Judaism is about choices. Jewish texts, and the laws we draw from them, can instruct us in almost every moment of our lives. Sometimes, that can be empowering. We often have the power to choose whether to treat someone with kindness, how we spend our time, how we spend our money, whether to put someone else's needs over our own, or not.
However, we usually do not get to choose the circumstances in which we're making those choices. We do not get to choose things like where we were born, whether it is into wealth or poverty, the color of our skin, the abilities of our bodies, and as we grow, our age. We also do not get to choose whether we live in a time of a global pandemic.
I am wrestling with this tension. I am making choices in circumstances that I did not, and would not, choose. There are times when I am focused on my own disruption, fear, and loss. In those moments, I try to remind myself that Judaism's compassionate treatment of mourners, prescribing different rituals for the first 7 days, 30 days, 11 months, and then each year, can inform our understanding that different types of loss may also go through stages, and although it may not become easier, it may be different, and we need to treat ourselves with compassion in each stage. It has not even been a week since the schools, and then businesses, closed. It is ok to cry.
And treating ourselves with compassion will be critical as this pandemic gets worse before it gets better. We will experience human loss in our community, and if we are unfairly spared a loss in our immediate family, we need to have the strength to care for others.
Then there are times when I am focused on the choices that we do have. They have tremendous power. We have a sacred opportunity to choose to save lives through our actions. Please follow the CDC's recommendations. Judaism does not inform this choice--Judaism demands it. Saving a life supersedes other commandments, and certainly our own convenience. We have a choice to use our words to affirm the sanctity of each life, rather than dismiss a disease that will disproportionately affect persons whose age, body, financial resources, or location make them more vulnerable. We have a choice to support persons who are without shelter, food, water, and/or income, at a time when those basic needs are even more critical. And we can choose to reach out--even in virtual space--to one another in moments of fear, in moments of support, or often, both.
In the coming weeks and months, please do not hesitate to contact me whenever you need someone to talk to. Please let me or the synagogue know how we can support you so that we can respond or refer. And please remember that each choice we make has power. Jewish texts and tradition have taught that for millenia. Even, or perhaps especially, in circumstances beyond our control, we make choices that can change the world.