The name of the game is uncertainty under the coronavirus

We are the people of Israel, neither afraid nor discouraged even when the road is long and difficult.

By SHLOMO SOBOL
A MAN prays at the grave of Isaiah Horowitz, the Shelah, at the Tomb of Maimonides compound in Tiberias in May. (photo credit: DAVID COHEN/FLASH 90)
A MAN prays at the grave of Isaiah Horowitz, the Shelah, at the Tomb of Maimonides compound in Tiberias in May.
(photo credit: DAVID COHEN/FLASH 90)
During the past few months I have been involved in the decision to close the shul, then to open it, then to close it again, and then to open it again, and now, again, we are unsure of our next step. The feeling is one of confusion. There is a sense of uncertainty floating in the air. It is unclear what the right thing to do is.
Opening and closing the shul is just one of many examples of the confusion that we have all been experiencing lately. Schools, workplaces, places of recreation and others facilities and venues open and close almost daily. In addition, anyone at any given moment can be notified that they need to go into quarantine. It’s a feeling of instability; not just external uncertainty, but something much deeper: internal unsteadiness and unrest.
While ruminating on these thoughts that have accompanied me over the past few days, I recall the famous sentence, “The eternal nation is not afraid of a long road,” a phrase based on Rabbi Kook’s teachings.
Its widespread use is deeply rooted in the Israeli psyche. We are the people of Israel, neither afraid nor discouraged even when the road is long and difficult. We know that processes take time and require a lot of energy and strength.
It seems to me that during this time of pandemic, the phrase expresses what is going on in general, but also the personal experiences that we have within this reality. We should not be afraid of the long and confusing road in which on one day it is permissible to do such and such, on the second day we are forbidden to do what was permitted yesterday, and on the third day permitted again.
The truth is that not only should we not be afraid of the instability, but we should realize that we are made even stronger by it, as we believe that it is another level in our climb to strengthen our belief in the Almighty. God is the source of certainty. “The surety of His name is His glory,” says the V’chol Ma’aminim prayer for the High Holy Days, and He is the one that gives us anchor and stability during these unstable days.
With a mind to the future, our mission during this era of COVID-19 is to elevate ourselves internally, so that when the world returns to the state of certainty with which we are familiar, we will still retain the same connection to and reliance on the Creator of the world. Because only now, when the uncertainty is so rampant, do we fully realize how fragile and unsure our reality, and how much we always need to rely on God as the source of stability and life.
The writer serves as dean and founder at the Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics and Community Development, and as rabbi of Kehillat Shaarei Yonah Menachem in Modi’in.