{"id":57374,"date":"2020-10-09T16:23:11","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T22:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=57374"},"modified":"2020-10-09T16:24:13","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T22:24:13","slug":"op-ed-on-simchat-torah-lessons-from-liudmila-a-pandemic-sage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/op-ed-on-simchat-torah-lessons-from-liudmila-a-pandemic-sage\/","title":{"rendered":"OP-ED: On Simchat Torah: Lessons from Liudmila, a pandemic sage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By RABBI ALEX BRAVER<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"dateline\">(<em>JNS.org<\/em>)<\/span> \u2013 As we are about to celebrate Simchat Torah\u2014a holiday defined by its communal gatherings, and the critical importance of physical proximity and traditions like dancing with the Torah\u2014I find myself thinking of the Talmudic story of Shimon bar Yochai and his son, two rabbis who hid in a cave for 12 years to escape Roman persecution.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14159\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/torah-for-papers.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14159\" class=\"wp-image-14159 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/torah-for-papers-300x179.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"179\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/torah-for-papers-300x179.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/torah-for-papers-1024x612.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/179;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14159\" class=\"wp-image-14159 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/torah-for-papers-300x179.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/torah-for-papers-300x179.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/torah-for-papers-1024x612.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-14159\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The text of today&#8217;s Torah scrolls differs from the versions of the biblical books that existed millennia ago.(Aleksandar Todorovic\/Shutterstock.com)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Surviving on a miraculous carob tree and spring of water, the men studied Torah all day, pausing only for prayer. When they finally emerged from their isolation, they saw farmers plowing their fields\u2014and were so enraged that everything they laid their eyes on was \u201cimmediately burned up,\u201d the Talmud says. The rabbis couldn\u2019t understand how their neighbors could engage in such seemingly trivial pursuits.&nbsp;Didn\u2019t they know there was Torah to study? God eventually intervenes to stop them and sends them back into the cave.<ins class=\"adsbygoogle JNS_InArticle_1\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8573325940152694\" data-ad-slot=\"JNS\/JNS_InArticle_1\" data-adsbygoogle-status=\"done\"><ins id=\"aswift_1_expand\"><ins id=\"aswift_1_anchor\"><\/ins><\/ins><\/ins><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve long been fascinated by this story, but this year, I find newfound relevance in this classic text.<\/p>\n<p>At its core, this is a tale of two men forced into isolation for 12 years. When COVID-19 began, I remember thinking that we\u2019d be at home for a few weeks and was stunned to read an article that suggested that might extend that as long as \u2026 two months. Now here we are, seven months into the pandemic with no end in sight.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, we don\u2019t live in a cave with only carobs to eat. Unlike Shimon bar Yochai and his son, we have Zoom, Netflix, Instacart and FaceTime. Theirs is a story in which two people suffer trauma and do what they need to do to survive\u2014but in the process, like milk left out too long, they curdle. They emerge into the world aflame with a burning anger.<\/p>\n<p>Theirs is a cautionary tale, not a \u201chow to\u201d guide. So how can we, in our own modern version of isolation, cultivate a different&nbsp;<em>kavanah<\/em>? How can we live with intentionality and avoid souring on the world?<\/p>\n<p>The answer, I think, comes from another Jew, Liudmila Starikovich. You probably aren\u2019t familiar with her, and that\u2019s OK. I wouldn\u2019t have heard of her either if I wasn\u2019t married to a video producer at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the global Jewish humanitarian organization that cares for more than 80,000 elderly Jews like Liudmila across the former Soviet Union.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;This Is My Tiny Life&quot;: Liudmila's Story\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N8DMCCNVFkI?feature=oembed&amp;showinfo=0&amp;rel=0&amp;modestbranding=1\" width=\"620\" height=\"349\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Liudmila lives in Belarus and hasn\u2019t left her home in a decade. Medical issues have left her blind, bedridden and entirely dependent on JDC\u2019s home-care workers; they are her miraculous carob tree and well of spring water. She calls them \u201cthe sunshine in my window\u201d and her \u201ceyes, legs and ears.\u201d Liudmila\u2019s parents taught her Jewish songs and traditions as a child, and now the Jewish community of Minsk is her lifeline.<\/p>\n<p>My husband filmed and interviewed Liudmila last year. He was welcomed into her cramped and cluttered home, and got to see what she calls her \u201ctiny life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the interview, she said: \u201cI want to wish you just one thing, that your visit wasn\u2019t in vain, that people in far-off America listened and saw us and our needs and responded. I don\u2019t need anything. I\u2019m used to this. But people that just ended up in a bad situation, with disabilities like this, help them. Because your help is sorely needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her request wasn\u2019t for herself. She\u2019d be fine. \u201cI am sometimes sad, but it happens rarely,\u201d she said. \u201cI just take a deep breath, and the problem disappears.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Liudmila has found the strength to live in deep isolation\u2014a separation from the outside world far more intense than most of us are experiencing right now\u2014and yet she is somehow able to radiate a kindness entirely absent in the responses of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son.<\/p>\n<p>I think her secret lies in how she keeps her heart open. She isn\u2019t naive about her life and its challenges, but she also recognizes that she\u2019s just one part of a big world that contains both the people who care for her and others who still need so much love and care.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s this simple yet profound knowledge that fuels Liudmila Starikovich and the many other secret sages scattered throughout the world: Let us be grateful for what we have, and let us remember our responsibility to help those in need.<\/p>\n<p>These two poles\u2014of gratitude and responsibility\u2014can keep us anchored in this difficult time. It is wisdom that even the great Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai lacked, and as we continue to navigate this pandemic, I hope you\u2019ll remember it \u2026 and Liudmila.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Rabbi Alex Braver is the associate rabbi at Congregation Tifereth Israel in Columbus, Ohio, where he lives with his son, Ezra, and husband, Alex Weisler.)<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"OP-ED%3A%20On%20Simchat%20Torah%3A%20Lessons%20from%20Liudmila%2C%20a%20pandemic%20sage\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,809],"tags":[8790,8795,8788,8831],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57374"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57375,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57374\/revisions\/57375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}