Is Covid Spiking in Boro Park?

[Lurker]

I'll be honest with you. Masks barely bother me breathing wise personally, but I see they do bother and affect some people tremendously. I don't think they're just being drama queens- I think it legitimately affects different people very differently. I'm not saying that people shouldn't wear masks if it bothers them, but dismissing their discomfort out of hand because it doesn't affect you that way does not seem right to me. (It took me a bit to realize this also, that some people legitimately can barely handle certain masks. Different people's bodies are designed differently.)

It's not about dismissing their comfort, it's about finding a middle ground that works. We do it with all kinds of religious obligations- yarmulkas, tzitzis, hats, jackets/bekeshes, hair coverings and stockings for women - there are always alternatives to dropping it completely. To throw a tantrum about the discomfort instead of finding ways to make it work is akin to Yehuda57's toddler crying about wearing socks. It's irrational.

[shaulyaakov]

I took a few "mask breaks" by going 20 ft away from the (outdoor) minyan. It's a worthwhile sacrifice.

[Yehuda57]

I'll be honest with you. Masks barely bother me breathing wise personally, but I see they do bother and affect some people tremendously. I don't think they're just being drama queens- I think it legitimately affects different people very differently. I'm not saying that people shouldn't wear masks if it bothers them, but dismissing their discomfort out of hand because it doesn't affect you that way does not seem right to me. (It took me a bit to realize this also, that some people legitimately can barely handle certain masks. Different people's bodies are designed differently.)

I literally used to say this exact spiel because I felt like I couldn't breathe. But after switching from cotton and KN95s to better disposable masks and concentrating on breathing, it became tolerable and eventually I'm totally fine with it. How many potential surgeons do you know who dropped out of med school because they couldn't handle the mask?

[aygart]

I literally used to say this exact spiel because I felt like I couldn't breathe. But after switching from cotton and KN95s to better disposable masks and concentrating on breathing, it became tolerable and eventually I'm totally fine with it. How many potential surgeons do you know who dropped out of med school because they couldn't handle the mask?

I think a lot has to do with practicing proper breathing methods. Breathing in deeply through the nose will do much better.

[Yard sale]

You are overdoing this to the point that you are not being honest with yourself.

It’s a complicated sugya. It’s dishonest to cast it as black and white. I’m not saying I buy into the other position.

[EliJelly]

Are you referring to the “shteimel” that the Bobobovitch rabbi wears ?
https://mobile.twitter.com/hasidic_1/status/1310977907779661829

Lol!
When the goy is hearing so much Lubovitch, Bovov never had a chance

[S209]

It's a slippery slope. If we have to wear masks in supermarkets some people might think they have to wear it in shul.

Nominated

[hllulbh1]

Yet not acknowledged by the one member who has claimed the outbreak is despite all of the precautions being kept

If it was me it was probably referring to the fact that the lack of leadership in other communities was being blamed yet leadership in Baltimore did their best but still weren’t able to prevent an outbreak.

It was me. They took many precautions in the bubble model, where only people with negative tests were supposed to be allowed in. They had rules and someone/people broke them, which may have been the source of infection. It could have been other source or sources as well, there wasn't contact tracing to pinpoint the definitive source. I have heard several different "breaches which were the source".

They did not institute masks until after the outbreak, when it obviously was too late.

[Dan]

Masks sure do. Distancing is also a practical problem, with shuls packed yomim noraim where are you going to distance. Some places (like Chaim Berlin and others) made extra minyonim to spread things out but that still doesn't get proper distancing,

Try a mask bracket?
https://amzn.to/3hZRYTT

https://www.today.com/shop/face-brackets-masks-t190588

[yesitsme]

I know a few offices in BP that closed due to covid-19 spread

[avromie7]

It's not about dismissing their comfort, it's about finding a middle ground that works. We do it with all kinds of religious obligations- yarmulkas, tzitzis, hats, jackets/bekeshes, hair coverings and stockings for women - there are always alternatives to dropping it completely. To throw a tantrum about the discomfort instead of finding ways to make it work is akin to Yehuda57's toddler crying about wearing socks. It's irrational.

Maybe you aren't dismissing it, but just a few posts up we had this:

Restrict your breathing? Are you wearing a gas mask, or something else that is not air permeable?

I wore a cloth mask while laining both days on RH (outdoors) and it certainly gets warm, but I switched to a KN95 while davening and immediately felt cooler.

I wore a cloth mask laining on YK morning (indoors) and felt a bit warm when I started laining, but by shlishi it was back to normal. I again switched to the KN95 after finishing and had the immediate cooling.

I actually forgot to change out of the KN95 for laining at mincha (oops) and that was the only time that I felt stifled, but that was a short laining.

You really need to experiment with masks in a non-davening setting and see what works for you.

If I was the Baal Mussaf/Shacharis I don't know if I could have done a mask for 2-3 hrs of straight chazanus, but for laining on an average Shabbos (I've been on every second or third Shabbos since Shavuous) and giving a daf shiur, I can't say that I felt that my breathing was restricted in a surgical or cloth mask.

Fake news. I davened with a mask the entire Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and it was the easiest fast I've had in years. I hated the mask at first, but after playing around with different types and wearing them when necessary I've gotten used to it. I mean, I rip it off as fast as the next guy when it's not needed, but the drama over it is a bit like my toddler arbitrarily deciding wearing his socks is like walking on spikes.

Oh please.  We daven in wool jackets, wool blankets, and uncomfortable hats and sheitels. But the mask is where we draw the line?

Wearing masks and distancing doesn't seem to detract from davening...

[S209]

Maybe you aren't dismissing it, but just a few posts up we had this:

Can we agree that in communities where mask wearing is prevalent there seems to be a lower incidence of complaints and vice versa?

[Moshe123]

Very true reasoning. With such a great absence of leadership it's really about time for Moshiach already.

Moshiach should come, but just because leadership disagrees with your opinion, doesn't mean that it's absent.

[S209]

Moshiach should come, but just because leadership disagrees with your opinion, doesn't mean that it's absent.

I’m not sure you know what his opinion is, and his comment did not shed light on that.

[avromie7]

Can we agree that in communities where mask wearing is prevalent there seems to be a lower incidence of complaints and vice versa?

Compaints or not don't change the facts.

What I do know as fact is when I flew and had to wear a mask, there were a few times I started getting a serious headache (usually after "wrestling" with my kids). As soon as I took off my mask it started getting better. After happening a couple of times I noticed the pattern...

For anyone to say "it doesn't restrict breathing" is utter nonsense.

[Moshe123]

I’m not sure you know what his opinion is, and his comment did not shed light on that.

It was more a general comment and not really intended only as a reply to him.

[S209]

Compaints or not don't change the facts.

What I do know as fact is when I flew and had to wear a mask, there were a few times I started getting a serious headache (usually after "wrestling" with my kids). As soon as I took off my mask it started getting better. After happening a couple of times I noticed the pattern...

For anyone to say "it doesn't restrict breathing" is utter nonsense.

It is also possible that you are from a small cohort of people that it has an outsized impact on

[ckmk47]

Compaints or not don't change the facts.

What I do know as fact is when I flew and had to wear a mask, there were a few times I started getting a serious headache (usually after "wrestling" with my kids). As soon as I took off my mask it started getting better. After happening a couple of times I noticed the pattern...

For anyone to say "it doesn't restrict breathing" is utter nonsense.

Use a thinner mask.  An N95 filters much more closely than a regular surgical one.  A cloth one allows even more air through.

[yesitsme]

I was forced to wear a mask yk, it was very hard in the beginning, I found that if its adjusted  properly its not that bad,
make sure its not to small on you
Don't let it hang over your ear, it should be the closest to the skin of your face
Stick in a tissue on top of your nose to block your glasses from getting foggy

[gozalim]

The mesorah was broken in a sense when the leaders went from being rabbonim to roshei yeshiva.

+1
Can't say specific to this issue, and it's not across the board of chareidi communities, but there absolutely is a specific manhigus that's specific to the shimush/siyata dishmaya/experience of one who is actively involved in מורה הוראה בפועל And involved directly with the tzibur on a regular basis. The Rosh yeshiva may indeed be orders of magnitude more scholarly, but that does not, in itself, make him a מורה הוראה בפועל