In addressing epidemics, there are a number of provisions of Jewish law directly relevant to challenges we face today. The spirit of these laws and their wisdom speaks across the centuries to us now.
Gathering in grief gives us a window into the blessings of life. Jewish tradition does this so well – which makes it all the more difficult to cope with loss in the time of COVID-19.
“I was in NFTY!” a stranger told me, spotting my years-old T-shirt. This feeling of knowing all of us, that we truly did meet at Sinai, or at least a camp, provides comfort during uncomfortable times.
As the United States grapples with COVID-19 and faces a renewed focus on racial justice, this week provides an important opportunity to take stock of how both issues affect mental health.
As 5781 begins, I find that the less I do, the better I feel. The more I am myself. The more at-home I am within my own body, my own mind. There is no glory in constant exhaustion and fatigue.
Remind my tired soul, I beg You / My kitchen is far too clean and the china is still in the basement / Remind me how to stop the mourning / for tables that don’t need extensions / quiet synagogues with no children to be shushed...
I do not believe that God sent us COVID-19, and I do not believe God will cure it. That is for humans to do, using our God-given intellect and ambition to develop the vaccines and treatments that will help stop the spread of this natural virus.
In a time as devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic, people heal in many different ways. For Cantor/Rabbinic Pastor Lisa Levine, healing comes in the form of music and poetry.