17 Mar Q&A With Rabbi Ahron Moss From Sydney, Australia

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

This coronavirus thing has really thrown me. I feel like I’ve lost all sense of certainty. No one knows what will happen next. How do we stay sane when we don’t know what’s lurking around the corner?

ANSWER:

It is not that we have lost our

sense of certainty. We have lost

our illusion of certainty. We never

had it to begin with. This could be

majorly unsettling, or amazingly

liberating.

This tiny virus of 125 nanometres*

has sent the entire world

into chaos. All of our plans are

up in the air, markets are going

crazy, entire countries shutting

down, and we have no clue what

the future holds.

But that is always the case. We

never know what the future holds.

We only think we do, and keep

getting surprised when things

don’t pan out the way we expected.

Now the mask is off. We have

to admit our vulnerability.

What will happen next? We don’t

know. Our experts don’t know.

Our leaders don’t know. Only

G-d knows. And that is the point.

Only G-d knows.

Close your eyes and feel the uncertainty,

make peace with it, let

yourself be taken by it. Embrace

your cluelessness. Because in all

the confusion there is one thing

you know for sure. You are in Gd’s

hands.

Keep calm. Panic and fear are

also contagious. Take every precaution

as advised by health authorities.

Wash your hands well.

And every time you do, remember

whose hands you are in.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Moss

*A nanometre is one billionth of a metre.