Seize this opportunity!

Still checking my Facebook feed twice daily (except Shabbat and Yom Tov coming up…) for humor and thoughts…. And here is one of my favorites: G-d saw that we are running too fast and doing too much and not thinking….. so G-d gave us all a TIME OUT! Another observation is that in the beginning of this present reality of ours, everybody was setting up schedules for children, trying to completely replicate work and school schedules and then…. After a few days, 31-year-old Sally who had been homeschooling her children ages about sixty years, schedules are thrown out, and this piece of wisdom shines through it all – use this opportunity to do what we may not have had time to do before. There is one post (and I hope that you have all seen these and that the references I am making are familiar to all) that is a conversation in 2030 between a parent and an 18-year-old about what they remember from 2020. The parent remembers the disruption, the fear, the scarcity of basic supplies and the worries of the time. The 18-year-old who was eight at the time remembers it as the happiest time of his childhood – with scavenger hunts in the backyard, so much facetime with his grandfather, family dinners every night and the family being together.

So, I ask you which way do we want to go? What will our children and grandchildren remember about this moment in time? What will we and how much control do we EACH have over the memories we produce in this situation in which we find ourselves? I love the story of the woman in Maryland who decided her children’s school day should continue to begin with the Pledge of Allegiance, so she took a large American flag to the end of the driveway and her family began their day thus. After a bit, the entire neighborhood is now coming together every morning for the Pledge and “Circle Time” to check in with each other, by projecting their voices. In the Jewish community, much has been discussed and many are coming together for daily prayers in new and creative ways, either praying together or praying as individuals (without the required minyan, or prayer quorum) but nonetheless together with others doing the same. One parent created a huge Chutes and Ladders board on her driveway to have kids play from, as one friend and respected colleague of mine put it – a socially interactive – but from a physical distance. Kids are baking, learning their measurements and life skills along the way while mom teaches them; families are scrapbooking and sharing their wonderful Legacy Stories with each other; people are reading books; walks in the park are so appreciated and in general, the pace of life is slowing down a bit and everyone is being INTENTIONAL about what they are doing. I am personally learning and teaching daily with groups on Zoom, through phone conferencing, Face Book pages, Face Time, etc. What’s wrong with this?

Nothing really, and while the circumstances are clearly scary and we, as everyone else, are looking at very empty Seder tables for the upcoming holiday of Passover and our Christian friends are confronting the same as Easter approaches and IFTAR dinners will be small as well for our Muslim brothers and sisters in faith, think about what this time brings – more time with family in intentional conversations, more phone calls to friends and those in our lives who we just always mean to call but cannot, praying in circles and with people (in what I suspect may actually be an uptake in attendance), upgrading our technology skills so we can see each other and create so many meaningful interactions in virtual venues… and for those of us who are truly blessed with all of the creature comforts we need, we are thankful as well as mindful of those who do not have all of this, helping in any way we can.

It is said that tragedy and extreme circumstances bring out the best in us, and I agree with that, though I think it is sad that this is what it takes for too many people. Nonetheless, let us all breathe deeply and be in touch with our core selves, while staying in touch, reading good books, taking walks where we can at safe distances, and just keeping in mind what is important and acting sensibly. Be well all, stay safe, and remember the blessings you have and let’s all use this moment so we can remember it as remarkable, aside from the obvious limitations. Now off to a Zoom Birthday Party and then plan to watch another really funny sketch someone has posted from The Carol Burnett Show – laughing is so good for the soul. I highly recommend it.

GOING INTO SHABBAT, THE BLESSINGS IN THE MIDST OF OUR REALITY

My intention was to write and post this before Shabbat on Friday, and indeed began this then. However, after a week of cancelling everything and putting it all back together again in different ways to the highest degree possible, I ended up too close to the start of our Jewish Sabbath and had to leave this until Sunday. I clearly have thoughts at this time going into our weekly 25 hour experience of NO TECHNOLOGY whatsoever, you know, being UNPLUGGED, after spending all week truly communicating with everyone by phone, phone conferencing, Zoom, Face Time, etc….. So here are some initial observations:

1. Kids, can someone explain to me what is so cool about being plugged in continually to your technology and not having face to face people time; I really don’t get it.

2. I am really glad I love my husband Ken and that we get along so well, because we are definitely spending lots of time together.

3. I thought my tech skills were pretty okay, but really have to up my game; though I will say age grouping matters. (See #4)

4. In our Elkins Park shul, where I am a member of the “junior congregation,” I seem to be one of the more tech-savvy individuals. I know my kids get how sad that really is; do you?

5. I am eternally grateful for our home, the financial stability we have and the many blessings we have been granted by God that is getting us through this time.

6. I LOVE the sense of humor this is bringing out. FUNNIEST posts ever. My personal favorite “The cleaning lady just called. She is working remotely from home and will give us instructions about what to do.” And there there are the hysterical rants of moms who ARE NOT TEACHERS – one from Israel and one from the United States. Still laughing.

Humor, having what we need to get through the day, love of those around us and our own resources …. All so important at this point in time. We are doing all of the healthy things we are supposed to be doing. I have a full schedule of teaching, learning, doing work, helping people connect to communities and so much else. I am also making a point to speak with AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE every day like we are supposed to. And I know that I am so blessed to be able to live through this time with, compared to others, limited inconveniences and concerns.

Mostly, it’s about health everyone – our physical and mental and emotional health. Stay in touch with each other and take care of yourselves. For those of us with children in our lives, use this time to have special experiences. I agree with all those who say, yes, keep a school schedule going, but use this time to do things you may not have a chance to do with the normal craziness of life. Here is an opportunity to think about our days and our lives differently and who knows what lessons we will take with us into our lives, when G-d willing, they return to a normal and “out of isolation” pace.

So as you can see, I DID finish this before Shabbat so I wish all a Shabbat Shalom – a day of peace and rest and healing. Stay in touch and keep yourselves in health.

Lessons from the Gemara on Safety in a Pandemic Reality

Wouldn’t you just know that as it turns out in my ongoing Talmud study, I am in the latter part of Masechet Chulin, learning about Tum’ot, impurities that are passed from thing to thing, person to person, animal to animal, animal to person, etc…. you get the point. I most recently am learning about the yad – the holder or stem of a piece of fruit, for example, and the shomer – the skin of that fruit, for example, and the degree to which they can carry such impurities and uncleanliness (and jeopardize our health and well-being). So, let’s think about an onion, one example in the text that is discussed in detail – it has three layers of skin or shomer/shomrim. For each layer there are distinct degrees of how it can convey uncleanliness or impurity and what is permitted for consumption and what is not. The discussion is very protracted, detailed and at times quite confusing… and guess what – here we are! How do we function in our lives these days given the limitations put on interactions and gatherings, etc. in the face of COVID – 19?

Consider how it began. Here is a concise answer found at https://abc11.com/5997396/ where you can check out the video.

Q: How did it start? A: There's a family of viruses called coronavirus. So, this is one of a family of viruses. There are seven that can affect humans. Four of them circulate all the time. We see them year after year. Three are what we call novel or new and spread more quickly and cause more severe disease. So, these are things like SARS, MERS and then this one. Those three, what we think happened, is that they were in animals and then they had enough of a mutation that they were able to jump from infecting animals to being able to infect humans. So, what we think is that that live animal market in Wuhan... there was enough animals and enough of a shift that the virus was able to move from animals to humans. And then able to spread human to human.

In the text of Masechet Chulin, there are many details regarding defilement – both ritual and non-ritual (definition of Chulin) that can be carried and cause problems such as those we are witnessing today. Differentiations are made regarding ritual defilements (e.g. carrying of impurities) and daily problems of defilement and disease that can and will impact our lives.

For example, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz comments as follows: The Gemara [Chulin 124a – 130b] relates that there are also differences between ways that ritual defilement can be contracted. For example, aside from coming into physical contact with the dead animal, tumah can also be transferred by carrying the animal, even if one does not touch it (see Vayikra 11:40).

In the Jewish community, we will be celebrating Pesach with our elaborate Sedarim in a few weeks. One of the many pivotal moments of our Sedarim is the recitation of the Ten Plagues – The Eser Makot. While we recount these as miracles of G-d in saving the people of Israel from the taskmasters in Egypt, we know there are scientific phenomena that explain them as well, not to say that God had any lesser hand in their occurrence. As I often explain, a miracle or nes is defined in one of my favorite Hebrew dictionaries as “an action of G-d, an action of man, an action of nature, and their simultaneous timing.” So we can talk of blood waves when the floor of the ocean is disturbed, the lice carried by infected frogs as they come onto land and so on until we have a national disaster such as a pandemic that now confronts us. For an explanation of the plagues and some accompanying scientific information go to https://www.livescience.com/58638-science-of-the-10-plagues.html

These are certainly scary times. There have been comparisons to the Spanish Flu of 1918 and other worldwide spread of disease. While many drastic measures are now being implemented, or so it certainly seems, to keep us all safe, perhaps it would do us all well to consider what we have come to take for granted in terms of protecting our health and well-being through good common-sense practices.

In Masechet Chulin 103a – 109b, which I was learning about a week ago, there is an extensive discussion concerning washing hands, before one eats, after one eats and even during a meal. Again, through all of the details, clearly there are ramifications for both ritual purity and just common-sense healthy practice. As someone who lives with these practices, I notice that often they are too often handled quite perfunctorily. Yet, now with the 20-second-hand-wash ritual that is being implemented in our general lives where there are constant washings and warnings against touching our faces and watching our physical contact with others, we have to wonder why is it that historically Jews, with their frequent washings and laws against ongoing physical contact with others, often did not face the scourge of pandemics to the same extent as our other brothers and sisters in our world of humanity, though this is not necessarily so this time around? Not because of any qualitative difference but perhaps because of an understanding that we cannot take contact with all other creatures, including animals, for granted. We must all work to stay healthy, protecting ourselves and others.

Clearly, we all have great reason to be fearful and concerned. But instead of being paralyzed by that fear, let’s all consider how we can live in a more healthy and guarded way, keeping ourselves and others around us safe. Be safe all and stay healthy!