While the internet and messaging apps are positively drowning in COVID-related posts, the vast majority are focused on political analyses, medical/scientific data and, dare I say, hype.
As a God-centered person, I feel moved to counter the overwhelming emphasis on non-Godly factors and focus on a few of the more spiritual approaches to understanding the phenomenon we call COVID. I’m not claiming any special insight into the deeper meaning of the challenging times through which we are living, but I have been gathering ideas, both my own and others, and feel duty-bound to share them, in the hopes of elevating our collective conversation.
Ein Od Milvado
As this crisis continues, it becomes easier to see that many of the institutions and individuals who hold positions of authority are corrupt at their core. This includes governments, media, health care, law enforcement and education. With daily abuses of power, we see, perhaps for the first time, how each of these institutions is behaving in shockingly unscrupulous ways. (This is absolutely not meant as a condemnation of the majority of individuals who serve in these institutions and industries.)
This new clarity is as it should be. In the era preceding Moshiach (the messianic redeemer) and the final redemption, we are meant to lose faith in everything that is not God. We are supposed to be growing in our emuna and in our awareness of Ein Od Milvado – there is nothing except Hashem alone. Nothing can be relied upon except Hashem.
The more clearly we see the existing corruption and crooked malfeasance with which our world has been run, the more easily we can turn to Hashem and conclude Ein Od Milvado.
We Are Transforming
A caterpillar turns to goop soup before it transforms into a butterfly. A structure has to be demolished before new construction can take place. Soil must be turned over before the field can be replanted. Life-giving surgery starts with an incision. A person in therapy has to let go of old ideas in order to grow.
Every transformation starts with the destruction of what came before.
We are never going back to pre-COVID normal. We are on a path to something completely different. For those who are geula-oriented (thinking about redemption), it seems obvious that this transformation, painful as it is, is part of chevlei Moshiach (the birth pangs of the messianic era).
Just as the routine pains of a woman in labor are generally productive, leading to the birth of a new child, so this transformation is taking us somewhere, and that somewhere is a destination we all want to experience.
Spiritual speaker Shoshanna Harrari teaches that, in Jerusalem, Hulda’s Gate leads to the Temple Mount. However, after entering through the gate, before you get to the Temple Mount, you must traverse a dark tunnel. That’s the stage we’re in. We’re in the dark tunnel and, because it’s so dark, we don’t realize that the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) is waiting for us at the other end.
As Harrari says, “This world has to crack open like a walnut to reveal the new world within.”
The Role of Emuna
Over and over throughout Tanach, God tells us al tira – do not fear. Be not afraid. God is in control. Living through the near-constant barrage of fear porn, we may find ourselves twisted up in knots, saying and doing things that are out of character for us.
Emuna in Hashem, and in His frequent reminders to not be afraid, is a soothing antidote.
A War Between Good and Evil
All though history, there have been those who have wanted to destroy much of the world so they could rule over those who remained. Nimrod. Pharoah. Nebuchadnezzar. Haman. Hitler.
Before the arrival of Moshiach, Hashem has brought them back onto the world stage, in the form of gilgulim (reincarnations), in order to set them up for their ultimate ruination. We are living through their final hurrah, just before they are sent to their eternal punishment.
The Darker It Is Now, The Greater The Light Will Appear
If Moshiach arrived in a generation when things were going well, when most people were emotionally, spiritually and physically healthy, living in peace without economic challenges, it would be nice, but it wouldn’t be terribly dramatic.
Like a spot of color pops against black background, geula will be that much more epic when it comes from a dark place. So this darkness though which we are living is the opening scene in the grand play called geula.
It gets better.
It has to!
Conclusion… For Now
I’ve been thinking about these ideas for some time and, even though they aren’t all fully formed, I hope you find some of these perspectives useful to inject some God-consciousness into your COVID-era thoughts.
Rivkah Lambert Adler, Ph.D. is an Israel-based writer, book reviewer and adult educator, specializing in Jewish and Israeli content. She is the editor of Lighting Up The Nations: Jewish Responsibility Towards the Nations Today and in the Messianic Era and Ten From The Nations: Torah Awakening Among Non-Jews
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