Question of the Week:
Do you think this coronavirus crisis strengthens faith in G-d or weakens it? Like is it proving there is a G-d or the exact opposite?
Answer:
There are only two possible ways of looking at what's happening now.
Either there is a G-d and this crisis is a part of His big plan. Or there isn't and it isn't.
If it is, then you have to be impressed. Within the space of a few weeks, the world has changed forever. Every single person on the planet has had to pause, stop the way they've been living their life until now, re-evaluate their priorities and what's really important, spend more time caring for their loved ones and less time in empty pursuits.
We've come to realise that money and fame and possessions and arrogance are all worth zero. The only currencies that have any true value are our relationships and our faith. We have learnt that everything we do, even staying home, has a purpose and a meaning, and every individual impacts everyone else. The world is more united than it has ever been.
You have to admit, it's a pretty impressive move on the part of G-d to achieve all this with a tiny virus. What's even more impressive is that the world has been transformed without any miracles. We have come to these realisations on our own, without being forced, with our free choice in tact. That is an amazing act of G-d.
Or maybe not. The other option is that there is no G-d, this is just one of those things that happen every now and then. No meaning, no message, no moral lessons to be learnt. Just random stuff.
I'd say the first explanation is way more compelling. G-d, you got our attention. We are all listening now. And we won't go back to life as it was before. No way. It's going to be much better, because we are better.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss