by Rabbi Avi Billet
In the frenzy of last weekend, with many shuls deciding to shut their doors, many of us were faced with the prospect of experiencing Shabbos in a way we had not before. Going to shul was off the table – so what do you do?
Friday night I prayed outside. I took my time. I danced a little during L’cha Dodi (which I never do in shul), and I made sure not to go back inside until the last word of Yigdal. Friday nights are different each week in our home. Without the walk home from shul, however, we were able to begin much earlier than usual. We were relaxed in a way that is sometimes more necessary to manufacture. Zemiros (songs) around the table were much more lively than usual.
Without my regular Shabbos morning responsibilities, I tried to sleep in, but alas, that internal clock could not embrace reality and I was up before 7am. So after a coffee and chat with an earlier riser, I woke up my boys “for davening” at 9:30am. My pre-bar-mitzvah boy led “Pesukei D’Zimrah,” my bar-mitzvah son led “Shacharis,” I “leined” the Parsha, Parshat Parah and Haftorah from a Tikkun, and my pre-bar-mitzvah son led “Mussaf.” Of course we skipped all the parts that require a minyan. But our “minyan” took 1.5 hours – we experienced a regular davening minus kaddish, kedusha, and chazaras haShatz. And it was a really special experience. (My daughters were invited, but they chose to do things their own way.)
I share this because in the event that shuls remain closed, I hope others will take the inspiration and initiative to pray with family in a manner that Orthodox shuls don’t typically make available due to the mechitza and our rules surrounding age and minyan. And while I am certainly not looking to change things, when forced to change my comfort zone, this connection with family was an excellent substitute for what has become a weekly routine.
The other reason for sharing this different Shabbos is because Shabbos is mentioned in the Torah in the parsha we missed (Ki Sisa – end of Chapter 31) and in our Parsha of Vayakhel (beginning of chapter 35). But what a difference between the two depictions! In Ki Sisa, the people are urged to keep Shabbos while being warned of the dire consequences to those who desecrate the Shabbos.
In Vayakhel, while there is a mention of the same consequence, the focus of most readers is on the last verse in the segment, avoiding the kindling of fire.
And so I’d like to take a homiletical leap off the page to suggest that this is a reflection of our experience these weeks, especially if shuls do remain closed this coming Shabbos as well.
The first week we needed to remember what makes Shabbos holy and special. There was even a concern that anyone who might not follow the rules of this past Shabbos could be putting others in danger and at risk. While I am not suggesting that those who did not follow the rules should have been put to death, but the feeling behind the closures was one of “death hangs in the balance.” How else could we justify closing down our needed opportunities to gather in Tefillah as we do every week?
The second week, as we are more used to the isolation and the need to follow the rules to prevent a virus from spreading, we find ourselves faced with a different calculation – how can we avoid the spreading of a metaphorical fire?
And I think that more than anything, two things have emerged from these unique Shabbos experiences. One, we discover how important our community is and how important our communal institutions are. We miss not having it so central to our lives. Two, we discover how holiness and a sense of purpose are each for us to determine and create for ourselves.
Shabbos could have been sad, drab, boring. But we took the chance and made it special and memorable. What will you now do should we be faced with an isolated Shabbos again?
Hopefully we’ll all embrace the opportunity to raise it up a notch and make things extraordinary.
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