This page is pasted in my notebook:
It is taken from rabbi Arthur Green's book "These are the words", and up until our current Covid-19 situation, has been a source of inspiration for me.
Last Fri. I looked at it again and thought "this is ironic", and put it aside. Of course I can't travel and I must stay home, not to say anything about the amount of screen time consumed by my children this week.
During the past week I've heard various conversations about home bound existence (for those who are able to), and of the perilous situation for those who can't. The words Shabbat and Sh'mitah kept coming up in these talks, which made me think. Perhaps our society has been forced into a huge Shabbat, forced into sacred space-time, or if you would rather, a huge "time out" to think about our collective behavior.
In light of these thoughts it seemed like an interesting experiment to go back to the list and try and see what I could learn from it about my life today.
Here is the same page, with some thoughts on how a regular Shabbat might inspire our current moment. Add your own thoughts and ideas.
This is a very strange, rough, scary time. But it also holds within it potential for a more "in tune" life ahead of us.
The main thing to remember is we are in this together. Let's see what good it can wake up in us.
