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Religiously Respond to the Pandemic</title><link rel="stylesheet"
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content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body>Aspaqlaria has posted a new
item, '<a href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/pandemic-response">How To
Religiously Respond to the Pandemic</a>'<br>
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<p>So many others wrote about THE correct way to respond to the CoVID-19
pandemic, how could someone like myself — Micha Shmuel — named for
not one but TWO <em>nevi’im</em> not join the fray with my opinion?</p>
<p> I think that identifying causality of the kind so many suggest,
“Hashem brought this because …” is impossible for us. Read
Hashem’s words at the end of Iyov. It’s beyond us to figure it
out, and the hubris of trying angers Him. Never mind thinking we succeeded.
Look at the opening snippet (<a
href="https://www.sefaria.org/Job.38.1-5">38:1-5</a>):</p>
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<p class="he" dir="rtl" lang="he">וַיַּֽעַן־יְהוָ֣ה
אֶת־אִ֭יּוֹב מנ הסערה [<span style="font-family: arial,
helvetica, sans-serif;">מִ֥ן ׀ הַסְּעָרָ֗ה</span>]
וַיֹּאמַֽר׃ מִ֤י זֶ֨ה ׀ מַחְשִׁ֖יךְ
עֵצָ֥ה בְמִלִּ֗ין בְּֽלִי־דָֽעַת׃
אֱזָר־נָ֣א כְגֶ֣בֶר חֲלָצֶ֑יךָ
וְ֝אֶשְׁאָלְךָ֗ וְהוֹדִיעֵֽנִי׃ אֵיפֹ֣ה
הָ֭יִיתָ בְּיָסְדִי־אָ֑רֶץ הַ֝גֵּ֗ד
אִם־יָדַ֥עְתָּ בִינָֽה׃ מִי־שָׂ֣ם
מְ֭מַדֶּיהָ כִּ֣י תֵדָ֑ע א֤וֹ מִֽי־נָטָ֖ה
עָלֶ֣יהָ קָּֽו׃ …</p>
<p dir="ltr" lang="he">Then Hashem replied to Iyov from the tempest and said:
Who is this who darkens counsel, Speaking without knowledge? Gird your loins
like a man; I will ask and you will inform Me. Where were you when I laid the
earth’s foundations? Speak if you have understanding. Do you know who fixed
its dimensions Or who measured its diameter? …</p>
</blockquote>
<p> Chazal presumed we had a firm grounding in Tanakh before moving on to
their works. So, it is safe to assume that where it looks like they are
violating the thesis of a book of Tanakh, they’re not. </p>
<p>So, I take Chazal (and the Rambam) as demanding we take lessons from what
happens to us. Whether or not we find THE cause. What did the pandemic and
current lifestyle bring up for you? The thing you are already motivated about
is the ideal thing to be working on.</p>
<p>For R Aharon Lopiansky (watch <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="
(opens in a new tab)" href="http://torahweb.org/audio/rlop_032920_video.html"
target="_blank">here</a>), and he assumes this is quite common / typical, the
thing that has us all in a tizzy is the fact that the news changes faster than
we can get a handle on it. We feel out of control, and we are in a society
that has gotten used to successfully engineering control — from tech to
getting insurance to cap our loses.</p>
<p>An idolater goes and gets himself a god he can appease. It gives him
control. But Hashem’s presence is always within a cloud. We don’t
know what’s going on. We need <em>bitachon </em>to manage, because we
are not in control.</p>
<p>And therefore, RAL suggests, this need for find a <em>segulah</em> to make
everything all better is itself the exact opposite of the experience should be
teaching us.</p>
<p>As for my own experience, one of the things the whole situation drove home
was how one person infects two or three, and they, 6 or 7… So to me the
realization of social interaction, <em>rechilus</em>, or just plain spreading
negativity, was driven home more than feelings of loss of control. (And there
is a project doing that, as well: <a href="https://www.stopthespread.com">Stop
the Spread</a>.)</p>
<p>But whatever it is <strong>you </strong>are naturally moved by in all this,
and if nothing comes on its own, what you hear that resonated. Those
responsible for their community’s spirituality (typically a
<em>rav</em>, <em>rosh yeshiva</em>, <em>rebbe</em> or for one definition of
“community”, a parent) should view their need to provide guidance
in those terms — in my humble opinion. </p>
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<a
href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/pandemic-response">http://www.aishdas.org/asp/pandemic-response</a><br>
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Best regards,<br>
micha<br>
micha@aishdas.org</body></html>