Ripple in Still Water

          I am always amazed at how three days can be so exhausting: the first two days of Pesach and then Shabbat, three days of praying, eating and taking walks.  Now we have a couple of days until the last days of the Pesach which are also a Yom Tov. No, there are no more seders to prepare for, rather just Pesach food. One of the additions we make to the liturgy is the same addition we make when it is Rosh Chodesh and when we say Birkat HaMazon. We add the prayer Ya'Aleh v' Yavo . Throughout the prayer, the word V'Zichron appears throughout. Other forms of ZaChaR also appear including Zichroneinu and Zacharnu. Throughout the prayer, ask God to remember us. A few nights ago, when we sat at the Seder table, the Hagaddah reminded us to see ourselves as if we were slaves and we were the ones leaving Egypt. Well, in the narrative of Yetziat Mitzrayim,  we are told that God heard the cries of Bnei Yisroel and remembered his covenant with the patriarchs....

          Well, today we all prepare for our second Shabbat living a life of Shelter in Place.  It is also the first day of the Month of Nisan. In terms of time, the week is drawing to a conclusion and culminating in Shabbat.  Among the rituals that occur at our Shabbat Dinner table includes blessing the children. With our eldest in Boston, my Bracha for her usually occurs by sending a WhatsApp message right before Shabbat, blessing her and reminding her how proud I am of her. For the children who are home with us,  I offer them a blessing, kiss them and then they walk over to Mom who kisses them as well. At the conclusion of the ritual, we ask our children to reflect upon the week that passed and share an example of something good that they experienced or something they are proud of.  We instituted this little ritual as a way of getting our children to reflect on the past and to "count their blessing".  However today is also Rosh Chodes...

              We are only on day 8 of this new reality. Thankfully we are all healthy, yet as we live with social distancing; it seems like this has been going on for weeks. While we were watching the news, my wife innocently asked how long do I think this will continue. I think that this will continue through the summer and into the fall.  I'm the one in the family that "prepares for the worst and hopes for the best".  Our kids asked me if they thought they would be back in school. I told them that colleges and universities have started to cancel their graduation ceremonies. No, they aren't returning to school. I suggested that they prepare for the possibility of no summer camp.  Needless I didn't win any popularity contests. I can't watch the news without wincing at the numbers when we watch the news, It is hard not to wince when we hear about the impending shortages of masks, gowns, and ventilators. With my sister and her family in Ne...

          In our home,  I usually am the one who wakes up first.  Typically, I try to be incredibly quiet so as not to wake my wife.  For approximately 30-45 minutes, the house is normally, quiet. I can turn on the news show that I enjoy. For a few minutes, no one needs me to do "this, that or the other thing." So this morning, I quietly get out of bed, I descend the stairs and there is a light on in our family room already. There's my wife, on the sofa, with her computer, trying to master various computer programs that are designed to facilitate her conducting and "on line" kindergarten class.  She couldn't sleep. She had been up for hours. "I guess I am a bit anxious" she smiled through her worried eyes. I know that the anxiety will lead to her being tired later today. I thought about all those upon who we rely, who we cannot afford to become tired. I thought about health care workers, lab clinicians, farmworkers, those who are going manufa...