I am glad that after almost one year since Corona entered our everyday vocabulary, there are more and more books dedicated to this topic. Personally, I was looking for some Jewish perspective on life under Covid19, with a specific focus on Israel, but besides articles and comments regarding some very disturbing patterns within the very religious communities, there is not too much to read about. (Although this very topic in itself is worth at least a book or two, I was actually more curious about a ´normal´ religious view, which takes the pandemic seriously).
Until I´ve found Letters from Planet Corona by Chaya Passow. Ironically, the pandemic that altered fundamentally the human interactions and everyday life from all over the world, started around the Jewish holiday of Purim, when wearing masks is part of the custom, aimed to remember that Gd himself was hidden during the trial of Jews faced with the murderous plans of Haman. In the times of Corona, masks are aimed to save us from the deadly droplets spreading the virus. It is a whole everyday life regulated by the Jewish cycle of holidays and weeks - from a Shabbat to another - which is rewritten. There are new habits created, new restrictions and new little things that really matter.
Chaya Passow is observing in each of the 70 letters included in the volume the new realities on ´Planet Corona´ with a Jewish touch which make a difference and brings an unique perspective to the overall pandemics discussion. As we are far from seeing an end in sight - especially when the vaccination process is not as fast as the one in Israel - such a book helps to find comfort and peace in a world that changed dramatically in the last 12 months. The 70 letters are written from the heart, with kindness and gratitude, and such take may matter more than anything else in this new world.
No comments:
Post a Comment