I’m Jewish. Last Saturday I went to the Synagogue or the first time since the Corona crisis began. It wasn’t the usual routine. We prayed outdoors. Chairs were placed at a distance from one another. The number of congregants was officially limited to 50. We actually had fewer than that. Despite all the limitations, it was a really nice experience. This was especially true for me, because I am used to attending prayer services daily.
When we got to the section where the Torah is read there is a standard ritual. The first member to come to the reading is a Cohen. Cohen in Hebrew means priest. The Cohen is a descendant of Aaron from back in biblical times. The second person called is a descendant of the tribe of Levi. The Levites performed a lot of subsidiary tasks in the Temple back in biblical times. Then 5 more members of the congregation come up, individually, to be present for the reading of the remaining segments of the weekly portion. I’m a Levite. I was called up second. I made the traditional blessings and stood a little bit back while the reader read the segment using the traditional tones and inflections. When he finished the segment, I made a concluding blessing and later returned to my chair.
Everything went smoothly. It was only the next day that we discovered that the person who had been actually reading the Torah was positively infected. That meant that everyone who was in direct (or even indirect) contact with him had to be officially quarantined for a 2 week waiting period to see if they, too, were ill. So now I am “confined to quarters”. I was not in direct contact, but I was close enough to have been potentially exposed. This new status only means a return to what had been “normal” for the previous months. Any plans we had for going out to do our own shopping have been delayed for another 2 weeks (Well, actually, one week of that has already almost passed). We/re once again seeing our children and grandchildren by way of “ZOOM” on cellphone and computer screen. When this new period of isolation ends I shall have to make another blessing, for not having been infected.
Wetherhorn 