As a popular meme reminds us, 2020 is a leap year – there are 29 days in February and 300 days in March… As I think back over the last few weeks, I cannot quite believe what we have all been through, what we learned to do, to live with (and more importantly, live without). Some of us have been blessed to be able to switch to work remotely, while others began to deal with almost instant loss of work and income. Some had to find ways of coping with loneliness of isolation, while others are struggling with pressure of parenting young children and online learning, while trying to work from home. All of us are feeling incredible stress of these unprecedented (at least in most of our lifetimes) days. And then there are essential workers, first responders, medical professionals – people who MUST go out there, to make sure we can still function, eat, treat the sick, bring babies into this world. And then, of course, there are those of us who have caught the dreaded virus and had to cope, first hand, with its assault on our bodies and our spirits. And then, of course, some of us have lost our loved ones during this time – and even though they did not necessarily succumb to the virus, we couldn’t even come together as families and as a community, to say goodbye, to hold and support each other at this time of loss…
Human beings are incredibly resilient creatures. We learn to cope, we adjust our expectations, and we look for ways to help others. We have switched all our school programs online overnight, with the help of our incredible teachers and madrichim. We have switched Shabbat services online too – and in the process watched TE members in their 90s conquer zoom and YouTube! We held a Passover Seder online – perhaps the best attended TE congregational seder in my 11 years here. It wasn’t perfect, and I hope we don’t have to do THAT again – but it happened, and we recited the ancient words while smiling at each other across the time and space, marveling at wonders of modern technology that allowed us to be together despite everything. We will hold our Annual Meeting online too, and we will continue to look for ways to keep our TE community Jewishly engaged, supportive and strong – online, in person, over the phone or zoom – or across the street.
If you are feeling anxious – please let me know, I am here to talk. If you need help with groceries or any other tasks – please let me know, we have volunteers ready to help. If you are feeling lonely – pick up the TE directory and call someone to check up on them. If you hear that someone is ill, or in need of help or support – please drop me a line. This is a difficult period, but we don’t have to remember it only for the pain that it brings – let’s also make an effort to remember the joy that we can bring into each other’s lives, especially now.
Sending you all a COVID-appropriate virtual hug from a distance,
Rabbi Farbman