By Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — William James (1842-1910) America’s greatest psychologist of his time, quoted from a friend of his, “There is very little difference between one man and another, but the little there is, is very important.” What applies to the individual certainly applies to the world of faith.
One Muslim leader named Omar Ricci announced, “Thank God for the coronavirus. Thank God for this reminder that we are not in control and must always be dependent on God. Thank God for this reminder that we should be grateful for all things–for groceries, toilet paper, good health. Thank God for reminding us life is fragile, and “we had best appreciate the miracle and blessing that God has given us in creating us as souls.”
I spoke about Imam Ricci’s remark at the seder when we got to the Dayenu song. This song stresses the importance of always being thankful for the things God does for us.
Most of us can probably relate to that statement—especially regarding when we consider the miracle of toilet paper. It would be hard to imagine what life would be like without it! Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed probably would have traded gold for this useful invention. Yet, being thankful for the small things, like Ricci said, has a ring of truth. And yet, in keeping with James’ earlier remark, the religious views of people of the same basic faith can also present a world of difference.
In the Middle East, other Muslim leaders see the coronavirus as one of Allah’s soldiers, used to bring retribution upon the Chinese for their cruel treatment and persecution of the Chinese Uighur Muslims living in Western China. Other Muslim leaders delight in seeing that Iran, the epicenter of Shia Islam, has suffered more than any other Muslim county. Some Muslim clerics instill fear in their followers and compel stricter religious observance.
Christian responses vary as much as those of the Muslims. One intriguing Christian response read, “Some Christians may be tempted to look back on their history of remaining physically present during times of distress. Starting around 250 A.D., a plague that at its height was said to kill 5,000 people a day ravaged the Roman empire. The Christians stood out in their service to the infirm. Because they believed that God was sovereign over death, they were willing to minister to the sick even at the cost of their lives. This witness won many to the Christian cause. Should we follow their example and gather to celebrate in word and ritual, in the sermon as well as the bread and the wine?” I would add that the minister’s words may not necessarily apply to those of us practicing safe-distancing. Some of us went to drop Passover bags to our congregants, but we had to ring the bell and just leave the Passover survival kit remain on the porch. This is example when loving one’s neighbor as oneself requires that we keep physical distances from our neighbors.
And while some responses come across as sane and rational, the same cannot be said about all of them. There is the case of the Rev. Kenneth Copeland from Texas, who urged his viewers to touch his hand on the screen and be healed from whatever ails them—provided they make a generous donation to his ministry (Didn’t somebody try doing this in the film Poltergeist?). A leading Buddhist roshi announced he had the cure for the coronavirus: Just take one dose of lime, and three palm seeds—no more, no less; these ingredients would confer immunity. In Iran, a country that is well-known for its religious eccentricities, some people who toured one of the pilgrim’s sites could be seen licking the shrine of one of their saints.
Some Hindu religious leaders claim, “the coronavirus is an ”avatar’ to punish non- vegetarians.” And the cure for the virus: stop practicing violence against any innocent creature. One wonders: would the belief in ahisma (the principle of non-violence toward all living things) apply even to a coronavirus? Mahatma Gandhi viewed ahimsa as a behavior that promotes non-injury, nonviolence, non-harm, the renunciation of the will to kill and the intention to hurt any living thing, the abstention from hostile thought, word or deed, and compassion for all living creatures. However, even Gandhi approved, “the killing of rats and insects that could carry infection in an area affected by the bubonic plague.”[1]
Rabbis are no less colorful in their responses. Chabad rabbis encourage their followers to have their phylacteries and mezuzahs checked on the grounds that a defective mezuzah can seriously lead to the possibility of death. Maimonides condemned reducing the mezuzah to a mere amulet. Other rabbis blamed the LGBTQ community, saying Gay Pride marches were against nature and had caused the coronavirus pandemic.
It is odd to imagine the Haredim aligning themselves with Christian fundamentalists, but Pastor Steven Andrew of the USA Christian Church designated the month of March as “Repent of LGBT Sin Month,” and said that “Obeying God protects the USA from diseases, such as the coronavirus.” Haredi rabbis believe the Torah study in the yeshiva wards off the effect of the coronavirus. But in Israel, the Haredi community is suffering the most because of their rabbis’ inability to recognize that Torah study does not avert a plague.
Although the examples offer a similar approach to the purpose of the coronavirus, this writer, agreeing with Maimonides, would argue that God did not create a perfect world, but He did create a world that requires human stewardship in order for it to become perfect. Pandemics, tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural catastrophes will always occur because God expects us to take responsibility and improve upon His Creation.
If anything, the coronavirus reminds us that we must work together as an international community to combat a common foe and enemy that does not distinguish between one nation and another, or one species and another. The coronavirus has shown us something we have long forgotten, namely, each of our lives is profoundly intertwined with others. Even the mere act of touching another human being—even an inanimate surface—can affect the world in a potentially destructive way. One would think that if this can apply in the negative sense, how much more can this apply in positive sense. The Internet has shown that though spatiality keeps us apart, in spiritual terms, the Internet of consciousness and love shall keep our spirits healthy as we work on finding practical cures.
NOTES
[1] Ravindra Varma, Spiritual Perceptions of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi: Rupa Publications, 2006), p. 122.
*
Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista, California He may be contacted via michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com