There are three main pillars to the American Jewish community: the synagogues, communal life, and charity organizations. All three are currently under immense danger from coronavirus – a danger from which they may not be able to recover.
American Jews, whether they see themselves as secular, conservative or reform, go to synagogue far more often than their secular Israeli opposites. The synagogue is a central focal point for many of them. When they're not at synagogue, they're at the JCC – the Jewish Community Centers found all over the United States. If the synagogues feed US Jews' spiritual needs, the JCCs feed their community and material needs. It is where community members go to meet friends, for evenings of music and song, birthdays, or even to use the gym.
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Jewish charitable organizations are the third part to this triangle and they operate in every field – from food collections for the needy to scholarships for soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces. For many, the bond with the Jewish community fulfills all their needs.
As the coronavirus has spread and attacked the world in recent months, it has also had a deep impact on these three areas possibly to such an extent that it will be hard to recover from it. Like in Israel, synagogues have been shut. Leading a communal life at a distance of 2 meters between members is virtually impossible, and fundraising events obviously are not possible and in addition, the new financial situation will mean it will be harder too for people who want to donate.
Anti-Semitism has also mutated again with the arrival of coronavirus. Before this crisis erupted – which currently feels like decades ago – anti-Semitism in New York was firmly in the headlines. The New York Police Department had just come out with a series of briefings and operations to address the situation, which had reached monstrous proportions, but now it seems as though these efforts have all but been abandoned.
Anti-Semitism itself has shifted and if before the crisis it mostly took the form of physically attacking ultra-Orthodox Jews in the street, it is now about blaming them for the spread of coronavirus and importing it into the US
Oddly enough, it seems as through this crisis, two completely separate worlds are drawing closer – the ultra-Orthodox Haredi communities and the "mainstream" Jewish communities. Dovid Efune, the editor-in-chief and CEO of The Algemeiner and himself an ultra-Orthodox Jew, says that despite the stigma created about them, "We have seen virtually identical instructions from the rabbinical leaderships, ordering their communities that the most important principle in Judaism is preservation of life, and commanding them to act according to the government's instructions."
Student life in the US has also changed beyond recognition. Up until a few weeks ago, every day I would take a bus at 7:30 a.m. to the university and study there until 8 p.m., lead events into the night for Students Supporting Israel, come home and do it all over again the next day. The daily routine now involves Pilates in the morning, online lessons, and quandaries over how to keep our activists involved and interested in Israel during the biggest world crisis since World War II.
The first part may sound quite pleasant – but it is also challenging. Universities like Columbia have not lowered their expectations of their students as the name on the degree necessitates, and so students are having to work much harder to maintain their level of coursework and exam results.
The really big challenge is to keep alive the spirit of pro-Israel activities at universities and high schools. Students Supporting Israel hold webinars at least twice a week on a range of topics, from the political impasse, to life in Judea and Samaria (conveyed by yours truly) as well as joint "watch parties" for films about Israel and virtual meetings of activists.
Talks for incoming students have also been rejigged because of the situation, in the hope that by the time they start university they will be able to promote Israel through non-virtual meetings and initiatives, and stand physically at front for our beloved state and for Jewish communities in the US and around the world.
