"Even in the most concealed of concealed places, certainly He of the blessed name is also found there. I stand with you, even through the hard times that befall you." - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
Early morning. A cool breeze drifts in through the half-open window. Billowy white clouds adorn the pale-blue sky, glowing with the light of the morning. Some tinged with white, others with gray. Black birds wing their way through the heaven-like scene in elegance and hope. The Spirit of Life soaring upwards before my eyes.
This morning, I have a choice. I can wait for the cool breeze to become colder, for rain to pour from the heavens and bring me cold frozen fingers and even colder feet. I can wait for the gray clouds to become a darker gray.
Or, I can wait for the skies to open and pour the blessings of rain, the blessings of water, of life. “Good for the garden”, my father used to say. And perhaps the white of the clouds may become brighter, and the gray be dispelled by golden sunshine.
I wait to see.
So it is, always. We choose our view of life. A dismal rainy day, or a day of blessing and the promise of Life.
My mother loved proverbs. She would say "You find what you are looking for". In Hebrew it is formulated as 'In the way that a person wants to go he will be led’ (Makkot 10b). Heaven helps us in the path that we have chosen. In the way we look at life. In the actions we choose in our daily life.
Has it been ten months now? The last I recall of my previous life was in February. Before the flood of confusion of Faith with Fear, Destiny with Distress, Hope with Hesitation. Before Life provided me with much time for contemplation and reflection. Time for prayer and introspection.
So now, on this morning, while the media portrays hope of health on the horizon, alongside another period of confinement, I wonder.
Are we certain that the answer to our prayers is not already here?
Perhaps our prayers have already been answered, but, rather than looking for signs of health, we have been looking for signs of illness? Why are we so desperately and unceasingly looking for illness, rather than desperately and unceasingly looking for signs, for glimmers, of good health?
What would the numbers be in this Promised Land, if, instead of performing widespread virus-testing, we were also performing widespread serological-testing, in an earnest and heartfelt desire to search for hope?
What if this search were to show that the majority of our population has, in fact, antibodies at the moment?
Would this knowledge influence decisions being made, or at least provide courage in a time of fear?
Before injecting with a vaccine to fight a virus, do we not want to know whether or not the body already has a longlasting God-provided antibody sagainst that very same virus?
Perhaps it is in the nature of Man to try to be in control of that which is beyond our control.
But, is there a reason to believe that the induced immune response is greater than the natural immune response, if that response exists?
As always, the hidden is so much greater than the revealed. The mystery much more than the certainty.
The unknown far outweighs the known.
As a society, we wish to have a life of strength, optimism, success, joy. At the moment, we wish foremost for a life of health, and not of illness. A day of serenity and not of fear. A time of hope and not of despair, of progress rather than of stagnation.
we be led on the path towards fulfilling our dreams.
I gaze at the morning sky, with its promise of the refreshing shower of Rain, of Water from which will sprout Life, and thoughts drift by, as the motion of the breeze, as the birds in flight.
As I look at the vastness of the sky, there is a large realm where the borders between earth and sky are vague. It is not possible to distinguish between what is the domain of earth, and what is the domain of heaven. Are not the two domains actually the same? What we think of as earthly matters is blessed with the presence of the Divine. And at the exact point of despair, there can be found the Hope.
Refaenu Hashem
"Heal us, O LORD, and we will be healed; help us and we will be saved; for You are our praise. Grant complete cure and healing to all our wounds, for You, Almighty King, are a faithful and merciful healer. Blessed are You LORD, who heals the sick of His people Israel."
Dr. Devorah Ungar is an American-born scientist and musician.who mved to Israel 30 years ago.