As of 7:13 this morning, 132,237 Americans have died from Covid 19.
Five of the past nine days, including yesterday, have set records for new cases of the virus—so that number of deaths is certain to rise.
And of course, this isn’t just in America—the devastation is happening in countries the world over, and especially in developing nations, as my friends from Tevel b’Tzedek report from the frontlines.
Today, the Boston Jewish community will pause for a communal day of reflection and mourning to mark all of this. The program will be broadcast live on YouTube from 12:00-12:15 EDT (and of course it is available for viewing later as well). At the centerpiece of the program will be the unveiling and dedication of a memorial that will stand for generations to come, in the heart of one of Boston’s largest Jewish cemeteries, marking the massive amount of loss in this year of pandemic.
Why now, while the pandemic is sure to continue? Two reasons:
First, we undertook this effort because of the astonishing absence of empathy and compassion coming from the highest office in the land. 132,237 dead Americans—and yet there has been no national reflection or words of comfort?
And, for that matter, there are all those who have lost loved ones in the past few months not due to Covid—but who have been restrained or limited in their mourning rituals because of the necessary distancing. For many, this is a terribly lonely time. Real leaders need to acknowledge that. In the national vacuum of compassionate leadership, we’ve had to take it on ourselves. (No, the Boston program will not say any of this. The political commentary is strictly my own observation.)
Second, in the Jewish calendar, today is 17 Tammuz, a minor day of fasting and solemnity, commemorating events that led up to the Tisha B’Av fast three weeks from now. Here’s what I’ll say at the Boston commemoration:
In the Jewish calendar, these Three Weeks are known as Bein Ha-Metzarim: the tight period in between narrow straits.
And Bein Ha-Metzarim is surely how so many of us feel at this time. All our Jewish instincts feel so constrained. We desire to reach out and be present for one another. And it’s so hard to do at this time of distancing and quarantine.
G-d willing, someday soon we will be liberated from these narrow straits. When that day comes, I pray we’ll carry forward the lessons we’ve learned during these trying times about compassion, empathy, and love.