C.S. Lewis said the following about the US in 1939 on the cusp of World War II in a speech entitled: Learning in Wartime. “War creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it.”
How timeless are those remarks! Nothing new about the human condition has been created by this “novel virus.” We’ve just revealed the best and the worst of ourselves. The best: so many of us care about each other and are careful about being in public, about wearing our masks, about continuing to connect to each other via the technology that makes it all possible. And yet, some of our previous conditions continue: the homeless are still homeless, there are still folks who care less about others than their own “needs” to flout the coronavirus regulations; healthcare remains illusive for so many, our immigrants are still facing challenges and so on.
Lewis’ truth applies today and are captured in the words of Pirkei Avot: “It’s not on us to complete the work, but we are not free of the responsibility to persevere.” And so we must.
— Rabbi Ron Stern