In his book, “Insecurity of Freedom”, Rabbi Heschel teaches: “
This, indeed, is the purpose of our religious traditions: to keep alive the higher Yes as well as the power of man to say, “Here I am”; to teach our minds to understand the true demand and to teach our conscience to be present. Too often we misunderstand the demand; too often the call goes forth, and history records our conscience as absent.”
Our religious traditions are not concerned with “packing the churches for Easter”, or Temples for Shabbat or Passover. What is the higher Yes today? It is to serve by following the advice/wisdom of the experts/Doctors. It is helping those around us by being kinder and less resentful. It is to say Yes to our powerless over Coronavirus and Yes to our ability to control our panic, our fear, saying Here I am by shopping for those who can’t get out of their homes, calling the people we know, Skyping, FaceTiming, Zooming, Google Hangouts, etc., thanking the workers who show up to work so we can get what we need, the healthcare workers who keep showing up to help others.
Maybe the silver lining here is our renewed awareness of the power and necessity of kindness and our shared humanity. No one is an island and all the money in the world is not a protection against this pandemic. Like addiction, pandemics know no boundaries. We do, however, have the ability to draw a boundary around our arrogance, our anger and our self-centeredness. We also can extend our boundaries of love, care, kindness, compassion, truth and love. Will you join me in say YES and Here I Am?