6 | APRIL 30 • 2020 

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No Time to Be Cautious 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jill Gutmann deserves credit 
for taking on a lot in one article 
(“Jewish Ethics in Medicine,
” 
April 9, page 6), but I fear that 
her cautious — even dismissive 
— tone about chloroquine fol-
lowed by a general discussion of 
Jewish ethics and experimental 
treatments do not adequately 
consider patients who want 
access to chloroquine and 
hydroxychloroquine during the 
pandemic. 
Yes, medical researchers want 
randomized, prospective, dou-
ble-blind clinical trials but, in 
fact, the overwhelming majority 
of COVID-19 patients will not 
be in any clinical trial (and half 
of those in a study typically 
receive a sugar pill “placebo”). 
According to the FDA, most 

current U.S. trials consider 
prevention for those exposed, 
not people who actually have 
COVID-19. For the seriously ill, 
there is no approved treatment 
whatsoever. Should a bioethicist, 
a physician or the government 
say, in effect, “No clinical trial? 
Sorry, you’
re on your own?”
The FDA recognized this 
unacceptable state of affairs, 
decided “it is reasonable to 
believe” chloroquine and 
hydroxy 
chloroquine “may 
be effective” and on March 
28 issued an Emergency Use 
Authorization for both drugs. 
We may not know everything 
about the two drugs, but we 
know doctors in the trenches 
think they may work, and they 
have nothing else. The pandemic 
means there’
s no time to waste. 

Don’
t worry about clinical trials, 
we’
ll figure out later if they work. 

— Roger H. Leemis

Southfield 

Feeding Those in Need
Since 1973, National Council 
of Jewish Women, Michigan 
(NCJW | MI) volunteers have 
delivered meals to homebound 
older adults five days a week. 
During this time of the pan-
demic, we have expanded to 
also provide weekend meals. 
NCJW | MI is partnering with 
Jewish Family Service, JHelp 
of the Jewish Federation of 
Metropolitan Detroit and Area 
Agency on Aging 1B to reach 
out to those who have previ-
ously not been homebound 
nor received meals from our 

program. This partnership has 
enabled us to reach out to many 
in need. 
The phrase “it takes a vil-
lage” is true for this program. 
Together with the efforts of the 
agencies and our many dedicat-
ed volunteers and staff, we have 
met a need. We are very thank-
ful to those who have partnered 
with us and honored to work 
together to provide this help. To 
learn more about our program, 
visit ncjwmi.org. To obtain 
meals delivered to your home, 
call Jhelp at 1-833-44-JHELP 
(54357). Financial need is not 
required, but subsidy is available 
if needed.

— Jennifer LoPatin, President

Susan Gertner, Executive Director 

NCJW | MI 
 
 
 

letters

our country, our world.
” 
That, of course, is what a 
responsible Jewish newspaper 
should do amid a crisis such 
as this. Now, Jews in Canada 
will be on their own for the 
remainder of the crisis, without 
a communal news source to 
depend upon.
Unless we move quickly, 
Jews in the United States will 
suffer this same fate, and Jewish 
newspapers across the country 
will disappear. The Jewish Week
in New York has already issued 
a special appeal for financial 
support to its readers. Other 
local U.S. Jewish newspapers 
are in dire straits, too. With 
businesses closed and Jewish 
events around the country 
canceled and therefore not 
advertised, more and more 
American Jewish newspapers 
find themselves without the 
basic funds necessary to sustain 
the journalistic enterprise.

What does it mean when 
Jewish journalism dies? Since 
their establishment in the first 
half of the 19th century, Jewish 
newspapers in the United 
States have helped to shape 
community, tied far-flung 
Jews together and kept them 
informed. Newspapers have 
also preserved the “first draft” 
of our communal history. Want 
to know, for example, how 
America’
s Jews handled past 
epidemics? There is only one 
source: the American Jewish 
press.
Without a reliable press, 
our community’
s past — the 
records of its achievements 
and mistakes, its milestones 
and its missteps — will 
inevitably disappear. So too 
will our broad sense of what a 
Jewish community is. Absent 
a responsible Jewish press, 
the multiplicity of interests, 
views and commitments that 

characterize vibrant Jewish 
communities will find no 
common outlet. Instead, groups 
of like-thinking Jews will retreat 
into their own narrow silos, 
impervious to all who disagree 
with them.
A good Jewish newspaper, 
print or digital, prevents any 
of this from happening. It 
serves an essential function 
in defining, maintaining, 
educating and promoting 
community. It ties organizations 
and individuals together and 
keeps members informed 
about local news, as well as 
news of broader impact. An 
effective newspaper seeks 
to represent all parts of the 
community, helping to acquaint 
different neighborhoods, 
generations, denominations, 
movements, etc., about one 
another. When divisive issues 
arise, the newspaper publishes 
various responsible points 

of view. When disasters like 
the coronavirus strike, the 
newspaper works to unite 
the community, providing 
information, guidance, 
sympathy and reflection.
The demise of the London 
Jewish Chronicle and the Canadian 
Jewish News should serve as a 
wake-up call for Jewish leaders 
managing the crisis of COVID-
19. In addition to the terrible 
loss of life, the psychic toll on 
individuals and families, and 
the economic hardship befalling 
those suddenly without work, 
we also face a basic challenge to 
Jewish community itself.
If Jewish journalism 
disappears, can the Jewish 
community as we know it be 
sustained? 

Jonathan D. Sarna is university professor 

and the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun 

Professor of American Jewish History 

at Brandeis University. Reprinted with 

permission from The Forward.

