Sit at Home…and Save a Life (Temple Beth Or)

I have an admission to make: I am incredibly, disproportionately upset that I won’t be able to have a normal Passover seder this year with my family. Pesach is my favorite holiday, and I can’t recall a time when I’ve not spent it with my family—and that includes occasions on which I’ve traveled internationally to do so. This year, even though much of my family is just a few miles away, it is unlikely that we’ll be celebrating together.

Maybe you’re having similar experiences, in one way or another? Life is anything but normal right now, and my Passover woes are far from the worst thing going on. With COVID-19 ravaging our country and world, most businesses and schools closed, and our regular services and classes at Temple Beth Or canceled or moved online, I have begun to find the world feeling somewhat surreal.

Experts seem to indicate that the last event in history analogous to this situation was the 1918 Influenza Epidemic. If we connect a few dots, then, there might be something “normal” about this situation. A selection of a few relatable precedents from late 1918, published by the American Israelite, America’s oldest extant Jewish newspaper, include:

This dance and dinner cancellation from October 10th, 1918:

The postponement of a Council of Jewish Women annual meeting, from October 17th, 1918:

And, from November 28th, 1918, this cancellation of Jewish students’ activities at the University of Michigan:

As it turns out, we’re far from alone. Even in the midst of a pandemic, we’re part of a Jewish tradition…it’s just a little different than the usual.

By canceling, postponing, or digitizing our Temple Beth Or programs, we are practicing pikuach nefesh, a Jewish principle that dates to the Talmud. Pikuach nefesh, which teaches that you can violate all but three commandments—sexual immorality, murder, and idolatry—to save a life, is what one of my dearest teachers, Dr. Rabbi Mark Washofsky, is wont to call the “prime directive of halakhah (Jewish law).”

In halakhah, the phrase used regarding these three things to never do, even to save a life, is shev v’al ta’aseh, literally, “sit, and do nothing,” i.e., “better to sit there and die than practice idolatry or commit murder.” How fitting (or, perhaps, ironic—I suppose it’s a matter of perspective) that, in this situation, it is precisely by sitting  and doing nothing that we do get to save lives.

Obviously, it’s not easy to stay at home for days, weeks, or—maybe—even months at a time, not able to participate in many of the activities that help to make normal life…normal. In lieu of them, in addition to taking time to enjoy healthy doses of Netflix (or whatever kind of media you most like to consume!), this is also a great opportunity to reflect on the things you may have taken for granted in the past that you still can have right now: phone calls to friends, time with family and pets, and (if we’re lucky) a little bit of quiet. Likewise, we can plan for the future, thinking of the things we are most excited to experience when our routines return. For me, of course, my list includes items such as Passover seders; but it also includes more seemingly “banal” entries like going to the gym, hugging friends, or even just attending an in-person Shabbat service.

Acknowledging the things you miss most right now isn’t just sour grapes—it’s an important part of a reflection process that can help us to recognize what is truly important when this pandemic passes. Moreover, there is something sacred about our time spent sitting at home, doing so. This too is pikuach nefesh, and this too shall pass. Feeling unconvinced?

Just read this December 12th, 1918 American Israelite note regarding Altoona, Pennsylvania:

Looking forward to greeting everyone again soon—with vigor!