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.