Information about a new infectious disease spreading in China began to trickle out to the West at the end of December 2019. A month later, the rumors, like the new virus, were already in the public domain. The death of the Chinese doctor Li Wenliang was a decisive sign: a new virus has broken out in China, it is violent, it is contagious, and it is dangerous. China declared a complete curfew in Wuhan, the source of the outbreak of the virus, and the World Health Organization warned of a new disease and gave it a name: Corona, or Covid-19. Already at the end of January 2020, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, ordered the closure of the air routes between China and his country, in order to isolate the "Chinese virus" in the place where it broke out. But it was already too late. Already at the end of 2019, the corona virus was widespread in the world. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a state of emergency in the face of the pandemic, and the world shut down, almost at once. In view of the images of horror that came first from China and then from Italy, Spain and New York, country after country announced a general lockdown. Fear of death reigned over the world. Airplanes simulated engines, the stock markets collapsed, schools were closed, and with the exception of a research effort focused on Corona, the academic researchers were also locked in their homes. However, in the midst of this global chaos, a handful of social scientists signaled to their colleagues that, precisely in times of emergency like this, it is necessary to mobilize the best forces for the study of the social processes that help the spread of the virus and to deal with the situations of social crisis that the epidemic provokes. The current meeting is the product of an emergency mobilization of the community of social scientists in Israel. The studies reported here were conducted in the first months of the epidemic. The insights that can be extracted from such Bezeq studies can contribute to making decisions and understanding their social consequences. Thus, even without approved research proposals and without a dedicated budget, social science researchers proved that their research was and remains relevant and partly dramatic and heart-wrenching.

About the editors:

Dr. Hagar Hazaz-Berger is a postdoctoral student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Bar-Ilan University and is a faculty member at the Ono Academic Campus. Her research deals with psychological and existential aspects of culture, issues of the search for meaning, emotions and the self, and the connection between ethnography and philosophy and literature.

Prof. Gad Yair teaches in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research deals with culture, science and higher education. Published seven books and many articles.

Prof. Tova Gamliel is an anthropologist, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Bar-Ilan University. Her research deals with psychological and philosophical aspects of culture. She published the books: "Old age with a spark in the poor" (2000), "The end of the story: meaning, identity, old age" (2005), "Aesthetics of sorrow: the mourning culture of Yemeni women in Israel" (2010), "Zohra diaries: a female invitation For Anthropology" (2014), "Children of the Heart: New Aspects in Researching the Case of Yemeni Children" (2019), (2020) The Theatrical Spectaculum. An Anthropological Theory.