Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

March 16, 2020

“Social Distancing” and the Biblical Obligation to Respect One’s Elders

The Ten Commandments were given to adults.

To justify an unwillingness to take measures for reducing the spread of the coronavirus, some young people have argued that, because they are unlikely to suffer severely even if infected, they need not follow recommended precautions. To Shai Held, such an attitude bespeaks not just epidemiological ignorance but a callousness toward the elderly or otherwise infirm who might be put at risk—a callousness exemplified by the following sentiment, expressed over Twitter:

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