THE COMPASSION CHRONICLES As Sabbath approaches this week, I reflect back upon this unusual year and consider what we have learned on the pandemic’s first anniversary. For me, the overriding lesson is that compassion and reaching out to others is what will ultimately save us and bring us through this time. Whether these gestures are grand ones or smaller in scale, the message we send to others is the same: I care about you, I am here for you, together we will get through this difficult time, and you are not alone. During times of trial, this is the most important thing anyone needs to hear and feel. In fact, it is a lifeline — and without it, an individual can feel unmoored, like a boat floating on a stormy sea.
I thought about the motivation for
— and at the very end, God lovingly
The other day, I received a call from a
the homeowners to place it in their
buries Moses personally, showing
friend, and to be honest, I was feeling
yard. To me, it felt like a love letter to
us the importance of honoring the
a bit blue that day. When she said to
their neighbors and the community.
dead and escorting them to their
Our Jewish tradition is rich with
final resting place as one of our
me, “So, how are you?” I answered her, as many of us do, rather automatically, “Oh, you know, fine, working hard, getting through.” But then she said: “No, really — how are you? I really want to know.” And that allowed for a very different conversation. It sounds so simple, but it was far more than that. Compassion and empathy are not simple, but they are easy, if we are mindful about it. When I found the sign photographed above,
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examples of compassion and lovingkindness set out for us from which to learn and to follow. In fact, the Torah begins and ends with striking examples of acts of lovingkindness exhibited by none other than the Divine acting as our role model. At the beginning, God clothes the naked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, teaching us that we must strive to clothe the naked
highest mitzvot. In between these two examples, many other biblical characters provide other instances of compassion to learn from. Abraham opens his tent to strangers, and he is visited when he is ill, recovering from circumcision. Rebekah is chosen as a wife for Isaac, since not only does she offer Eliezer water to drink, but also offers drink for his camels. In fact, much is said about compassion
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