Today’s post comes from brilliant and passionate Michelle Dardashti who serves as the Rabbi of Brown RISD Hillel and Associate University Chaplain for the Jewish Community at Brown. I never fail to enjoy and learn from Michelle’s originality of thought and her insights.
“Man plans, God laughs.” Though I doubt God finds Covid-19 particularly funny, this Yiddish expression – “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht”- has felt all too apt. In the Corona era, planning can feel rather futile. But experiencing this pandemic through the lens of the Jewish calendar has been both striking and grounding.
First, there was Purim. The holiday of topsy-turvy coincided with our world turned upside down. We were yet naïve about how bad this would get; my mishloah manot featured Coronas and lime and I put up signs that read: “In order to prevent the spread of the AchashVIRUS, remember to Vashti hents!”
Then came Pesach. It offered us Seder, order, amidst the chaos. But it was also sobering. Sickness and death from plague, spread swiftly and suddenly through our country, as it did through Mitzrayim.
And thus began the Omer, with its daily count, allowing us to make sense of and distinguish between the passing days, each spent repetitively – in our homes, in front of our screens.
The new moon of Iyyar followed; an acronym for “I am God, Your Healer,” Iyyar has brought our wounds into stark relief, and made desperate our pleas for healing…
And throughout all of this, of course, we’ve had Shabbat: our weekly lifeline and marker, our taste of eternity and glimpse of majesty amidst the morbidity and monotony.
Coming our way next is Shavuot, with its climactic promise of revelation. That would be nice – to have revealed answers which have alluded us: When will this be over? Will I make it through in life and health? Employed? Will my loved ones? Will the holidays happen in person this fall? Will my kids’ school? Will anything?
The hard truth is that it’s unlikely we’ll have much greater clarity in these realms by the 6th of Sivan, the day we celebrate receiving the Torah (any more than the Sinaitic experience responded to the Israelites’ questions – What will we have to eat and drink? When will we arrive “there”? And where exactly is “there”? But in a way, Z’man Matan Torahteinu does reveal, or remind us, of everything we really need to know.
Through the experience at Sinai, the Jewish people forge a covenant with God and with one another. It is at Sinai, through together receiving the Torah, that we transform from a band of refugee slaves into a people with a purpose and a plan. Shavuot reminds us that we are still that people and that our purpose and plan are not only still relevant, but in fact more vital than ever.
The prescriptions for leading a meaningful life—found in the Torah and built into Jewish communal life—address the critical yearning for connectedness that is timeless and so palpable amidst this pandemic. We’ve had to grow ever more nimble and creative in how we navigate the Wilderness, but we can rely on Judaism to help guide us through. We learn to put one foot in front of the other and we learn to pause. The map inherited at Sinai is as basic as it is profound.
In this coming week, look here for entrees into Shavuot which starts next Thursday night. Meanwhile, a few prompts for writing or meditation -
How has the continuity and rhythm of the Jewish calendar been helpful to you now?
In what particular ways has the Jewish calendar been a support, a frame for you, in these disorienting and painful times? Which holidays (including Shabbat) have given you something you badly needed?
What Jewish values have felt especially important to you now?
What aspects of tradition and community have been a renewing resource for you now?