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Corona and our senses

Corona has a unique way that it manifested itself. There is no more taste, no more smell, our mouths and noses are covered and even our hands are told, don’t touch, and wash.

We have been deprived of 3 of our 5 senses. 

The only 2 senses left are Seeing and hearing. A throw back to a Har Sinai experience ??

If I understand properly from Chazal, The senses of seeing and hearing are Emunah senses. They are deep and demand that we stop acting, we stop talking, we are now in an observation mode. It is meditation time, just like watching the flames 🔥 of the menorah and hearing the Meguilat Esther. The 2 holidays given to us to confront exile and learn to fight it. 

And so in my opinion one of the real work is to learn to deeply understand and see the hand of HaShem, it is an internal process so that inner peace can be found in the middle of darkness. Inner peace means also caring with all those we love, it means expanding one’s heart to pray for humanity, feeling connected to humanity, being empathetic to its need Hearing and seeing the cry of those who suffer and seeing HaShem’s love in action behind the vail of nature and human’s hands.

We have been pushed to meditate for a whole year. Perfecting our senses of seeing and hearing, contemplating and observing in a spiritual and universal way. 

Maybe HaShem is waiting that we should see with our eyes and hear with our ears(  עֵינַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יִרְאוּ: אָזְנַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יִשְׁמָעוּ ) so that when we finally go out of this process, we will pay attention to the world and appreciate it like never before. We will hear people and look at them differently, with added sensitivity and greatness. Everyone is precious and everyone deserves to be loved. Everyone deserves to have an ear that listens to him/her and eyes that sees him/her.  A type of Ahava’s Chinam perhaps.

We are taught by Chazal that before Moshiach comes prophecy will start to be restored.

Chanukah and Purim corresponding to seeing and hearing also correspond to the qualities of Netzach and Hod which are responsible for the gift of prophecy. And so we are indeed trying to reconnect to our first intimate experience with HaShem, where we could see the sound. Meaning that we could truly feel and understand what we were observing and hearing, like a transparent relationship.

Imagine being able to really really grasp what people need and mean when they speak or move a certain way. We would be able to communicate with others with so much more clarity and love. And obviously teach us to do the same with HaShem and what He does in this world. May we all be able to reach this level and being able to say to HaShem and people: “I now understand what you said/ask. I now see what you really meant/want/need.”

This idea is also one of the reason we say “Shema Israel”. We are focusing on these two senses and try to merge them, reconnecting to the level of Har Sinai and asking the we should be able to hear and see that HaShem is one and how to use all our experiences and messages in our lives and see that they are here to teach me and direct me to bring more unity in the world and realize that we can live on a level where HaShem is communicating with us through everything we see and hear.

BY:  Rabbi Gutmacher

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