There have been so many terrible losses during this pandemic. Most awfully, more than 238,000 Americans have died and more than 1.2 million world-wide. Businesses have closed and hundreds of millions of people are suffering economically. Our lives have been disrupted in so many ways. Loss is hard. It’s not always easy to make sense of it or, as we’ve seen of late, to accept it. This morning one of my favorite songs came on my playlist that reminded me how to respond. It was composed by the late John Prine who died of complications from COVID-19 in April. It’s called “That’s the Way That the World Goes Round” and here’s the chorus: That's the way that the world goes 'round You're up one day, the next, you're down It's half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown That's the way that the world goes 'round The [...]

Over the past week, new COVID-19 cases in America have averaged more than 100,000 per day. This represents an increase of 59% from just two weeks earlier. Scientists and doctors warn that with the onset of colder weather combined with “quarantine fatigue,” worse is yet to come. Our tradition is clear that taking precautions to ensure the health of others as well as our own is a mitzvah, a religious obligation. It can be tedious and even exhausting at times but we have no other choice: lives depend on it. Here’s how the great sage Maimonides frames it: “God wants us to take care of our bodies for it is impossible that we might come to understand or know anything of the divine knowledge concerning the Creator if we were to become seriously ill. Therefore it is incumbent upon us to distance ourselves from things which are harmful and accustom [...]

On Saturday a great teacher of Torah, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, died. In an interview published in 2013, Rabbi Sacks said that our core task as Jews is to bring “spiritual and moral values into the heart of society.” Today—and every day—this is our challenge: to be our very best selves in the way we behave, in how we talk to each other, and in the way we care for others as we strive to fulfill what Rabbi Akiva called the essence of Torah: the mitzvah to “love your neighbor as yourself.” No matter how we voted or how we might feel about the various outcomes, let us resolve to endeavor with renewed energy to bring the highest spiritual and moral values of our tradition into the world. — Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback

Many of us are spending a great deal of time on Zoom calls, on our screens—sitting inside. My friend, a doctor, said this is not good for our mental and physical well-being. It’s important to take breaks, go for walks, get some fresh air, and some exercise. It’s good for the body, the mind, and the soul. This two-hundred-year-old prayer from Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) can set a wonderful intention (kavanah) for your time outside. Grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass—among all growing things and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong. May I express there everything in my heart, and may all the foliage of the field—all grasses, trees, and plants—awake at my coming, to send the powers of their life [...]

חַֽסְדֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ כִּ֣י לֹא־תָ֔מְנוּ כִּ֥י לֹא־כָל֖וּ רַחֲמָֽיו׃ חֲדָשִׁים֙ לַבְּקָרִ֔ים רַבָּ֖ה אֱמוּנָתֶֽךָ The kindness of the ETERNAL has not ended, Your mercies are not spent! They are renewed every morning—Great is Your faithfulness! (Lamentations 3:22-23) These verses from the Book of Lamentations remind us that in times of darkness, uncertainty, and even despair, we should find cause to give thanks. Today is a gift, the likes of which we will never see again. It is a new day, a fresh start. This moment has not happened before and will never be replicated. So let us pause to give thanks for the opportunity before us. Ask yourself, what will you make of this new day? Set an intention. What goodness will you bring into the world today? What new thing do you wish to discover? Every moment has the potential for renewal. How will you be renewed today? — Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback