By Audrey Berner During the Breakout Rooms on Rosh Hashana Day 2, I was with a group where only a few people shared anything. There was a mixture of sharing feelings of sadness, loneliness and isolation. I compare that to my experience which, surprisingly, was not a downer at all. In fact, I feel that I will come out stronger on the other side (whenever that will be). I had made a list of "Lockdown Chores" - and have completed most of it. I had a chance to slow down and think about goals and needs. I took courses and chatted on-line with family. I taught school classes with unexpected benefits. Granted we could not hold our granddaughter; we could not attend the funeral and shiva for Mark's sister in Edmonton, we could not celebrate any events with family, but there were so many upsides. The family "Zoom" shiva was shared by people in four cities and two countries - who would not have all travelled to Edmonton even if they could have. Family celebrations became well planned and highly anticipated picnics adding importance to the events. OK. No upside to seeing the granddaughter from a distance. To me, on-line Judaism became very important and I found myself involved in courses and practice that I might have not done otherwise. Aside from the weekly Daf Yomi, which I was doing before Covid, I enrolled in a Mussar course through the Institute of Jewish Spirituality and met people from all over North America with whom I shared ideas, argued and explored ideas. The course ends this week, but my Hevruta group (located in St John's, Newfoundland, Montreal and Palo Alto, California, has decided to study the eight Middot all over again to increase our understanding. Also, During the Rosh Hashana services, I found the time to focus on the Machzor, something I don't usually do. I read commentary, wandered off into directions of inquiry, discussed issues, practiced my Hebrew. What an opportunity. I guess life is what you make of it; experience is what you take with you. I hope that I will continue to feel that this hiatus in our lives has been a benefit to me, to my family relations and to my practice. And maybe I will soon be able to hug the baby!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorYou! The Dorshei Emet Community. Archives
November 2020
Categories |