The Corona Virus: What are We to Learn? Post 1
The Corona Virus: What are We to Learn? Post 2
The call of God is to reason and strive to understand. As such, when we confront challenges within reality such as we now experience in these days of Covid-19, we must recognize that we are thereby being called upon to think anew. There are changes in the reality that surrounds us. We must determine with our minds how best to respond. Our further goal must then be to attempt to gain some insight into what these changes, and their effects upon us, are supposed to teach us.
Our first subject within this topic of examination could possibly be the effect this virus has had on social interaction and, perhaps, in more specific religious terms, minyanim. Notwithstanding the clear Torah value in the minyan, there is now an almost unprecedented universal call across the spectrum of Orthodoxy that minyanim should not be formed. This was and is a thoughtful response to the reality of this virus. Groupings are problematic in this environment. Halacha, functioning with thought in the real world, as such, demands of us to forego the groupings of minyanim at this time. This is the reasoned halachic response of the greatest Torah scholars.
It would seem, in this case, what we thus find is that the response of the one who accepts Torah and the one who does not are exactly the same. The response of the reasoned theist and the reasoned atheist to the actual facts and circumstances of the situation is exactly the same. Acceptance of the reality of God is simply not a factor in the reasoned response to the matter itself. This is actually, most often, the case. The expected further challenge facing the reasoned follower of Torah, however, would be to try and determine the message from God embedded in these changed circumstances. If this reality, for example, demands of us to forego minyanim, what is the message, thereby, from God? We can then also ask: if communal interaction is a positive value, what is God trying to teach us from limiting such interaction?
(To be honest, it should be noted that a similarity in response from both the reasoned theist and the reasoned atheist is still not always necessarily the case. There are times when the reasoned follower of Torah will be called upon to act differently than those with reason who do not accept Torah. An investigation of such circumstances, however, is for a later presentation. We do hope to consider this further presentation and the one mentioned in Post 2 later in this series.)
The absence of minyanim, of course, should not be taken lightly. With an investigation of why God has created a reality which prevents their occurrence, one is not thereby trying to justify their absence. We are obviously missing, during this pandemic, a significant value within Jewish life. Perhaps, this is one of the very lessons we should learn from the absence of minyanim -- a further recognition of their value. The absence can call upon us to recognize and consider the loss -- and further appreciate the very value of the minyan.
The absence of minyanim could also call upon people to reconsider their practice of Torah in a determination of what they can undertake in the place of the minyan. This is, of course, not to say that when the ability to go to minyan returns than this new behaviour should continue in the place of minyan. What one could learn, though, is a new idea within Torah, a new perspective on Torah ideals. An example of this would be how many people are upset by the lack of minyanim because of the impossibility of saying kaddish for a loved one on a yahrzeit. When I am approached by people about this concern, my suggestion is for the person to learn some mishnayot in memory of the deceased in lieu of the kaddish. This is actually also a behaviour of great significance in marking the memory of a loved one. For some, however, this is even a Torah activity of which they never previously heard. We sometimes get locked into certain behaviours without any contemplation of other possible activities of value. What we can learn when such regular behaviours become unavailable is the possibility of alternatives -- which then can also be applied in the future as applicable. Recognition of the breadth of Torah understanding and guidance can be a positive result of confronting this pandemic
Again, this is not to say that the new behaviour should then substitute for the previous behaviour into the future. Of course, we may wish to extend our Torah behaviours as a result of our positive new Torah insights yet this should not be undertaken at the cost of the loss of previous positive undertakings. Even, however, as we may solely continue with our previous behaviours, these new thoughts we developed do still accompany us into the future. We learned new insights into Torah which we should allow to continue to influence our perception of Torah. For example, there are many who see Judaism more in communal terms. This pandemic possibly causes people to further recognize the personal side of Torah -- and this should not be forgotten.
It may also cause people to further recognize the personal side of prayer. This further understanding of Torah may then affect us in how we pray even within the parameters of a minyan. In any tefilla, there is the communal element and the personal element. From the lesson of the pandemic, we could learn to further value the personal side of tefilla. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Worship of the Heart, Reflections on the Amidah states:
"Prayer cannot be separated from life...Man must discover the great privilege of coming before God outside the sanctuary, in the struggle of existence."
With our present circumstances, this lesson is further articulated. True, there will, of course, be great happiness in calling out that first amein with a minyan. But, is it also not possible that we will have greater focus in our personal prayer even within the minyan as a result of our commitment to individual prayer within this time?
We do what is necessary in response to reality. The restriction on minyanim was one such response. The further question is: what should we learn from such responses? What, indeed, can we learn from the absence of minyanim? We may learn from the absence itself how to better value the minyan. We may also learn from the behaviour we undertake in the absence of the minyan a further value within Torah which we may usually not consider. There are lessons regarding Torah from this absence of minyanim. We are further called upon to learn and implement them.
Rabbi Ben Hecht
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