lockdown or no lockdown

Right now we are seemingly headed into a full lockdown for the holidays.In about 40 cities across Israel, a night lockdown is in effect, either on the entire city or on certain neighborhoods within the cities. Night Lockdown means no gatherings, supposed to be within 500 meters of house, unless something essential is required, no weddings, no leaving or entering (unless coming home from outside the city/neighborhood)...etc. RBS A is one of the locations with a night lockdown.

Last night after Shabbos, I needed to go to Jerusalem. Was it absolutely necessary? probably not, but I really needed to do something and preferred it be last night rather than Sunday or Monday by day. I highly doubt what I needed to do was considered essential for anyone other than me and a couple of members of my family, and by lockdown regulation I should have stayed home, and when hitting the roadblock the police or soldiers guarding the roadblock should have turned me around or sent me home.

I knew there was a good chance I would be sent home and need to reschedule my plans for the daytime hours. But I was a mixture of curious and adventurous and wanted to try. At worst I would be sent home and would only have wasted a few minutes.

So, I get in the car and drive out. I get to the neighborhood, and city, exit, and there is a roadblock set up. Set across the street with 3 road barriers, manned by a group of soldiers. There was an gap in the barriers, I guess for those who need to leave with a justifiable excuse.

I drove right through. The soldiers did not stop me. They did not ask me where I am going, what I need to do, if I am an essential worker in a hospital or somewhere else, if I have an emergency, etc. Nothing. They watched me drive through and nothing happened.

Ok. I went to Jerusalem and took care of what I need to do.

A couple hours later I drove back to RBS, this time entering from a different entrance.

I saw cars coming and going. I saw no road block, no barriers, no police and no soldiers.

So what the heck is this night lockdown all about?

This is what  keep talking about.

I dont know if a lockdown is necessary and helpful or not in achieving the goals of slowing the spread, flattening the curve or whatever. I don't have the tools to know. If the experts decide that this is the only effective tool available for protecting the public over the holiday (can you imagine simchas torah or simchas beis hashoeva mass gatherings with dancing and eating and whatnot and expect no major outbreak?), fine, go ahead, lock us down. But if you are going to put the country and the people through such a distressing event, at least please lock us down for real so it won't all just be a waste of time with nothing accomplished. I don't want a lockdown either, but if you are going to put one on us, at least make it a real lockdown that can accomplish its goals.

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