Dear {{first_name}}
From Rabbi Hannah
When bubonic plague was spreading through London in 1665, Isaac Newton returned to his birthplace near the town of Grantham and self-isolated. During his year of quarantine, Isaac Newton invented the mathematical system calculus. When this did not suffice in curing his boredom, he drilled a hole in the shutter of his bedroom window, to which he held a prism and discovered that white light was made up of every colour. And finally, as if all of that wasn’t enough, he watched the apples drop from the trees outside his window, and casually discovered gravity. Three things in one year of isolation that completely shaped the future of science.
Now as we begin our seventh week in our own quarantine we are facing increased pressure to be more productive. But this time spent in our own homes is often not free time at all. With our daily routines disrupted completely, confined to our houses, with their spotty wifi signals, and suffering under pressures of unexpected childcare, and new household demands, it is natural to be less productive. When this is paired with the constant barrage of distressing news stories, it is no wonder that many of us end each day feeling overwhelmed and exhausted rather than prolific.
Yet human nature leads us to compare ourselves to others, to hold ourselves to their ideals of quarantine, to push ourselves to be better and use this time to find new skills. We are consequently plagued with feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt when our own limits don’t measure up.
Midrash Leviticus Rabbah teaches us, “As human beings, we are often ashamed to use imperfect vessels. Not so with the Holy Blessed One. We are all broken, and we are all God’s vessels.”
We are often afraid to expose our vulnerabilities, even though God made us to be imperfect. The routines of our Jewish life help us to embrace the parts of ourselves we often wish to hide. Every morning when we wake up, we recite a prayer for the gift of our bodies. This blessing ends with the chatimah, ‘blessed are you God, who heals all flesh and performs such wonders.’
These words were chosen to remind us that our bodies are a wonder, that continue to function for us. But they also remind us that each and every one of us is in need of healing.
That is the essence of being human. It is those broken parts of us which make us who we are.
So unlike Newton, our quarantine experience does not need to be ground-breaking, or perfect. We do not need to come out of it fitter, or slimmer, or with new skills. Rather, now we need to survive. We do this by being kind to ourselves, by learning to feel comfortable with our imperfect way of living during this time and feeling able to admit that this is hard. And as isolation draws out, and the light at the end of the tunnel feels further away, we need to feel able to ask for help, even if we thought we didn’t need it at the beginning.
Blessed are you God, who heals all flesh and performs such wonders.
Please click here to read Justin Wise's sermon from Shabbat morning on three paths for thinking about the future that the pandemic might bring and our part in it.
