What Really Matters: Coming Together Even As We Stay Apart
We are all being tested and challenged to be our best selves during this pandemic. Springtime draws us outdoors, to the beaches, parks, community swimming pools and synagogues. Minutes turn into hours, hours into days, days into months, and we are still here doing what we do best – reaching out to our community through phone calls, emails, videos, Zoom, and texts.
We are all experiencing a new normal that fills us with trepidation, anxiety and longing. When will we be able to meet with our friends, go back to work in our offices, shake hands or hug someone? When will we be able to go about life as we knew it? I don’t know that we will ever experience life in the same way after going through this pandemic. However, different doesn’t necessarily equal bad. This new way of life has inspired me to reflect and truly appreciate all that I do have. I value the time I have with my children and grandchild. Our daily facetime brings a huge smile to my face. I am so thankful and blessed that they are all well and part of my daily routine.
I am also more attuned to the needs of others. I make a point of talking to my mother and father at least once a day, as they are both 86 years old and live in Baltimore. My Mom looks forward to hearing from me each day so we can share laughs, pictures, good books and updates on TV shows. After Passover seder, we began a new tradition of an extended family Shabbat dinner on Zoom. My cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, etc., join together for the blessings. We eat together, laugh together and enjoy an evening of welcoming Shabbat.
I have a renewed appreciation for our Jewish value of Chesed, acts of loving-kindness. This pandemic has allowed me to help many congregants learn to use Zoom, enabling them to join us for classes, Shabbat, Minyan and much more, ensuring their continued inclusion in our community.
This pandemic, although undoubtedly frightening, is not all bad. Things that I have done simply out of habit in the past, now take on a heightened sense of purpose and intention. The little things matter! Chesed is a precious value and I am thankful for its profound influence on my life.
I am grateful for my health and deeply saddened by the loss of so many others. The suffering is pervasive. I don’t know how long this will go on. None of us do. However, what I do know is that our acts of loving-kindness make a difference. Reach out to others. Be there to listen. Provide comfort. Share a joke or a concert online. Be a connector. Be a friend.
A community is too heavy to carry alone, Deuteronomy Rabbah 1:10. We need each other. Through Chesed, we can make the world a better place.
