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COVID patience
A note to the minutes These minutes have yet to be approved. Four members of CTJC committee believe that a more accurate representation of the outcome of the meeting’s discussion concerning use of CTJC funds (point 4) is: After some discussion it was agreed that the trustees and the members were all asked to contribute ideas of how to use our accumulated funds appropriately. The trustees are to report back to the committee.
Rabbi Dr Reuven Leigh Patience: /ˈpeɪʃ(ə)ns/ the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious. Middle English: from Old French, from Latin patientia, from patient- ‘suffering’. For the first time in my lifetime, I am living through a time of shared experience. By that I mean an event of sorts which demonstrably affects nearly everyone in the world. I suspect the most recent comparable experience was the Second World War. There is a certain sense of solidarity and shared empathy in knowing how everyone is learning to adapt and manage through all of this. At the same time, each of our experiences of COVID is unique and distinct. Some have had to deal with the illness itself and even worse the passing of family or friends, others have had to shield and live in relative isolation for months, whilst some have had to work out how to cope with an unexpected house full of family with no sign of respite. Whilst it may seem callous to discuss positive sides to this whole saga when there is so much suffering and anxiety, the Baal Shem Tov taught that from every experience we must derive something positive which can enhance and advance our service of Hashem.
So much of the past few months has felt like a Sabbatical. Not in the academic sense which often involves an intensification of work albeit on one’s own terms, rather in the Biblical sense with a forced cessation of work and putting on hold the ordinary and everyday flow of life. PreCOVID it would have been unfathomable for nearly the entire economy to come to a standstill, and without opining on how sensible a decision that was, it has thrown open the question whether all of our working habits are as necessary as they may have seemed. For me, the beginning of the lockdown was far from sabbatical, what with Pesach looming near. Even though this would be our first time in 17 years in Cambridge when we wouldn’t be hosting a communal seder for fifty or more, we were at least able to deliver a Seder in a Box kit and supplies of Matzah to stranded and isolated Jews throughout Cambridgeshire. After Pesach, however, with hardly any students remaining in Cambridge and the closure of the Shul and Gan Yeladim nursery, our usual and predictable way of life was put on hold. One of the side benefits for me has been a reappraisal of my approach to learning and davening. I started to think about the association of the comparable words “patient” and “patience”, as I had previously never really associated the words. A COVID patient being someone experiencing suffering and having COVID patience would be the capacity to tolerate suffering. The Hebrew סבלנות )savlanut) has a similar etymology, in the sense of carrying a heavy burden. I had always thought of patience in a more positive sense, as a virtuous quality of being measured and deliberate, whose Hebrew equivalent would probably be מתינות )metinut). This notion of patience is something I have tried to apply to my daily routines. Pre-COVID when life was more hectic and rushed, my learning and davening was similarly hectic and rushed. The removal of so many external demands has allowed me to become more patient. Instead of an approach that favoured getting things done and finished as quickly and efficiently as possible, I am now able to pause and reflect and be more present in these moments of learning and davening. This calmer and more focused approach has significantly enhanced the quality of