Facebook Post by Rabbi Perlin in the Time of Coronavirus (4/16/2020)
Thursday Post 4.16.20: The Season of Counting
by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.
This is the season of counting for the three major religions. As Jews, we began the seven weeks of counting to the festival of Shavuot (commemorating when we received the Torah at Sinai) on the second day of Passover. We count the Omer daily, reminding ourselves that we were once an agricultural people counting a measure of grain, as we anticipated arriving at Sinai. We count not only the day it is, but we also recount how many weeks and days have been counted so far. Christians began their 50-day journey to Pentecost on Sunday, and next week Muslims will begin the observance of the month of Ramadan. Each season brings with it a holy journey with a finite end.
Our pandemic counting, in isolation and limbo, began sometime last month for all of us, and we have no idea when it will end. This uncertainty goes contrary to our natural order of things. We can endure eating matzah for a week, if we know it will end. But, the uncertainty about the end of this social distancing is causing more than its fair share of anxiety and discomfort. And the calls to end it prematurely for a host of reasons -economic, political, and psychological won’t change the facts that until we know for certain that we and our loved ones are safe, we will not stop counting.
Tomorrow will be four weeks for me, since I ventured out into the real world beyond walking in my neighborhood — four weeks of isolation, Zoom meetings, cleaning, packing, and Facebook. I never look at the Home part of Facebook, just post from time to time. Now I am seeing everyone’s high school graduation pictures and marveling at the time people are taking to recreate famous art or family photos.
Our brains are binary machines. We are most comfortable with a choice between two things. But, the resolution to this pandemic will not be binary. It will not be distancing or back to normal, masks or no masks, toilet paper shortage to toilet paper availability. Coming out of this will need wisdom and collaboration, a global perspective rather than a xenophobic opportunism, patience rather than haste, sacrifice rather than greed, and caution rather than recklessness.
It would be nice to stand at Sinai with you at Shavuot, exactly six weeks from tomorrow. Our tradition teaches that all Jews stood at Sinai together, you and me, our ancestors and those who will come after us. All of us. My guess is that we will still be social distancing. I may see you from afar, but we won’t be hugging or holding hands. Or maybe God and Moses will postpone the family reunion and just give us the commandments live stream.