In Sefer T’hilim Chapter 10, it says: “He lies in wait, like a lion in his lair (literally “his sukkah”).”

He lies in wait to snatch the poor one; he snatches the poor one by pulling him into his net. (T’hilim 10:9)

The blood plasma of a recovered coronavirus patient has made significant strides in acting as a temporary Band-Aid to quell the virus in newly infected patients. On July 30, President Donald Trump held a roundtable discussion urging Americans with high levels of coronavirus antibodies to volunteer as soon as they can and seek local plasma donation centers to help others inflicted heal and vastly reduce mortality. Over 50,000 plasma transfusions have been given in the US to date. “Together we will defeat the virus; we will defeat the invisible enemy,” declared the president. The surgeon general also called upon young people to donate. “The seniors are showing us up,” Jerome Adams noted. “We need everyone to do their part, because we are in this together.” To combat the virus, Dr. Anthony Fauci called on large-scale donations of plasma. “In the hundreds of thousands,” would be necessary, he stated.

Barukh Dayan HaEmeth, what a loss for Kelal Yisrael! The Hakham, Rabbi Ya’aqob Menashe (Ya’aqob Eliyahu ‘Abdallah Faraj Hayyim ben Rahel) a”h, founder and spiritual leader of Midrash Ben Ish Hai (named for Hakham Yosef Hayyim a”h of Baghdad), was laid to rest in Eretz Yisrael on Har Hazetim on the morning of the seventh of Ab (Tuesday, July 28, 2020). Rabbi Menashe’s passing is a tragic loss not only for the Great Neck community, but for Jewish communities as far as India where the Hakham kept the Jewish community functioning, as well as Australia, England, and across the globe, where his teachings are shared with adults and a new generation of children alike. On Monday afternoon, people from all walks of life joined in cars and in person, with social distancing, in the oversized parking lot at the Great Neck Synagogue, to remember the life and legacy of Rabbi Menashe a”h with hespedim.