Let’s go back in time for one year. Of course, it will be from my perspective. At this time, the eve of Rosh Hashana, we were in St. Louis, getting ready to spend the holiday with Monty, Daniella, Tali and Ezra as we had for the previous two years. We were headed to Israel for Sukkot to see the rest of the family. Corona was the beer we had at Red Burger on the beach in Netanya…so much has changed. Yet as we move from the Jewish Calendar Year 5780 to 5781, there is a lot to reflect on, so let’s get started.
Of course, what brought us here for this trip was Shoshana’s Bat Mitzvah celebration. Need I say that it was amazing? Despite the limits of the pandemic, we celebrated in an idyllic outdoor setting, with pretty reasonable social distancing in bubbles or capsules as they say here (school classmates together, family, other friends from their neighborhood). Shoshana had worked hard to prepare a full class on some pretty intense concepts in Judaism, including how the Torah views how we should approach agricultural pursuits, how this can strengthen our relationship to G-d, and how these lessons should be applied to relations between people as well. Shoshana delivered this with confidence and had prepared a powerpoint presentation to illustrate the important points. It was terrific and my summary does not do it justice. There was also a slide show about her life, some beautiful words from Elan, and a lot of awesome food! It was a moment that made us extremely proud. She’s an intelligent, articulate, thoughtful, and caring young woman. As the first grandchild, one of the fun things I like to do with Shoshana is to show her this series of blogs which actually began when she was 3 months old. It’s almost like the story of her life in words and pictures (as it is for all of our grandchildren!) We are blessed with wonderful grandchildren and are so happy that we can share these milestones with them.
The bat mitzvah was last Sunday night, and we returned to Netanya. The initial plan was to have Ariel and Gila and the kids join us for Rosh Hashana here. So, now for the COVID-19 in Israel update….The number of cases continue to climb, hitting 5500 in one day on Wednesday this week. The government decided that to curb the spread, they would place the country in lockdown for the entire Jewish Holiday period. That meant no intercity travel, including fines for anyone caught returning home from another city after Rosh Hashana, no gatherings of more than 25 people, no walks from your home of greater than 500M, all restaurants and non-essential businesses are closed, etc. So, we are here all by ourselves! Kind of ironic, but it's for the greater good. Our local synagogue is making all kinds of provisions, including Shofar blowing at various intersections where community members live, but like everywhere in the world this will be a Rosh HaShana that is marked by the pandemic, with many, many fewer people attending services and people celebrating with their nuclear families.
Yet not all is gloomy in Israel. The news of peace with UAE and with Bahrain has given people here something to talk about that does not start with a Cor….The overall tone is very positive. Firstly, it’s a natural progression of what has been happening since Iran began to flex its muscles. There is a large segment of the Gulf population that is highly westernized and has had considerable exposure to Jews in academia, business and medicine. Just look at medical programs at McGill (and across Canada). These well-trained people return to their countries (unlike expats from other countries who train outside and rarely return). This exposure is very important Hasbarah. I think that all in the region will benefit from the technological and economic exchanges that will happen due to the peace agreements, not to mention tourism. My close friend Qutayba Hamid, who was my director (and mentor) at Meakins Christie Labs for many years, is now dean of the Medical Faculty in Sharjah. He says that their population is very pleased, and in fact has been collaborating with Israel on therapeutics since the beginning of the pandemic. What the world truly needs is for the most effective Sars-COV2 vaccine to be a cooperative effort between UAE and Israel!
Rosh Hashana is a New Year commemoration unlike other new year’s celebrations. It is a happy time, yes, with the sweetness of apples and honey, pomegranates and wine, but a time spent in prayer and one that initiates the period of time on the Jewish calendar known as the 10 days of Repentance. This past year, with the total disruption of the world order, the economy, travel and just simple things like a handshake or a hug, definitely gives us pause. As I was planning this section, I had some thoughts that were then well articulated by our son Elan as he sent out his Rosh Hashana greeting to the Canadian Community he serves as director of Mizrahi Canada. The main theme of Rosh Hashana is not repentance, but rather our relationship with God as King of the world. Whether you are a believer or not, the fact that one virus could throw entire societies into such disarray definitely should humble us. However, the other theme of Rosh Hashana liturgy that Elan discussed was how we should work to perfecting the world. That is a lesson that we can also learn from the Pandemic. I have seen in my own professional life how dedicated physicians have worked to the max. Moreover, on the science side, the focus of our research community on trying to combat this disease was remarkable. People began pulling together in ways that were not seen before and efforts were being focused to find multiple solutions to this problem. In fact, I have now joined one of the Canadian COVID 19 Task Forces, which clearly embodies what this is all about- bringing together people to work toward a common goal, to defeat what is ailing people and above all to improve the world. May 5781 be a year of health, happiness, an end to the COVID induced disruption, and maybe take away the positive lessons of the pandemic that teach us how to cooperate, how to cherish our loved ones, and how to work together for a better world.
We wish you a sweet and happy and HEALTHY New Year, Shana Tova U Metuka!
Shabbat Shalom
Barbara and Bruce
We send sincere condolences to our friend Rabbi Sorin Rosen on the passing of his father
Refuah Shelema to TGE!
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