13 April 2020

By Rabbi Dr René Pfertzel

In the Talmud (Berakhot 4b), King David is praised by the Rabbis for being able to say that he doesn’t have an answer to an important question about his own behaviour: is he really righteous? I don’t know, he says.

Being able to express one’s doubt allows people to take responsibility and to accept that sometime there is no easy answer, nor foreseeable solution.

When asked, how is this crisis going to last, people in charge have different forecasts. 12 weeks? 6 months? Who really knows? Isn’t it time to admit that it is entirely out of our control, and we need to accept this uncertainty as part of a new reality? This relieves the pressure on our shoulders, and allows us to build for the here and now.

Of course, we want to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we also want to bring candlesticks in this tunnel, to illumine our lives now, and to find meaning day by day. Let the future worry about itself. We can be sure that it is very serious, and it is going to last for a while.

Let us embrace this new reality with the assurance that there is a community here to look after our needs, that we have more power in our hands than we would have thought before.

Finally please remember my friends that this too shall pass. We will be stronger, and probably wiser too.