Quarantined Shabbat survival kit
Quarantined Shabbat survival kit
Practicing social distancing in these times is not just a good idea; it is a matter of life and death. Despite its necessity, self-necessity is difficult—for everyone. This difficulty is multiplied tenfold for orthodox Jews who don’t use their phones, internet or watch TV on Shabbat. We are used to Shabbat centered around community, synagogues, playdates, shared meals, and so many other blessings Shabbat brings with it. Being so disconnected from the entire world for almost 26 hours can be difficult. It is for me. So, I went to see if I can take the research that was done, or other helpful anecdotes, and apply it to a Jewish ritual schedule. Here is what the research said applied to a Jewish setting.

Make a schedule- the most essential thing expert suggest for maintaining mental wellbeing during quarantine is keeping to a schedule. The same should apply for Shabbat and Yom Tov. It's easy to be tempted to let time just go by with no specifics, but this exacerbates our boredom and feeling of disconnection. Make a schedule. What time will you be praying? What time will you be reading the weekly Parsha? What time will you start preparing for the meal? What time will be book reading time? What time will you play a board game? What time will you be sleeping? When will you have se’uda Shlishit? When will you learn? When will you engage in a social game? Whatever it is that you are going to do, please stick to a schedule. 

Find purpose- few things match the human—and especially Jewish—consciousness like a sense of purpose. Remind yourself that you are in quarantine to save lives. Remind yourself that if we don’t follow medical professionals’ instructions, there are people out there who will die. Maybe your neighbor, perhaps a relative, perhaps someone down the block from you. Keep on reminding yourself you are literally saving lives by staying home, and that is far more important than going to Shul or your usual Shabbat class. Focusing on the holy aspect of the day—be it Shabbat or Yom Tov—can also help. Ask questions like “why is it that Hashem asked us to rest on this day?” or “what does this day symbolize?” can help make it more meaningful. 

Nostalgia-whether you are all alone, or with others, now is the time to reminisce. Remember what happened in August (not June) of 2017)? Remember the time you saw that crazy Purim costume? Remember that story about your great-great-grandfather crossing the border in the middle of the night? Remember how Aunt Shayna met uncle Dovid? Remember what that funny kid did in 5th grade? Now is the time to have those conversations. Memories are one of the only things that get better with time. They are precious. Take time to remember, together or alone. 

Rediscover Prayer-it was said that my great grandmother would say the entire book of Psalms every morning before she went out to milk the cow in the morning. In today’s busy world, somehow very few people have time for such things. Try it. Maybe you will decide to keep it for the rest of your life. Say a few more chapters of Tehillim, say Korbanot before prayers, do Breslov style free speaking with God. Whatever it is, find new forms of pray so you can connect. 

Catch up-you may be behind on Shnayim Mikra—reading the Parsha twice—there maybe that book you bought but never ended up reading, the salad you wanted to make but never did, or the song you wanted to sing and your Shabbat table but never came around to because it is at the very end of the Zemirot book. Now is the time to catch up. 

Clean up- if your home is all you’ve got, and it is, makes sure it is nice and clean. The benefit of meticulous cleanup is twofold: you get to be in a clean environment, and you also keep busy with something productive. Sometimes people hold off their cleaning until after Shabbat or Yom Tov because they don’t want to engage in the prohibition of Hachanah—using a holy day to prepare for an ordinary day. When you are cleaning in anticipation of using the house during that very same day, be it for another meal or just a nice afternoon around the table, this argument does not apply. So make sure you use some of your time for a meticulous cleanup of your house (of course only in permitted fashion).

Dayenu- so much of Judaism is centered around counting our blessings and showing gratitude. Sitting alone at home feeling bad for ourselves, or scared of an unknown future, can be treated with counting our blessings. Even in this situation, what are we thankful for? As a nation, as individuals, as a family, as a couple, as a child, whatever it is, use this time to count your blessings. It will make you a happier person. 

Take up learning- how many times did you promise yourself you would finish Tanach? How many times did you promise yourself you will finish a section of the Mishna—or perhaps the entire set of Mishna? How many times did you say you can’t learn with your child or your spouse but didn’t just because you were too busy? Now is the time to do that. I know, it may sound preachy or annoying to say: “just learn!”, but you will be surprised how much forcing yourself to accomplish with your time can do. Suddenly you are no longer frozen in time, you are the master of time and you are accomplishing. Think a year or two ahead so you can smile back at the book and say: “that is what I accomplished  in 2020 when life as we know it was canceled.”

Tasks and Space Divisions- while these may seem benign or even obsessive in other times, make assignments of tasks and spaces. You can also do this if you are all on your own. What time will you be in which room? What tasks will be attended to, and when? The more structure, the better. Don’t be afraid to get into details. Who will set the table? Who will clear? Who will remind everyone what time Mincha is? Who will let everyone know when the last time to say Shema is? Who will have the porch to themselves at what time? Who will be using what room to pray and learn? Where will you always pray? Where will you always eat? Where will you have Kiddush? Where will you have Havdalah? Keep to spaces and tasks that are part of a routine. Yes, even on Shabbat and Yom Tov.

Going now through my fourth Shabbat in isolation, I see the challenges of an entire Shabbat with no guests, no synagogue, no phone, no internet, no social gatherings. The last two hours of Shabbat are always most difficult. And yet, when I brought this issue up to the father of modern-day positive psychology, Professor Martin Seligman from the University of Pennsylvania—the greatest psychologist of our generation— he responded:

Isaac Newton was isolated at his family farm for two years as bubonic plague swept England - and during this time he discovered gravity and invented integral calculus.
“In 1665, Cambridge University closed as the bubonic plague swept England. Isaac Newton, a twenty-year-old undergraduate, was forced to retreat to the family farm at Woolsthorpe. Isolated there for next two years, on his own he revolutionized the scientific world. Newton said that this shutdown freed him from the pressures of the curriculum and caused the best intellectual years of his life.

Here is what he did:

Optics: He discovered the fundamental colors. It had been known since the time of Leonardo Da Vinci that sunlight passed through a prism produced the rainbow spectrum, bands of red, orange, yellow and so on. But were these the fundamental colors, as opposed to some artifact produced by prisms? To find out he passed the output of the first prism through a second prism and got the rainbow once again. These must be the very basic colors.

Gravity: Sitting at a table near an apple tree one evening, the moon rose and a single apple occluded the moon. Newton wondered if the force that drew the apple to the earth was the same thing that held the moon in orbit. Hence the laws of motion that tied everything in the universe together.

Calculus: He wrote three papers inventing the integral calculus (Gottfried Leibniz also invented it shortly thereafter, but independently). Thinking about the rate of change as an object accelerated falling to earth, it occurred to him that one could get an accurate total of the area under a curve by summing the rectangles, down to the infinitely small rectangles, that made up this area. He used this insight to explain why the orbits of planets are elliptical.

In 1667, he returned to Cambridge, the plague having abated. He presented all this work to his mentor, Sir Isaac Barrow, who was the first Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. Two years later, Isaac Barrow resigned his chair in favor of Isaac Newton.”

Does taking this perspective mean your long Shabbat or Yom Tov will now lend themselves to revolutionizing the world’s thinking? Now, at least the answer is perhaps. Good luck!