MembersCOVID: Divine Decree or Man-Made Disease?

Did the COVID-19 pandemic break out because scientists experimented with engineered biological warfare viruses? Or is it a divine punishment, for example in response to the Chinese habit of eating bats, which is forbidden in the Torah? Rabbi Efraim Zalmanovich (pictured) from the Israeli village of Mazkeret Batya, formerly Chief Rabbi of Frankfurt, took time to speak with us on this topic:

The World Health Organization assumes that the virus did not escape from a laboratory, but rather jumped from bats to humans. Perhaps this virus has been around since the beginning of time without harming its host. However, since the virus spread to humans, some infected people have experienced systemic collapse. Within a month, it has spread from one end of the world to the other in a global pandemic.

Some Bible-believers consider the coronavirus to be a punishment for consuming non-kosher meat. Eating non-kosher animals is prohibited in the Torah because it causes ecological disturbance. It doesn’t take a scientist to understand that a person who breaks the laws of nature will be punished. Indeed, in...