Hasidic Jews Become Top Plasma Donors & Other Orthodox Jews in the News

Couple Arrested After Attacking Hasidic Men in Social-Distancing Spat
An anti-Semitic Queens couple apparently enraged by a lack of social distancing attacked a group of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, bizarrely even pulling the masks off some of the victims’ faces, police said. A married couple were arrested on a charge of aggravated harassment as a hate crime after a confrontation with a large group of Hasidic Jews.

New York’s Coronavirus ‘Patient Zero’: ‘My Wife Saved My Life’
Lawyer Lawrence Garbuz became known as “patient zero” in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle when officials traced an outbreak there back to him. He says there was no mention of coronavirus during his first visit to a doctor with a cough, and attributes his survival to Adina insisting he be intubated when he was taken to the hospital in an ambulance: “My wife saved my life.”

Hasidic Jews, Hit Hard by the Outbreak, Flock to Donate Plasma
A number of factors lie behind the outsize role of the Orthodox plasma drive, according to public health experts and community leaders, including the close ties that bind Orthodox society, a religious commitment to the value of human life and a network of organizers committed to turning something bad into something good. They represent half of the 24,000 people affected by Covid who have donated plasma in recent weeks, according to the Mayo Clinic, and the number is expected to reach 30,000 Orthodox Jews in the near future.

Hasidic Jews Fill Outremont With Song — and Pastries — As They Pray From Their Porches
Outremont resident Jennifer Dorner appreciated the gift of rugelach left at her door by Hasidic Jewish neighbours — and the accompanying letter explaining that they were “a small token of appreciation” for the understanding of non-Jewish neighbours who might be inconvenienced by their outdoor prayer services. “But the singing and prayers have already been such a gift,” she tweeted.

New York Orthodox Jews Make Up HALF of All US Plasma Donors Volunteering Blood to Help Treat COVID-19 Patients as the Community Turns ‘Tragedy Into a Superpower’
Thousands of Americans who have recovered from coronavirus are donating their blood to plasma clinics so it can be used to treat others, and Orthodox Jews are ‘punching way above their weight’ when it comes to donating, one medic said. With the word spreading via synagogues and community newsletters, the drive comes from the community’s traditional close-knit approach and the importance the religion places on human life.

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