- Clergy
- Shabbat
I am writing this message two hours after learning my 87 year old mother who moved into an assisted living facility in Minneapolis three weeks ago has tested positive for Covid-19. Please don’t email. I know you feel for me and I know you care, but I cannot handle hundreds of emails today.
I am rocked by the news…and so, so sad for her. I feel a little sorry for myself too; far away with no real way to help. I was able to speak with her on the phone and as expected, she dispensed her usual wisdom for trying times: “It is what it is and what will be will be.” I admire her acceptance and pragmatism, but to me my mom’s diagnosis is a very sour cherry on top of the shit sundae called 2020.
Of course, my mother is right. We all have to make peace with this past year and our current circumstances—the dead, the dying, the quarantining, the hungry, the jobless, the homeless, the anxiety, the fear, the inept politicians, missing so many people and places we love, then more dead and dying every damn day. How does one make peace with a pandemic? What shall we make of such a year? I suggest two words: Thank you.
Thank you for the opportunity to teach and to be a Jew. Looking for answers about how to live during this year has lead me and I hope many of you back to the wisdom of the ancient rabbis who knew a thing or two about death, life and gratitude. I have fallen in love yet again with the sages of our tradition. There is no aspect of the human condition they did not think deeply about. Judaism is a rich and mighty and comforting treasure in troubling times.
Thank you for responding to the call to support the Temple financially. Many who have saved for a rainy day recognized the deluge of this past year and stepped up to help the Temple continue to help others. I do not for a moment forget that ultimately, the entire enterprise of Wilshire Boulevard Temple and in fact all of Judaism is volitional and depends totally upon the generosity of individuals who could just as well do otherwise. We are a blessed congregation.
Thank you for my colleagues rabbinic, cantorial, educational, administrative and every other category. Despite their own fears and family obligations, they have worked so hard, so selflessly, so professionally and so creatively—for you, for Torah, for our needy neighbors, for hundreds of our young children, their parents and the elderly. If you knew what I know, every one of you reading this message would join me in appreciating the people who work for our congregation. They are, in a word, amazing.
Thank you to our trustees, committee chairs and committee members who have guided our professionals with a steady hand and caring heart, giving countless hours of time when they have their own jobs and families to worry about. They too are, in a word, amazing.
Thank you to the scientists, the health care workers, and the front line workers who have kept us all going no matter what the challenges or the odds of their own endangerment. They are angels; human manifestations of God.
Thank you to Covid-19 for slowing me down and reminding me in ways I desperately needed that it is not what but who we have that matters. That the simple pleasures of a walk, some rye toast with butter, a call, a touch, a perfect cookie, elastic waist bands, and a hand to hold beneath the covers each night are our greatest blessings. A tiny virus has awakened me to the simple fact that no matter how much I pretended otherwise, a busy life and a fulfilling life are not the same thing…
Thank you for the year about to begin. Beginnings are hope.
More than anything, thank you 2020 for reminding me that no matter how gently and beautifully we hold others and are held ourselves, no matter how often we say “I love you,” and no matter how many times we count our blessings even in, especially in sorrow, it is never enough. I shall remember this most of all if I am lucky enough to hug my mom again…