Between one wave and another . . .

We are all in the same boat - or globe to be more precise.  When COVID-19 made its debut, little did we know that we will all have to learn a new way of life literally overnight.  Who would have thought that in the 2020 we will have to start using disinfection sprays, hand-wash, facemask, gloves and worst of all: worry! 

Mothers worried about children, children’s nerves were frazzled about their in‑laws and fathers became frantic when they realised that closed schools means “facing the music”…

Where do we run, is there a place to hide?!  This is what was on people’s mind throughout the first days, until Shabbat came along.

The serenity of a tranquil, quiet day brought us back to our senses and we started to relax a bit – just enough to enable our family members to reconnect, reconcile and make up for our panic outburst throughout the week.

Shabbat was also the day when we made impromptu acquaintances with our next-door neighbours, whom we only saw through neighbourly eyes.   From balconies, gardens and rooftops – they all joined in at the top of their lungs to welcome the Shabbat queen.

One area where Shabbat could not penetrate was the realm of the elderly, the frail and the sheltered.  They vanished when the first government-led curfew was announced and they are still ensconced in their homes!  How can we bring Shabbat into their off-limit abodes?

Shabbat has been a refuge for the Jewish people from the time they became the Jewish people – maybe even earlier…  So, the precious Rabbis of our communities hit on the idea of introducing the taste of Shabbat into every Jewish home, using the now-famous Zoom service.

Thanks to Zoom, thousands upon thousands of Jews, affiliated, unaffiliated and agitated – they all flocked to Zoom to participate in the Garden Party called Welcoming the Shabbat Queen.  The latest figures of Zoom attendees point a sharp increase in Shul attendance, as many homebound people actively participated where they couldn’t do so before the Corona came round the corner…

Having led many a Kabbalat Shabbat via Zoom, it struck me how people were glued to the screen, not to see me singing Moshe veAharon beCho-hanov only to read from the on-screen siddur that their Rabbi so painstakingly prepared.

So, let us say thank you for Shabbat as it saved our sense of sense and a rezooming thank you to Zoom for enabling us to give a semblance of Shabbat to the multitudes.

Menasche Scharf, Zooming Chassidim, UK