New York Doctor Questions Torah Umesorah’s Directive To Keep Schools Open

Following Torah Umesorah’s directive that Jewish schools should remain open in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Stuart H. Ditchek of New York shares his perspective.

A statement written by Dr. Ditchek reads as follows:

As most of you are aware I called for a community wide meeting and invited all of the major school representatives and leaders. The meeting which I moderated was well attended both in person as well as through a video conference. I specifically invited the Torah U’Mesorah leadership, who did not attend but listened in by phone. I felt that it was imperative to include that group as they have policy capability to a large number of orthodox yeshivas.

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I asked the group to bring the information back to the rabbinical authorities who guide these decisions and request that my appeal to close ALL schools immediately be considered. I specified to them that Daas Torah must lead us but that they need all of the very critical facts in order to make a proper decision. I offered to meet with any and all rabbis in order to address the specifics of the data. I was not called after that only to see yesterday that Torah U’Mesorah has decided to follow the New York City Board of Education and leave schools open.

Many of you have seen the statement on-line. I emphasized that Mayor DeBlasio and the Department of Education have political and economic considerations that we do not have in our communities. Today, Chancellor Richard Carranza stated that closing schools will take away the ability for lower income students to access school hot lunches. Mayor DeBlasio has made similar statements as well as voiced concerns that parents will not be able to go to work and this is a factor in his decision. This is a colossal error that is ignoring the data that was presented to us and those at the federal level.

Today, Dr. Anthony Fauci a major White House advisor and NIH director specifically referenced the data that was presented about slowing down this very fast moving pandemic which threaten millions at this point. Dr. Carter Mecher and Dr. Jay Schnitzer used data from Dr. James Lawler ,all leading pandemic experts and presented live at our community meeting. Today, the New York Times published a very extensive article quoting those specific experts and their data. Dr. Fauci said in a live interview this morning that the measures being advised to slow this pandemic down must be implemented. Our recommendations reflect the exact data of these experts and includes the four measures listed below. Many of the schools that attended in fact have closed, many have not.

I told the leader from Torah U’Mesorah last night in a late phone call that the his Vaad MUST revisit the decision to leave their yeshivas open immediately as we are losing time every day. The number of cases are far greater than being quoted as we only know of those who test positive. I have personally declined testing for over 200 requests in the previous few days as I have little access to any available tests. There simply are no rapid kits yet and approvals by the health department are limited to those who most need confirmation when having respiratory difficulties. There are like very large multiples out there already in the community. According to the experts, this will quickly spiral to demands for ICU beds that we simply cannot handle in certain scenarios.

If we implement these measures immediately, we have a chance at slowing this but it must be a broad implementation not just a few people. The Bergen County Orthodox community was asked by the three local hospitals to take draconian measures closing schools, shuls and all public gatherings. This is a perfect example of communities properly working with medical leadership to slow a pandemic. We need to cooperate with hospital systems and help slow this down now. It is the only way to save many lives and allow seniors and those most at-risk to get the care they need when the infection peaks.

It is my opinion and those of the experts that I have consulted that ALL children stay home and follow the four guidelines below. Do not send you children to school at this point. Sometimes we must act as a community to influence others in a positive way. Our actions as a community will be quickly adopted by others and likely will influence The NYC Department of Education’s determinations. I myself did not allow my grandchildren to continue going to school as of today. I urge you to do the same.

If you are sick, stay home (home isolation)

If someone in your household is sick, stay home (home quarantine)

School and daycare closures immediately before further spread (social distancing)

Social distancing in the community and in the workplace (= avoiding socially dense situations); switch to telecommuting

Click here for the New York Times article today quoting our experts is linked below.

Stuart H. Ditchek, MD,FAAP