, not even a slight limp. "For me, this is a real miracle," he says emotionally, "and even in those days, I undertook to continue keeping Shabbat. Since then, thank God, I have continued to strengthen myself and encounter the Creator everywhere, including during my work as a scientist."

He acquired his many degrees at the Hebrew University and later at MIT in Boston, USA. "I completed my doctorate with distinction," he notes, "even then, during the doctorate, I published 25 articles in the most prestigious journals, ones that only senior professors are approved to publish in, such as 'Nature Nanotechnology.' I saw firsthand the aid from the Creator, because it is clear to me that none of the ideas I thought of or the research I conducted came from me. After all, everything is only from Him, blessed be he. I'm just a simple person; it's Hashem himself who decided to use me to bring new ideas and research to the world."

Later on, Johann established a laboratory and received a professor position at Tel Aviv University, but he hasn’t stopped seeing his life’s mission. "The more I advanced in my work, the more I found myself getting closer to the Creator. That’s how I discovered, for example, books like 'The Path of the Just' and the writings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, which taught me no less than the medical journals," he says with excitement.

The Mutation Discovery

Then, COVID-19 broke out, and Dr. Johann Elbaz's name began to be known in the scientific world as someone presenting a new viewpoint, which had not been heard of until then.

"It was right at the beginning of the pandemic, in days when almost nothing was known about the virus," he recounts, "but one thing seemed certain to scientists about COVID-19, and that was that the virus couldn't produce so many mutations in such a short time in such a critical genetic region of the virus. I argued differently from everyone else, and I also showed my colleagues how COVID-19 in Israel behaved differently from COVID-19 in New York, for example. As you could see, while in New York, staggering numbers of patients and deaths were recorded daily, in Israel, for a very long period, there wasn't even one death. I also had additional scientific proofs, and I emphasized repeatedly: 'I'm not sure I'm right, and even more so, I hope I'm wrong.'"

But he wasn’t wrong. A few months later, rumors began spreading about new COVID-19 mutations documented worldwide, indicating that the unexpected indeed occurred and the virus developed dangerous mutations. "There's no scientific explanation for this, but the reality shows that even though we thought the virus was unique in that it doesn’t produce mutations, Hashem has other plans for us."

In these days, when tens of millions worldwide are getting vaccinated against COVID-19, Johann asserts that the significance of these studies is particularly important. "Until now, we hoped that once we reached herd immunity, we could say goodbye to COVID-19 entirely. Now, it turns out that even if, one day, we reach a point where the vast majority of the population is vaccinated, which by the way, still doesn’t seem on the horizon, it's possible that new mutations will arise that the vaccine won’t be effective against."

But the Ministry of Health claims the issue has been examined and the existing vaccine is effective against the British mutation

"That's correct. There are things that have been studied and are indeed clear to us without a doubt—the first is that the vaccine is effective and indeed prevents infection with the original virus, and the second is that the vaccine is effective against the British mutation as well. What remains uncertain for now is whether it’s effective against other mutations like the South African, Brazilian, and more. The fact that the illness in Israel stubbornly refuses to decrease entirely is a worrying sign that may indicate that there are mutations against which the vaccine is not effective. By the way, it is also very possible that the antibodies developed by people who recovered from COVID-19 won't be effective against these mutations."

According to Johann, the fact that these mutations are also called 'COVID-19' doesn't say anything about the vaccine and antibodies’ effectiveness against them. "It's like my son is very similar to me, and most of our genes are shared and very similar. So, too, the mutations—they are indeed similar to the original virus, but in the end, they are a separate entity."

And what is, in your opinion, the way to deal with them?

"First of all, it is understanding the insignificance and nullity of man. If we notice, the mutations entered our lives exactly parallel to the time when the massive vaccination operation began. Hashem wants to awaken us, to demonstrate to us that while he gave us all the abilities to develop vaccines in a very short time and with very high efficiency, which seems almost illogical. But together with that, we need to remember that these marvelous abilities are his and not ours. Because the moment the Creator desires, he can interrupt all the plans."

Practically, Johann notes that it seems the required process is quite clear: "Today, there are already vaccine companies trying to produce vaccines that will be effective against the new mutations. At the same time, there are pharmaceutical companies trying to develop drugs that will cause the body to fight off the virus and eliminate it, without it affecting. Some of them appear to be excellent drugs, but even here, much patience is needed until all required approvals are received and without shortcuts. Of course, it is possible that in the future there will be additional variants that will develop, and again we will need to periodically receive a COVID-19 vaccine to be protected."

Isn’t it possible that in the end it will turn out that the existing vaccine is completely effective against the mutations?

"True, that's possible, and I’ll be the first to rejoice if it is discovered that there’s no need to develop a new vaccine. Meanwhile, unfortunately, there were studies that showed otherwise, but I'm not sure about anything. The only thing that is certain for me is that Hashem wants us to draw closer to him. He is calling us for over a year now, and this is what is required from all of us now."

Johann continues and adds: "There is a need for unity and tolerance towards all opinions, so that we always remain one nation. This is the important message I learn from the entire story, and I'm sure that Hashem is looking after us and will bring even better days. He wants to see us united as one nation returning to him."