A friend who recently moved to Los Angeles from London last year commiserated with me, “I came here during raging fires, then coronavirus and now riots and looting. I’ve gone from a three month quarantine to a nightly curfew.”

What troubles me most about her observation is the lack of focused accountability for the twin viruses of COVID-19 and pillage. Yes, you can find responsibility for a slow response and blame the president and you can also lay blame for the 60% of deaths happening in nursing homes attributable to the irresponsible and pathetic responses of Governors [Gavin] Newsom and [Andrew] Cuomo. However, the real culprit remains the communist Chinese government. They acted with unmitigated malice, lied and concealed the severity of the virus, arrested the physicians who spoke up and then refused access to our researchers. 

This pandemic, which could have been contained as a Wuhan epidemic, will be with us for years to come in terms of deaths and economic impact.

An unarmed black man is handcuffed and brutally killed by a vicious cop and the resulting legitimate outcry, protests and demonstrations are usurped by looters and arsonists whom the victim George Floyd would have strongly condemned. The destruction of immigrant and African American businesses that were already teetering at the brink from coronavirus lockdowns is almost as painful to watch as the murder.

As a just society, we must address the injustice of black men being disproportionately targeted and killed by certain racist police officers who thankfully, are a small percentage of policemen, followed by a justice system that punishes the perpetrators with a fine or light sentence. At the same time, we must focus on the violent culprits who exploit the needed protests into a chance to steal and destroy property.

Many white-collar criminals including the Wall Street moguls who were complicit in the market crash of 2008 evaded jail and justice. Corrupt FBI executives on the infamous “7th floor” and above violated the law and standards of accepted conduct and we can legitimately doubt that any of them will receive sentences.

Communist China visits a plague on humanity and denies culpability; will there be a comeuppance? Each of us must have the right to sue for loss of life and livelihood. Villainy, in our nation and in the actions of repressive regimes, demands a response and we, who have failed to demand accountability, can no longer remain silent.

The Prophet Ezekiel proclaimed, “The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” People of conscience must stand together to castigate and ostracize all evil actors.

Rabbi David Baron

Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts