17 Mar Coronavirus (Part 2)

As you read

this article,

wherever you

might be, it

is very likely

that you are

either under

lockdown, voluntary quarantine, or

are just hunkering down in the safety

of your home. We are truly journeying

through uncharted territory

and in unprecedented times. Let

me share with you some thoughts.

If your shul is closed, then you

find yourself, to your shock and

dismay, davening for the first time

without a minyan, and thus unable

to say, “Amen, yehei shemei

rabah…” This comes at a time

when you feel you need His protection

the most but are unable to

utilize the power of a minyan to

ensure that Hashem listens to your

prayers. But there is a silver lining.

For the first time perhaps ever,

we can sit down with an ArtScroll

siddur, praying slowly and learning

the meaning of words we’ve never

understood. We also have the

opportunity to unleash our

anxieties and our concerns in

a thoughtful way as we pray

unrushed in our home.

Here’s another thought.

The media has succeeded in

whipping us into a frenzy. I

saw a witty thought. Someone

suggested that we should

quarantine the media for fourteen

days. This idea is not

without merit. The consequence

of such a continuous

onslaught of grim news has

caused two negative reactions:

worry and gloom. During the

cholera epidemic in his time,

the great Rabbi Akiva Eiger, zt”l,

zy”a, wrote shelo tidag, one should

not worry, v’lo yihiye betzev, and

one should not be sad. This great

Gaon knew that this was asking

a lot from people. Cholera, after

all, was a killing disease – much

more so than COVID-19. But the

great sage knew, as the Gemora

in Masechtas Berachos teaches

us, that worry breaks the constitution

of a man and makes him more

susceptible to the disease. As to

depression, the pasuk in Mishlei

[18:14] says, “Ruach ish yichalkel

machleihu; ruach nechei’ah mi

yiso’enah – The spirit of a man will

sustain him during sickness; while

if he has a broken spirit, who will

lift him up?” The Vilna Gaon, zt”l,

zy”a, says that the ‘spirit’ of man

means simcha, happiness, and

that happiness has the power to

cancel sickness.

In the same vein, the venerable

Gaon, Rav Shlomo Zalman

Auerbach, zt”l, zy”a, says that

the worst individual in Jewish

lore is the moser, the wicked informer.

Of him it says in the Shemone

Esrei, “V’lamalshinim

al tehi tikvah – The slanderer

shall not be given hope.” That,

explains the Gaon, is the worst

possible curse – namely not to

have hope. It is imperative that

we infuse our families with a

spirit of hope that a very great

percentage of people will at

worst suffer some type of coldlike

symptoms and that Hashem

will help us through this with

His divine kindness.

The Mabi”t, Rav Moshe Trani,

zt”l, zy”a, in his sixteenth

century masterpiece, the Beis

Elokim, gives the following

advice. In order to extinguish

the fires of a plague, it’s worthwhile

for everyone who fears

the word of Hashem to should

increase his tzedakah, for charity

saves from death, and that

each person should take stock

and improve his deeds, and increase

his output of good deeds.

One should intensify their prayer

and say the section of the ketores

once in the morning and once in

the afternoon, for the Gemora in

Masechtas Shabbos [89] says that

this is a secret way to ward off the

plague. I would humbly add to this

advice that one should especially, if

they have more discretionary time,

increase their Torah learning for it

is, as the Mishna tells us in Pirkei

Avos, a “Sris bifnei hapuronios – A

shield before retribution.”

In these merits may Hashem

bless us with long life, good health,

no scares, and everything wonderful.

To be continued.