Yesterday was a difficult day for me. We had to muster up the right bitachon to deal with this with the proper outlook. Many shuls closed over different periods of time, and yesterday our Da’at Torah decided we had to close our shul. It was hard. We prayed our last Mincha and Arbit and everyone had to take home their korachas. We had been following all the appropriate guidelines of social distancing, such as standing six feet apart, not having more than 40 people in a space etc. but ultimately it decided that we close. It was a difficult decision, and many people are down about it. Some people are depressed, as they haven’t missed a minyan since their bar mitzvahs, other than for being sick, and now they’re praying at home.
I asked some people what went through their minds at that last prayer together. One rabbi said he was thinking of a video he once saw, of the rabbis in Israel saying their last prayers before the Gazans moved into their villages.
Another rabbi thought of Holocaust, and the stories of the Gabais taking the Sefrei Torah out of the shuls and locking the doors after Kristelnacht.
It’s heart breaking. We are shut out of our shuls. How do we do deal with that?
There are two lenses we can look at this with.
Firstly, anything we do should always be L’Shem Shamayim. It’s the most important rule in the world!
The Rambam says that the pasuk כל מעשה יהיו השם שמים
All our deeds should be for heavens name, a Mishnah in Pirkei Avot, is proof that Pirkei Avot was written with Ruach HaKaddosh, by G-d, because no human being could ever say in such a small statement what volumes could not include.
Everything we are doing is Leshem Shamayim.
We aren’t in it for ourselves. We want to do what G-d wants us to do
The Steipler once said that religion is easy- all you have to do is what G-d wants you to do. Someone asked how we know what G-d wants us to do. The Steipler said that the situation that you’re in, is what G-d wants you to do.
I once heard from Rabbi Ades that when somebody was, lo Alenu, sick in bed, he asked what G-d wanted from him like that. He was stuck in bed. And the answer is that G-d wanted him to stay in bed.
So we do things Leshem Shamayim and for some reason, right now G-d wants us to stay home.
Why?
Rabbi Oren Reich, a Rosh Yeshiva in Lakewood shared a beautiful thought about this, that can really turn things around and make us feel great. We’re not staying at home because we are afraid to get sick. Because, Baruch HaShem most people are not going to get very sick from this.
So why are we at home? In order to protect those among us that won’t fare as well. Older people, people with health challenges...we are staying home because we want to protect them. We don’t want anyone else to get hurt.
So that means I, and all of us, are sacrificing our own enjoyment (we love praying in shul), for others, because of the pasuk that says
ונשמרתם מאד לנפשיתכם
Guard your health
And of course, we have to guard the health of others. So now that the rabbis have decided to close, it might seem that what we are doing is extreme. But it’s actually a strongency in the laws of Pikuach Nefesh ( saving a life).
The Brisker Rav was once asked why was he so lenient when it came to people not having to fast on Yom Kippur, whereas he seemed strict in all other areas of religion.
He answered that he was very strict about it-he was very strict in the mitzvah of guarding one’s health!
So, we have to look at this and see that everything we are doing now is to save peoples lives.
Rabbi Reich said that whenever he sees a Hatzalah volunteer jump in his car to go save someone, he’s jealous. When does he ever get the opportunity to save lives?
But now, he says, we are all being given the opportunity to fulfill a great Mitzvah of saving lives.
Whoever saves one soul in Israel, it’s like he saved the world.
We are now practicing social distancing to protect people. And we have to use our sechel/brain as much as we can, to stay away from people over a certain age, as advised.
And if you feel bad that you’re stuck at home, know that you’re protecting yourself. It’s a great mitzvah.
We have to turns things around and realize that we are fulfilling a mitzvah every second. It’s a hard Mitzvah to do. We love to go to shul. But we don’t go to shul because we want to, we go because G-d wants us to go. So when G-d tells us not to go, we don’t go.
So, for every second while we’re home, we are fulfilling a mitzvah. We aren’t doing anything wrong. Actually, we are doing something right. But we have to be Leshem Shamayim. Sometimes it takes a while to see what Hashem’s wants.
Now, Hashem wants us to stay home. Why- we don’t know. But we’re going to do what He wants us to do. And as long as we go through life, our main focus must be on doing what Hashem wants us to do.
But (and it’s a big But) you can’t stay home from shul, and then go to work. If you’re home, unless it’s an emergency, you should be home as much as possible.
We have to use our logic in all areas.
I was watching somebody who was very careful early on, not to take not to shake hands, using his sleeve to open the door, and staying distant from people, but then, when he went over to the coffee urn, he pushed the lever with his finger. There must’ve been 100 people who touched that before him!
We have to be smart. If an area has a high frequency of traffic, stay away. If you’re concerned about the people in your house, don’t share towels.
These things are now involved in a mitzvah, and when you do a mitzvah you want to do it properly. We always think of the best way to do our Mitzvot, such as purchasing the best schach for our sukkah, and we are fulfilling a mitzvah now as well.
If you go out for a walk and want to buy a bottle of water from a grocery, maybe don’t do that. What if the clerk loading the shelves, who isn’t wearing gloves, has corona?
Don’t get paranoid, but think first.
Usually, when I record classes, I take the phone from the man and I push the buttons. But I’m not doing that now. I’m not touching his phone. Instead he sits six feet away, and I record like that.
But let’s not get crazy. It’s not airborne. This germ passes through droplets- from a cough or sneeze. Once you wash your hands, it goes away.
So be careful, but when you do things with care, don’t do it out of paranoia, but rather because it’s what Hashem wants you to do. Like any other Mitzvah.
שומר מצווה לא ידע דבר רע
A mitzvah protects you.
Usually, we think of this applying to our spiritual mitzvot. But now we are doing the mitzvah of
ונשמרתם מאד לנפשיתכם
We are protecting ourselves.
And others.
We shouldn’t be depressed because we’re sitting at home. This is Ratzon Hashem.
The following is a powerful, if graphic, story, that gave me great hizzuk.
About a hundred years ago, two rabbis were put in jail on trumped up charges. They were being held in a cell with a “toilet” so to speak, in the room with them.
One Rabbi started to cry, because they were not able to pray or learn with that in the room. The other Rabbi told him, “What does Hashem want us to do right now? We are in the middle of this jail cell with this toilet here with us. Maybe just he wants us to sit here and think thoughts of Mussar. We can’t learn or pray. Right now, we are doing the Ratzon Hashem/ G-d’s will.” When they realized that, they got up and started dancing around the jail cell. You don’t have to do that, but appreciate what you’re doing, and do it with simcha. Enjoy praying b’Yachid/ alone. Put on the music and be happy that you are doing what Hashem wants. Our prayers won’t be out of rote, they’ll be more meaningful.
It’s hard for us, but let’s do it with Simcha.
Have a wonderful day.