| Dear {{first_name}},
When COVID began, many, if not all of us, were annoyed and worn out by the isolation and staying at home. We were all excited and relieved when life began to look a bit like normal and we were going out once again. Over the two years of COVID we have each had times where we have returned to the cocoons of our homes and stayed away from other people. As you may be aware, at this time I’m writing these words from my kitchen table. Ayelet is in school in the office so I’m getting work done here in the kitchen while Galit naps in her room. We thank all of you for your well wishes for Carrie and she is doing better. We look forward to being back in the synagogue very soon.
As our family is reliving this quarantine and isolation again, I’m having flashbacks to 2020. Back then, Galit had just been born. I was on a job search and still serving as the Rabbi of a congregation in Tampa. I remember back then Ayelet was attending school at home and Carrie was teaching from home. When Carrie was teaching, I was on Galit duty who simply slept most of the day. Through all of that experience I held onto one real fact: Ayelet was not getting any younger, was a pre-teen, and thus the time together was bonus time together. Additionally, Galit and I got to spend time together that we would never have had if not for COVID. This is not saying that COVID was a blessing… it wasn’t and isn’t. It’s simply that there was something some of us were able to gain because of it.
Now that I’m at home with Carrie, Ayelet and Galit, I’m annoyed with the isolation and the inability to do my job. I’m relieved that Carrie, thanks to vaccines, has such a mild case. But I’m also happy to wake up with the girls each morning and have some cuddles. I’m happy to be able to make their meals for them. I’m happy to play in the backyard and watch movies. I’m happy to read books and play games. All of these are things I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do, but because of COVID, now I do.
My favorite verse in the Torah is found in this week’s reading: ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם/And they shall make Me a sanctuary (holy place) and I will dwell in them. This line is so critical because it doesn’t claim God will dwell in the sanctuary, but in the people who built it. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, we had the choice to end our faith as there was no longer a Temple Mount to keep it going, or we could find that sanctity elsewhere.
The sacred that was lost on the Temple Mount was rebirthed in our homes. If we make our homes sacred places, God is indeed in all of us while we are there. If we do sacred things in our homes then we have sanctity there as well. We don’t need to be in synagogues to find the Divine and sacred. Our homes are always sanctuaries in a metaphorical way, and like our house right now, in a physical way as well. We each need to look for the opportunities to make the ordinary extraordinary (I’ve been watching a lot of Encanto). We each need to elevate our homes and our families. We can each do this. I didn’t plan on this week being this way. I would have liked everything to have gone as I had planned it to happen. But now that it’s gone sideways, I’m thankful for the blessing of our health and the sanctity of our home. It is something we, the four of us, have built and have been able to find God in it through that building.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Hearshen |
