It’s impossible to give a complete overview but have a look in this limited list at how well Israel is doing:
- Two weeks quarantine for arrivals before closed all borders.
- Being too close with known infected: twee weeks quarantine.
- Being very close to someone who was close to someone: nothing.
- Secret service finds your phone was too close: Two weeks quarantine.
- Political oversight of secret service limitlessly following citizens.
- Mass testing. With hiccups, but the intention is there.
- All capable labs work 24/7 to find: medication, cure, vaccine.
- Lockdown. Police and army safeguard it. Fines.
- Forming unity government. With hiccups, but the intention is there.
- Most infected, not seriously ill, in hotels or at home, not in hospital.
- Feeling ill? Don’t go to the ER (infecting all). Call. We come test you.
- Invention of 14 years: H-piece can put 4 patients on one ventilator.
- Using unproven medication that seems to work on critical patients.
- Exchanging information and advice with other countries, regimes.
- Prioritizing healing over economy. The fastest road to restart market.
- Keeping soldiers and conscripts at the bases to keep them free of virus.
- Soldiers serving corona patients in the hospitals and old-age homes.
- Soldiers bringing food, shopping to the elderly and frail at home.
- Free plentiful meals and other essentials delivered at doorstep for the elderly by municipality, charity organizations, solders of the home front.
- Especially addressing marginalized defiant groups (Arabs, Chareidics).
- Generous money to help workers and employers weather the storm.
- Prisoners, soldiers making protective gear for medical personnel.
- The Internet and electricity hold up allowing many virtual meetings.
- Minimal public transportation.
- NIS 8 Billion support workers, independents, and small-business owners.
- Honoring the elderly prominently in the mind of everyone.
- Prosecuting of spreaders of fake coronavirus threats or cures.
- The Lake of Tiberius is filling up from the plentiful winter rains.
- More and more, patients are treated from a distance by robots.
- Computers track movements of cell phones and use of credit cards to notify subscribers if they were long enough close to someone infected.
- Trying to reach, not annoy, anti-Zionist groups: Charedics, Muslims.
- One may file for unemployment or a police complaint online.
- The government is importing planeloads of medical supplies.
- A whole village gets cleared after everyone went into quarantine.
- The IDF and Israeli weapon industry now make supplies for healthcare.
- The IDF running crèches for children of medical personnel.
- Good Israeli diplomacy buys essential in China, India, and even Turkey.
Unfortunately Not so Good:
- The Free Press tends to give the mike to smart nonsense talkers.
- Some still violate quarantine as they think it won’t happen to them.
- Many are terrified (which is OK) but forget how safe we are.
- Promotion of false security: wear masks or scarves.
- Many patients with life-threatening illnesses avoid seeking medical help.
Let’s share with all that we are on to how to win this fight.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1