Coronavirus thoughts

By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg
Buffalo, NY.

Some more Coronavirus thoughts

 I think that in all of Jewish history there was never a time that all Rabbis and Halachic (Jewish legal) authorities have commanded Jews not to go to shul to pray, not to pray with a minyan (quorum of 10) , not to hear the Torah reading (during this week when we read an extra and special Torah reading known as Parshas Hachodesh no less) because of pikuach nefesh-saving lives. Is there a positive message in this bizarre phenomenon?

And if there is one, what is the positive message in this unprecedented phenomenon? In my humble opinion, it is the most powerful message that we have received in all of history! Let me explain: Jewish law is clear. Pikuach nefesh-saving a life overrides the laws of the Torah. But why? The answer comes from last week’s Torah reading. When Moses broke the tablets he did it to save the Jewish people. Indeed, Moshe is praised for this action, because although Torah, which personified Moses, is the highest ideal in life for the Jewish people, the Jewish people are even higher.

 This is clearly stated in the Midrash which speaks of how both Torah and Israel (the people) preceded (and transcend) creation. However, the Midrash asks rhetorically “which of the two (Torah and Israel) comes first?” The answer is Israel! This, the Midrash states, is based on the fact that the Torah always says “Speak to the children of Israel.” Israel must be there first before the can be a Torah command to them. Throughout history, this preeminent level of Israel, which overrode the dictates of the Torah, was always there, but it never applied to all of the Jewish people uniformly.

If a Jew was restricted from observance of a Mitzvah in one place because of danger to life, there were always Jews elsewhere who could perform that Mitzvah. For the first time in history, G-d has orchestrated a situation (which we pray will end very soon) that compels us to realize that every single Jew is so precious that G-d embraces him or her unconditionally, even without the important value of communal prayer etc.. As we stand on the threshold of the Final Redemption, some might suggest that the reason it has been delayed is because of the imperfections of some in the observance of Torah and Mitzvos.

 Thus, we may humbly suggest, G-d therefore has made it apparent to the whole world that His love for us is unconditional! Moreover, His love for us applies to each and every Jew regardless of his or her level of observance!  Moreover, G-d says to even someone on the highest level in terms of piety, who never missed a minyan, etc., “My love for you exceeds My love for your Torah and Mitzvos as great as that may be. Indeed, G-d is in effect saying to us, My love for you is absolute, essential and transcends all levels of logic and rationality. When this level is revealed universally, as it is now, we are seen by G-d as perfect (despite our limitations) and there can be no excuse for the delay of the Redemption. On the contrary, this is the best preparation for the Redemption because it reveals our essence, which is the Messianic spark in each and every one of us.

 To be sure, this is not intended to tell us that we can be lax in other areas of Judaism because G-d loves us unconditionally. Chassidic thought explains that that essential love that G-d has for us, which transcends the love and bond created through our Torah observance, has to be channeled and revealed through Torah. Torah is called light as it illuminates everything. It also illuminates and highlights the transcendent love for us.

 So now that all the Rabbis and authorities have ruled that we should not even try to make makeshift prayer meetings and skirt around the ban, Torah itself cries out and demonstrates G-d’s essential love for us. The more we adhere to Torah principles can only strengthen the awareness of our inherent transcendence over everything, including Torah. I’m reminded of a an anecdote with an Israeli soldier who put on Tefillin right before going into battle during the Yom Kippur war, whose left arm was blown off.

When he asked the Rebbe why was that arm with which he performed a Mitzvah blown off, the Rebbe’s response, to the best of my recollection, was that he was supposed to die and the Tefillin saved his life, and by losing his left arm G-d’s message was that His love for him transcended even his observance of the mitzvah of Tefillin.

 May Hashem translate this unprecedented showering of essential love into the actual Redemption and removal of all illness and the ushering of an age of total peace, love, unity and total devotion to all of G-d’s commandments!