Blimi Marcus strikes me as with-the-times Orthodox Jewish woman. She’s educated: a Nurse Practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering NYC, an adjunct Professor at Hunter College, and a member of the Editorial Review Board of OJIN (The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing). Her regularly updated social media shows a woman who isn’t afraid to let the world see the good, the bad and the not so pretty in her life. She is passionate about medicine, especially in regards to the necessity of routine vaccinations.
She’s also gone toe-to-toe with the Agudas Israel of America. Let’s start at the beginning.
In a Facebook post dated May 16, 2020, Marcus says the following:
“On March 17, I rounded on my COVID patients at work. One patient had been admitted the day before, walking and talking, but this morning when I returned to work, she was intubated in the ICU.
I shared this on my WhatsApp status in a distressed video, and asked everyone to stay home.
I received a message from one of my phone contacts, an Agudah contact, who saw my video and thanked me for my work, wishing me “Chazak.” I trembled with rage.
Once my patients were taken care of and I had a few moments to myself, I sat down at a workstation and penned this email to myself. I shared it with a friend, who advised me to keep it in my inbox. I did so for two months.
Today I am resurrecting it, in screenshot form, to preserve all of my original words and the date I wrote them. The losses sustained by our communities were heavy, and with more effective and evidence-based leadership, could have been mitigated. We deserve better.”
The screenshots start with “Hello, Agudah. I won’t preface this by coddling you and the good work you’ve done for the American Jewish community in the past. I am going to criticize you for the illnesses and deaths you are responsible for. You failed your people, twice in two years, during two infectious disease outbreaks.”
To clarify, Marcus is referring to the measles outbreak of 2019, and the current COVID-19 pandemic. As it is well-known by now, the pandemic has hit the Orthodox communities of New York and New Jersey in disproportion to the other communities in those areas, as well as in the United States.
She doesn’t hold back, her remarks going for the jugular. From the way the post is written, it is obvious that Marcus had repeatedly tried, and failed, in every other way to get the attention she felt the issue deserved. So she went as high as she could and put her all into this one last appeal.
Marcus continues:
“You failed. You failed to lead. Every time I approached other leadership – Chassidish, Lubavitch, Litvish – and begged for a public stand, they said “We are waiting for Agudah to make the first move. You didn’t move – you “monitored the situation.”
On March 13,(2020) only 3 days ago, you wrote in your memorandum: “A community may reach a threshold of infectious activity that necessitates shul closings, but few communities are at this point now.”
Every hour you delayed in using your collective power and voice, you infected more and more people.
You could have prevented this.”
The Agudah’s response has been to bombard Marcus with insults, insinuating she is not being truthful. They went so far as to demand an apology from her (which was never given, to her credit). They went so far as to have Leah Zagelbaum, VP of Media Affairs, address Blimi in a FB video post. Regarding this, there’s a Whatsapp post between Marcus and an unidentified person that is rather telling:
You can’t be serious. Is that why they sent Leah to make the video?
So [name redacted] is on this Agudah chat and she admitted to me that she went after you on Twitter after it was arranged on the chat as a coordinated effort, they were asked to ‘bring her down’ in her own words
Not sure how much longer I can handle this – they’re pretty nasty
I’m so sorry Blimi I wish I could back you up publicly. But do know that what you do may save lives in the future.
Zagelbaum’s video is perfectly polished, her gaze never leaves the camera, she doesn’t stutter once. She speaks with an air of polished poise and superiority that hides any sincerity that may exist in her words. This is what she said:
“Leah Zagelbaum from the Agudah. Blimi, on March 17, I read your Facebook post describing your work with coronavirus patients and I was moved, inspired and grateful. I sent you a text saying thank you and chazak. I meant it, Blimi, you’re on the front lines, working hard…I meant it in all sincerity. But now you write that that text left you trembling with rage and in response you drafted an email but didn’t send it. You held it, you could have reached out to me… you know how to get in touch with me but you did not, you held that in…and a full two months later, you didn’t send it to me, you posted it on Facebook.”
Zagelbaum then goes on to accuse Marcus of blaming the Agudah itself for both the measles and coronavirus outbreaks. She defends the Agudah, stating that their response was consistent in language and tone to what medical professionals were using at the time. She states further that on March 13th, Marcus had reached out to her and she had sent a copy of the Agudah’s response, to which Marcus allegedly replied “It’s good, thank you.” She ends by asking Marcus “What gives? I hope you think about what I said.”
The tone is heavy with implication: I am right, you are wrong. You are trying to cause trouble.
Blimi, in a post of her own, defends her actions. “When I ‘approved’ your letter, and let’s face it, you weren’t coming to me for approval, nor would you have changed anything had I said that. That being on the side, you showed me Agudah’s statement but didn’t provide the context, ok? Prior I had sent you an email saying ‘Leah, is Agudah really suggesting that people with fever attend small minyanim and not large minyanim because that had been circulating. And you wrote back ‘Absolutely not’ and provided Agudah’s statement. And I skimmed it, and I saw you did NOT recommend going to shul with fever, I was relieved, and that is why I said Good. That is why I said Good. “
Marcus continues by addressing the issue of not reaching out to Zagelbaum or the Agudah on March 17, but merely sitting on her email for two months:
“That’s a lie, Leah. I did reach out to you. You thanked me for my work, I thanked you for the words, but I said Leah, where has the leadership been? Why didn’t anyone say anything sooner? Why are people not being stronger in their words? Why are you not yet using words like ‘we mandate you to stay home’ or ‘we forbid minyanim in all places and in all ways’. I said ‘where is the leadership’. You said ‘there will be plenty of time for finger pointing, but we have worked with officials and infectious disease and rabbonim…you said the usual spiel. Are you telling me that no one approached Agudah sooner, no one begged Agudah to close things sooner, to speak up sooner to act sooner? I said to you on March 17th. You ignored me. There’s no response to that message. So if you’re going to send me a video and post it on social media, I recommend you be a little more accurate next time.”
Marcus’ tone and manner is the complete opposite of Zagelbaum’s: she comes across as a bit nervous, a bit frustrated, and more than a little exhausted. Her words come from the heart, her tone earnest and determined. It is obvious she believes in what she is saying, and she refuses to back down, no matter what. Blimi also provides, on her Twitter feed, letter after letter from other organizations insisting their constituents and members stay home, starting as far back as March 9. There is not enough space here to show each article, but the picture is clear: the language organizations like the OU (Orthodox Union), the CRC (Chicago Rabbinical Council) and the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) as well as others used then wasn’t adopted by the Agudah until March 18.
I witnessed a lot of this unfolding on Twitter as it was happening. The statement that made me want to get to the bottom of this, and the question that I have, is as follows. Shlomo Felberbaum posted this on Twitter:
@MarcusBlimi isn’t allowed to criticize our leadership, because she’s an insider.
@yaffedorg isn’t allowed to criticize our leadership, because they’re called “outsiders”. Can we ever talk about our mistakes?! Who’s allowed to bring up areas we need to grow in and correct?
For reference, YAFFED is Young Advocates For Fair Education. Founded in 2012 and led by ex-Hasid Naftuli Moster, this organization strives to ensure that yeshivas in New York will provide substantially equivalent education to their students. Most yeshivas offer only an hour to 90 minutes a day in English studies, and it is considered the inferior subject. After the age of 13, the boys receive next to no English studies at all. Moster believes that because of the inability to speak, write, read and do math beyond a middle school level—if that—leaves Hasidic boys woefully unprepared for the future and of functioning in American society.
Moster is considered an “outsider” because he left his Hasidic community and doesn’t work within the power structure of the greater Orthodox community. Since he is “out”, his words supposedly cannot be trusted. Marcus, by virtue of being “in”, has garnered significant support. The power imbalance between the two brings Shlomo Felberbaum (as well as myself) to ask the question: who can bring forward areas of concern and in need of correction to the leadership of American Orthodox Jewry?
I wonder if issues need to be kicked up a chain of organizations in order to have them properly addressed. Let’s start perhaps with the RCA, move on to CRC, then advance to the OU, and then finally perhaps Agudah Israel will listen. I don’t believe that it should be that way, I merely posit that it is the only way a complaint would be taken seriously. After all, if other organizations express concern, perhaps the Agudah would feel it would only be beneficial to take a look at things. If other agencies are taking notice, it would make them look bad if they didn’t pay attention.
Frimet Goldberger, a writer for papers such as the New York Times, The Forward, and CNN tweeted this in response to the Agudah Israel of America trying to intimidate Blimi:
“There’s a common refrain in ultra-Orthodox circles: change must come from within. But what happens when an insider is forthright in speaking out against injustices, failure of leadership, etc.?
They are pilloried for questioning leadership or called a מסור — a snitch — for calling authorities to intervene.
To all you apologists and paid shills coming out of the woodworks to attack, know this: We are watching you spin the PR wheels and make your disingenuous claims to silence those who dare take on the people guarding the coffers you rely on. We now know, with certainty, that change will never come from within. It’s a lie you feed the masses to protect the status quo.
This is why victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence rarely come forward unless they have left the community. And even then, they are dubbed emotionally unhealthy with axes to grind.
Shame on all of you! Shame. Shame. Shame. Dissent is routinely quashed, and that’s the very reason those with a conscience who witness injustices end up leaving. You have no ability for introspection and apologies.
I only have this to say to the Agudah: You were wrong, and you compounded that wrong when it was shown to you. You had a chance to be the leader, to show the way. You had a chance to open channels of communication, to reaffirm people’s faith in Torah leadership. You, Agudah, did not do any of this. Do better.”
SOURCE MATERIALS:
Today I am resurrecting this email I wrote to myself 2 months ago. The losses sustained by our communities were heavy, and with more effective and evidence-based leadership, could have been mitigated. We deserve better. Read up, @AgudahNews pic.twitter.com/QqEwrGAIOO
— Blimi Marcus DNP RN (@MarcusBlimi) May 17, 2020
Question 4: “Why are you criticizing @AgudahNews? What did other organizations say and do?” A. They spoke up sooner, B. Provided clearer guidance on aspects of Jewish communal life, C. Used much stronger language, and D. Provided ongoing reminders to maintain strict distancing.
— Blimi Marcus DNP RN (@MarcusBlimi) May 19, 2020
