Page 61 - HaMizrachi YmYm 2020 FLIPv3

Sherrie Miller-Heineman

Home Sweet Home

CORONA LESSONS AT THE TIME OF MATAN TORAH

othing that happens in this and mundane and fleeting worldly proper balance between work and
world is random. The sudden pleasures. This is an opportunity to Torah learning, but today many
Nonset of the deadly Corona- regenerate and reactivate our com- women feel they aren’t valued if they
virus reached the shores of Israel on mitment and fervor to elevate our don’t have a high profile career out-
Purim, the holiday that commem- physical world and make it a place side the home. Clearly, there are cir-
orates the miraculous rescue of the worthy of housing G-d’s presence and cumstances that compel both hus-
Jewish people from total annihila- glory. band and wife to earn a living, but
tion. At the time, Haman proclaimed the focus should be: are we earning a
the Jews were ד ָ רֹפ ְ מּו רָּז ֻ פ ְ מ ד ָ ח ֶ א ם ַ ע, a We have put people on the moon, living to serve G-d or to serve inflated
people scattered abroad and dispersed genetically reengineered DNA, cre- wants and desires? Women should
among the nations. ated technologies that transcend time never forget they are the תִי ַּ ב ַ ה ת ֶ ר ֶ ק ֲ ע,
and space, and have assumed that not the pivotal person in the home. It is
A few short weeks later, on Pesach, we only is the sky no longer the limit but in their power to foster the Torah way
commemorate our physical redemp- that mankind can achieve anything it of life by transforming the mundane
tion by G-d’s Mighty Hand, freeing puts its mind to. We have all but for- into the holy, thereby creating a תי ֵּ ב
us from hundreds of years of Egyptian gotten the existence of the Creator of ט ַ ע ְ מ ׁש ָ ּ ד ְ ק ִ מ, a place of spiritual impor-
slavery, and we begin a seven-week the World! Man has come to feel, י ִ ח ּ ֹכ tance within the walls of the home.
period of spiritual preparation to הֶּז ַ ה לִי ַ ח ַ ה ת ֶ א י ִ ל הׂ ָ ש ָ ע י ִ דָי ם ֶ צֹע ְ ו “Through
receive His ultimate gift, the Torah. my power and endeavor all that I have In this period of Corona, when we are
was created.” The prescription of the home-bound against our will, there is
Observing the mitzvah of Sefira, Talmud to avoid this dismal scenario time to reflect on and internalize our
counting the Omer, we count 49 days, is י ַ א ְ ר ַ ע ך ְּ ת ְ כא ַ ל ְ מּו ע ַ ב ֶ ק ך ְ ת ָ רֹות הׂ ֵ ש ֲ ע – “Make core values. As we choose to re-ac-
ָ
ָ
each day specifying how many days Torah study your primary occupation cept the Torah on this extraordinary
and weeks have elapsed. But do we and earning a living, secondary.” Shavuot, we should be mindful of the
consider the content of the days that powerful message embedded in the
have passed? What have we done with The primary obligation of Jewish first word of the Torah, תי ׁ ִ שא ֵ ר ְּ ב, (Bere-
ָ
the time? Have we made the time parents is ךיֶנ ָ בְ ל ם ָּ תְנַּנ ׁ ִ ש ְ ו, teach your ishit) which contains the words ׁשאֹר
count? Have we stopped and asked children, ensuring the preservation תִי ַּ ב (Rosh Bayit), meaning the home
ourselves what is the purpose of this and continuity of Jewish education comes first. Bringing our soul’s deep-
isolation (bidud in Hebrew)? What throughout the generations. Over est priorities into practice is how we
seems to be the purpose of this global time, the necessity to earn a living should fill our days and weeks. Per-
lockdown caused by a tiny virus invis- turned into a quest for wealth, self-es- haps this is the lesson of Corona as we
ible to the naked eye? teem, recognition and power. An celebrate Shavuot and Matan Torah.
occupation intended to be merely a
It is no coincidence that the gematria means to an end, a way to finance
of bidud (דּודי ִּ ב) is 26, the numeri- life’s necessities in order to live a
cal equivalent of the Name of the Torah-centered life, became an end
Almighty, Y-K-V-K. It would seem unto itself with career becoming the
that to reestablish our eternal bond top priority and defining attribute. Sherrie Miller-Heineman, MA, is a
with G-d, we needed a total and com- Marriage and Family Counselor, Kallah
plete disconnect from our “normal For centuries, women have encour- teacher and Shadchanit with 30 years
routines” with all the distractions aged their husbands to maintain a experience.

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