A Moment of Torah – Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic

Rabbi Stephen Weiss

Ki Tissa 2020

This is a trying time for all of us. This pandemic has affected all our lives in many ways: socially, emotionally spiritually and financially. It is also forcing us to redefine what we mean by community and to reshape our personal interactions. It can make us feel isolated and powerless. The challenge of living with the reality of this pandemic will become greater before it finally lessens. Still, we need not despair. We have two extraordinary gifts that, used properly, can help us surmount even the most daunting of difficulties: We have each other and we have God.

We have each other. We do not need to allow this pandemic to drive us apart. If we are creative, we can find the ways to support each other, to enjoy fellowship, to express our love and concern, to help each other with our needs, to lift up those that are fallen, stand for causes we care about and even to celebrate and have fun. Do not allow the physical requirements of social distancing to fray the ties that bind us to friends, loved ones, community and those in need. In the words of Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky of B’nai David-Judea Congregation in Los Angeles:

“Every hand that we don’t shake must be a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we place between ourselves and another, must become a thought as to how we might be of help to the other, should the need arise.”

I would add to that every celebration that we do not hold in the physical world, must take place in our new virtual one, every moment of seriousness spent contemplating this crisis must be matched by equal moments of joy and laughter. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught “mitzvah gedolah lih’yot b’simcha – it is a great mitzvah to be joyous.” The psalmist wrote, “Serve God through joy.”

We also have God. The psalmist also wrote: “God is our refuge and our strength, and ever-present help in times of trouble.” (46:1). God is always with us, watching over us. Jewish mysticism teaches that God’s spirit and light flows through all creation, even through our very being. Through prayer and meditation, we can envelop ourselves in God’s spirit and find inner strength, calm, security and joy. Make time for prayer, whether joining us in person or online or immersing in private meditation.

We are in control. We are not powerless. We cannot control everything regarding this pandemic, but then again, we cannot control everything in our everyday lives. But we do have a lot of control. We can help determine the course of this plague. By practicing handwashing, avoiding face-touching, practicing social distancing and observing other guidelines of our health authorities, we can collectively “flatten the curve,” greatly reducing the burden on our healthcare system and saving literally thousands of lives. We can reach out to those who are isolated. We can donate to help those who are needy. We can choose to continue our involvement in synagogue, study and community organizations, shifting our involvement online, to maintain the strong bonds of community that we so value. What we do matters and determines in large measure what our future will be.

To sacrifice our control to any force but God is idolatry. That is the message of this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tissa, in which we read the story of the golden calf. When Moses confronts his brother Aaron after the incident, demanding to know what happened, Aaron responds: “I said to them [the Israelites], ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it me; then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” (Exodus 32:24) In other words, Aaron’s defense is he did not make the idol. No one did. All he did was cast the gold into the fire. There was no plan, no tools, no artisan. It just walked out. This is Aaron’s way of saying that he could not have stopped it from happening. It was not in his control.

When we see ourselves as powerless, we are like Aaron. Our surrender of the very powers which God bestowed upon us – our minds, our hearts, our physical abilities – is itself a form of idolatry. When we seek to use our abilities to make a difference in the world, top care for others and ourselves and engage in Tikkun Olam, that, may friends is the truest form of serving the one true God, the God of Israel.