Middle of the Road: R’ Yehuda Oppenheimer

As Rosh HaShanah of this very strange year approaches, it is time for introspection, and thinking of perhaps making some changes. This unprecedented year, as has been endlessly commented upon, has been mostly a disaster. We stand before U’N’saneh Tokef once again and – as never before in my lifetime – wonder who will live, who will die; will it be in a calamity, or a plague, or by trouble breathing? Who will be at peace and who will be subject to riots? How can we – how should we – pray differently? Is that what is needed so that this coming year will be better?

The odds are very high that there will not be any sermons delivered in shuls this coming Shabbos. However, if sermons were to be delivered, the odds are even higher that they would center around the quarantine that is imposed on a m’tzora, the central topic of this week’s double sidrah.

Tish’ah B’Av is now behind us. Once again, we have introspected as to why we have not yet merited the Final Redemption, particularly so in this unique and strange year. We certainly have – once again – determined to do something about the primary cause of the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash per Yoma 9, i.e., sin’as chinam (SC), usually translated as “baseless hatred.” And yet, looking around me at the state of world affairs, I must conclude that the problem of SC is, in fact, worse than ever.

The Rebbe began by citing the verse in Yeshayahu (26:20-21):

Go, my people; enter your chambers and lock your doors behind you. Hide but a short while, until the anger passes. For Hashem shall come forth from His place to punish the dwellers of the earth for their sins, and the earth shall disclose its bloodshed and shall no longer conceal its slain.

This Lag BaOmer eve, I reflect on how different this night is from all other Lag BaOmer nights, as so many things are different these days. You see, while Lag BaOmer is special all over the world, here in the Galilee, less than ten miles from Meron, things usually go to a different level. For at least a week before, and a few days after, there are enormous traffic jams as hundreds of thousands come to be near the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The truth is, even in standard years, cars cannot get anywhere near there. Down the road from where I live, in Karmiel, a huge parking lot is created on an empty field, and buses run from there to Meron every five minutes, 24 hours a day, for about three days.

There sure has been a V’nahafoch Hu since Purim: The world in which we are living seems to be totally changed and turned over – but it is hard to see how it is for the better. Coronavirus has had a devastating worldwide impact, and according to many scientists and epidemiologists, we ain’t seen nothing yet. Some have dire predictions of millions dying, industries collapsing, and health care systems being overwhelmed with no end in sight – and there are reminders of the devastation that the Spanish flu caused just about a century ago. Just about everyone knows someone (or knows someone who knows someone – chavra d’chavra) who has tested positive for the virus, which so far has no vaccine, although the mortality rate is “only” about three-to-four percent. It is hard to remember that we are still in the month of Adar.