Patient Zero
Updated: Nov 18, 2020
Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to patient zero. You know the one I’m talking about... the person who was the first to become infected with COVID-19. The deadly virus that was transmitted from a living animal to a human host, before then being transmitted from human to human, until we all ended up, well, here, in this mess.
One study, published by Chinese researchers claims that the first person to have been diagnosed w COVID-19 was on December 1, 2019, an elderly man who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. They claim he had taken 4-5 buses from the Wuhan market to his home.
Who was patient zero in the Ebola out beak? Reportedly a 2-year-old boy (A LITTLE BOY!) who had played in the hollow of a tree that housed a colony of bats. The Ebola pandemic which lasted two long years and killed nearly 11,000 people.
Some early research stated that the wide spread of the AIDS virus in the US was the result of the actions of a homosexual Canadian flight attendant- a virus that’s responsible for the deaths of 35 million people worldwide.
What do all these cases have in common?
One. Single person.
I then thought to history yet again.
The ultimate disaster and horrendous events of the Holocaust also began with a person zero. Hitler, the crazy, blood thirsty, leader of the Nazi party aroused an entire country’s fears and hatred towards Jews and other minorities to ultimately annihilate 6 million Jews and 5 million others in one of history’s darkest, most destructive crimes against humanity.
One. Single. Person.
But... what else can one person do?
How about we look at the flip-side of that dark coin?
Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech was delivered in 1963, to an audience of 250,000 civil rights supporters and has since become one of the most iconic and most recognized symbols for human rights everywhere.
One. Single. Person.
And what about Mohandas Gandhi, whose nonviolent resistance lead to the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule? He has been an inspiration for civil rights movements and freedom across the entire world...
One. Single. Person.
And, how about The Lubavitch Rebbe. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, whose insight, leadership, forward thinking, open heart and true wisdom of Torah and humanity has made him one the greatest Jewish leaders of our times. His “army” of shluchim travel the world over in order to bring the of light of Torah to their fellow Jews. Generations of Jewish children have grown up with Chabad’s motto of joyfully Jewish, and one good dead at a time.
One. Single. Man.
And many, many women. Ann Frank. Golda Meir. Marie Curie. Condoleezza Rice. Nikki Haley...
Who is person zero?
One who has the power to change the world. One who can swing the pendulum to levels that truly affect the way we view our lives, our past and our future.
And how much power ONE person truly has.
So. Who is person zero?
Me. And you.
She is amongst us. He is in our midst.
I am waiting for great things.