Parashat Pinchas: After the Plague

At the conclusion of last week’s sermon I shared something as a bit of a throwaway but it comes to a head today. I shared how, because of the behavior of the Israelites, there was a plague that killed 24,000 of the people, and today, in Parashat Pinchas, a verse should stop all of us in our tracks. It is from Numbers, Bemidbar, chapter 25, verse 19 and it is three words, both in Hebrew and in English.

This is it: vay’hi acharei hamageifa. Translation: after the plague.

That’s the whole thing. “After the plague.” As my teacher and community member Rabbi Jack Moline shared with me about this verse, depending on how you read it, it can either infer, “And behold, the plague was over” or “So…after the plague was over, then this next thing happened.” Either a statement of fact or a description of what was going on.

But how do we know when a plague is over?

What if it isn’t over for everyone?

And, when we decide it is over, how do we behave?

Further, Rabbi Moline raises that this overall formulation creates a sense of demarcation of time: There was before the plague, there was the plague and there was after the plague. And this three-word verse, vaguely acknowledged by commentators over two millennia, has been waiting until today to speak its truth.

We too are wondering, where are we in this moment. We can certainly look back to the beginning of our covid plague and and mark certain moments:

Was it when we heard about news in a town many of us had never heard of called Wuhan? Did we pay attention then?

Or did we pay attention when it was in Milan, a step closer to home?

Or did we pay attention when schools like SAR in Riverdale closed because a family in that community was stricken with the plague and had been at shul that past weekend?

Or when the Basketball player Rudy Gobert jokingly spit on people and then the NBA closed down the season which to me, was the beginning of the beginning. Or was it when I sent you an email that you couldn’t come in person to shul.

There are so many moments about when we noticed it-but i wonder, do we only notice things when it impacts us? Did we assume it wouldn’t come to us if we didn’t know where Wuhan was located? Did we forget that this world is inextricably connected?

And here we are, in certain ways, on the other side of it, though not completely. Israel is back to requiring masks inside because of the Delta variant. We know that many people in the US have gotten the delta variant, and though, even though it is accessible, sadly and with much frustration that there are many who still have chosen not to get it, we didn’t reach President Bident’s 70 % goal for all Americans are vaccinated.

And yet, in our world, certainly my world, it feels like we are getting there-not back to normal but understanding what a new normal is. Camp is in session (but they needed to take covid tests and wear masks at the beginning), restaurants have indoor seating, children and grandchildren have been hugged and, to mention the obvious, here you are, so many of you compared to just a few weeks ago, in the sanctuary on Shabbat morning yet many of you are still home. Can we say Vay’hi acharei hamageifa.

So what it is like to be out of quarantine and for many maskless, without the potential fear of death (and yes, i mean death) hanging over us.

In many ways, it is of course liberating. We can see each other’s smiles, we can stand next to each other when we sing, we can feel more free.

But let me tell you, I don’t believe we are fully out of the woods yet, there is still fear.

Just this week, I didn’t feel well. I took my first “sick day” in god knows how long. I had a horrible head cold, could hardly get out of bed, skipped minyan, and had some of my amazing colleagues fill in for me on Thursday. And you know what i did-I got a rapid covid test. Yes, of course I was negative but the trauma of last fall immediately washed back over me. What if I was really sick? What if I got others sick? Would I have to quarantine? Would I not be able to officiate an upcoming wedding? Fortunately, I was negative and none of those things came to pass and we know thank god that vaccines work and so that is why we should encourage them.

But we need to remember that just because we might be safe (or safer) from covid, there are other challenges as well. I love not wearing a mask but that means I might be more susceptible to another “regular” sickness so I need to be careful. Please note: I am not trying to scare you-rather, i am trying to name some of the fears, fears that i imagine the ancient Israelites have. And of course there are questions of how we re-enter society:

How do people engage near each other if they haven’t been around others? I would be curious if the therapists amongst us will see an uptick in patients as people engage in the world? How do we regain our footing in what was normal behavior into this new normal?

And is there anything to be learned amidst the reentry?

What have we learned about services/adult learning-hybrid multi access

As Jack Moline, in writing on this, said:

First of all, I had to struggle with decisions about using technology in pursuit of my Jewish observance. Though he wasn’t initially convinced by the effectiveness of technology, especially on shabbat, for prayer, her is what he wrote:

“But in the intervening months, I discovered the opportunities that awaited as Jewish communities around the world became more adept at adapting their worship, study and life-cycle to these new circumstances.

Here is what I (he) have discovered about this virtual worship. It is radically egalitarian. That box on the screen where my image resides is exactly the same size as every other person’s. I have control over what I allow people to see and hear about me. While I can use the chat function if I need to communicate with someone else, the focus is necessarily on prayer – no side conversations – during services.

That’s not to say the social aspects of gathering have disappeared. This community mostly gathers a few minutes early and stays a few minutes late to catch up, especially if someone is bereaved or has a yahrtzeit to observe, to hear some words about the people we gathered to help remember.”

So why am I sharing with you some of Jack’s words with you? Because earlier this week, I reached out to him to talk about what re-entry might look like. As many of you know I was his intern 20 years ago and I am so grateful and honored that he has spent almost every day with us on minyan saying kaddish, and i knew, that i could turn to him to explore these “aharei haMagefa questions.”

We discussed: How does the return to in-person gathering, especially in the sanctuary, take place without losing the intimacy and engagement and access that this on-line community has generated? How do we accommodate people desperate to be back together at the same time as we honor those who are skittish about gathering? How do we make it possible for everyone to be participants and no one to be relegated to being a spectator? How do we celebrate the sacred space of our sanctuary, a focal point for synagogues from time immemorial, and know that not everyone is here, yet.

I know you’d like me to answer those questions succinctly and definitively right this minute. I can’t. But I can tell you that I, we, are thinking about this. And in the coming months, as we lead up to the fall, we will continue to ask these questions-who can have honors? Where should people stand? Is it safe to carry the torah around? Should we reinstate kiddush? Trust me, we are thinking about all of this. And we can turn back to our parasha to see what they did acharei hamageifa, after the plague to learn as well

First, account for everyone. A census is taken of all the tribes to be certain everyone is included, nobody left behind. We just started a new year in our organizational calendar. July 1st was the day we turned that page and we invited all of you to recommit to counting yourselves amongst us. I hope you will remain with us and if you haven’t been an official member of the SPS community, we hope you will consider it.

Next, study the problems the new circumstances present and reach a faithful solution. The daughters of Tzlof’chad, who had no sons, insisted that their father’s name and legacy be preserved. After the plague, studying and resolving this dilemma, which was a new issue, became a priority. We certainly will be doing this. I will be in close contact, not with Moses and God, but with the Rabbis on the Committee of Jewish Law and Standards to see what their recommendations are regarding worship in particular, and using their counsel and my own learning and life wisdom, in consultation with our sps leadership and of course Cantor Kanfer we will figure out what aharaei hamagefa looks like.

Next, attend to life cycle. Moses is told he will die soon and must attend to succession. Joshua is designated to step up and goes through a ritual of acceptance. I am so excited to share that i did a wedding in may, june, i have one in july, one in august, and one in september. People are finding ways to celebrate again. Some of those celebrations might not be what they initially imagined but they are marking a moment.

And then, worship. The description of the sacrificial offerings in pinchas, the Biblical origin of our practice of prayer, takes up the rest of the Torah reading. This is what we are doing. And yes, we aren’t back to normal. We are here in shul w/50% attendance virtual. We are 100% virtual for daily minyan, and we will look different yet again as we approach the holidays. In every moment, we are having conversations about values-the value of tradition, halacha, inclusion, community, equality, access, and more. No decision will be perfect. But we have worked through this plague together and we will continue to do so.

But this brings me back to how I started. Are we at the end of the plague? I don’t think we are there yet.

But we aren’t at the end of the plague if for some people they aren’t vaccinated b/c they aren’t eligible like many of our children.

We aren’t at the end of the plague because we are still working with people’s mental and emotional trauma from this time period.

We aren’t out of the woods because there were so many kids in this country whose education suffered and they will be in the plague of educational challenge, for years to come because of this year.

We each had different moments of when the plague began and in many ways, we only said it was here, when it affected us directly. But maybe we are to learn, that just as that was actually not the case, the plague started before then and we need to remember how we were connected then, so too, as the plague begins to feel us, lets us remember that it isn’t over for everyone.

For me, here is what we can say: There will be an end to the plague. That I believe. And we will celebrate, truly celebrate when we are all there together.

And as we work to return and regroup and refresh and soon enough, repent, let us be forgiving with ourselves and each other as we re-enter and figure out what our community will look like Aharei HaMagefa, after the plague.