The rapid spread of coronavirus through heavily populated sections of New Jersey has caused an extreme shortage of facial protection for both front-line medical workers and the general public.
With the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggesting people don a face mask when venturing out in public, Cantor Scott Borsky — who maintains close connections with Cherry Hill — has donated thousands of new satin and cotton kippot for conversion into face coverings.
The first few hundred were dropped off at three area ShopRites on April 6: on Evesham Road and at Garden State Pavilions in the township, as well as the ShopRte in Marlton on Route 70. An additional burst of 1,000 were delivered by Borsky to the same stores three days later.
“I got a text last night from someone who was in one of the ShopRites who saw the message I included with the initial delivery, who took me up on the sign,” Borsky said on April 9, in the midst of his deliveries. “I’m on my way back there right now with another 1,000 kippahs.”
“I also got a call last night from nurses at Bayada (Home Health Care) and I brought over 200 yarmulkes to them today.”
Known for his Synagogue Without Walls, which connects those in the Jewish faith not affiliated with a specific house of worship, Borsky has heard the call from the community to help in a time of great need.
“People are contacting me and saying, ‘I have yarmulkes from bar or bat mitzvahs,’ or, ‘I have some left over from my wedding and they’re brand new — never been worn by human heads — that I can give away,’” he related.
At one time, Borsky owned his own school, and through some divine intervention, managed to keep a significant amount of yarmulkes in his possession for use at a later date.
“Some of them came back to me with misspellings or wrong dates,” he explained. “But I never threw them away, and I kept them all in storage. I knew, in the back of my mind, that God was knocking. He said, ‘Hold onto these, because someday you’ll need them.’ And this is ‘someday.’”
Borsky is redoubling his efforts at the ShopRites, but also for various health care facilities, because he figures he’ll need to be where most people think it’s safe to collect the presumptive face wear.
“I’m also planning on taking them to nursing facilities, hospitals, and giving them to anyone working in the medical field,” Borsky noted. “There are a hundred different hospital-related occupations, not just doctors and nurses: techs, custodians, front-desk workers, social workers, and even what I do, the hospital chaplain.
“Calls and texts are off the wall. People are also saying, ‘My parents live in residential facilities, and they really need them.’ Although these places are on lockdown, residents still need to come out for food and for activities.”
Borsky was unsure of a concrete delivery plan for the following week. But the cantor noted that he’s being contacted almost around the clock with requests.
“I don’t quite know just yet,” he said. “But the phone is off the hook. The calls are coming from all places where people are gathering for essentials. I will look into delivering to other supermarket chains, but I’m not going to deliver to any place that doesn’t request that I do this.
“I hope I won’t have to. But I plan on doing this for the next few weeks, and I hope the need for them will decrease,” Borsky added. “Folks need to take every precaution to stay healthy and well. I’m hoping these yarmulkes are just a little bit of a Godsend to create and promote that wellbeing.”
A video tutorial on how to convert yarmulkes into usable face masks can be found here: https://youtu.be/bcUbHULTja0
