As we continue to progress through stage after stage of reopening many have raised the question; will we ever return to life as it was, or will we have to adjust to a “new normal”? How long will this process take, and where will we land we get there? Are masks and social distancing here to stay? Will we ever feel comfortable shaking hands with a stranger? While the world contemplates and debates if we will have to accept a “new normal”, we as Jews should contemplate “new normal” in a quite different way. This week’s parsha provides us with an example to approach this topic.
In this week’s parsha we are taught about Pesach Sheni, the second Pesach Offering. The Pesach offering may not be offered by someone who is tameh, ritually impure. In this week’s parsha the Torah teaches us of an episode that occurred on the first Pesach after leaving Egypt. Two men who were tameh, ritually impure, approached Moshe and Aharon and complained, why should they lose their opportunity to perform the Pesach offering? Moshe instructs them to stand by and he will hear what Hashem commands.
Hashem then teaches Moshe the commandment of Pesach Sheni, that the Pesach offering has a make-up day. A Torah anomaly, there is no shofar make-up, nor lulav make-up, but there is a Pesach make-up! One month after the Pesach Festival, on the fourteenth day of the month of Iyar, a Pesach Sheni offering may be brought by anyone who missed it the first time around, for reasons beyond their control.
When reflecting on this section of the parsha a few questions come to mind: Firstly, would there have ever been such a thing as Pesach Sheni if not for these men? If no one would have complained, if no one would have felt that something was missing because they were not able to bring the Pesach offering would we have a Pesach Sheni today?
Astonishing to think of the profound and eternal effect of the sincere longing of a Jew to do a mitzvah! An entire section is added to Hashem’s holy and eternal Torah! Secondly, what was the quality of their Pesach Sheni offering? Was it filled with enthusiasm and intent, with unique joy; we are finally getting our chance! Or was it lacking the fanfare of the Festival of Pesach, a simple offering brought nonchalantly.
As our Shuls reopen these thoughts begin to hit home.
How do we approach this time, do we reluctantly return, whenever we feel that it is safe to do so, because we no longer have an excuse to daven at home at whatever time we please? Or are we longing to come back, as those men who approached Moshe were longing to bring a Pesach offering? Do we yearn for mitzvos as those men did, with the awesome power to add to our Torah.
As our Shuls reopen it is without the previous fanfare, of packed rooms, communal singing, and fiery drashas,sermons. Instead, we begin with social distancing, with masks muffling our prayers, with quickened davening. Will our tefillah follow suit, a recital of ritual words, lacking meaning and emotion. Or will our tefillah be filled with a unique enthusiasm and excitement, we’re back!
What will our Pesach Sheni look like? Empty and quiet, “yotze zayin”, or will it heartfelt, full of emotion, with renewed attention to every detail, concentration on every word? We should not be upset or disappointed with tefillos that are less than picture perfect, human beings are not perfect. But, to allow ourselves to slip right back into the ways of old, would truly be a tragedy.
It is important for us to realize that we are being presented with a unique opportunity, we are being given a second chance. Over many years of attending minyan we develop certain habits. We are influenced by a host of factors that shape our Shul experience. Previously, as we continued with our routine, we found it difficult to break some of those habits.
Now, all those habits have been broken for us, we have been forced out of our Shuls, and out of our routines for more than two months. We are being presented with the opportunity of a fresh start; we are being given a second chance. Now is the time to carefully collect our thoughts, to examine all those myriad influences that will dictate our Shul-experience if not addressed. We have the opportunity to shape our Shul-experience rather than allow it to take shape on its own.
We have suffered through so much, illness and loss of life, fear and uncertainty, upheaval and disruption. To arise from this experience with nothing to show for it, to resume the status-quo of our pre-corona lives would be the greatest tragedy of all. This is what we should think about when we hear the words “new normal”. Whether social distancing and masks are here to stay or not is not of such terrible consequence, life will go on. What can we gain from this pandemic, how can we grow from this once-in-a-lifetime experience, how should we craft our “new normal”? These are far more important questions. May Hashem continue to remove this virus from among us, and may He help us to collect all the lessons we have learned and translate them into positive change, may He guide us to a greater future. As we return to normalcy, may we rise to higher levels than our former pre-corona normal. May we fill our lives with greater meaning through Torah and mitzvos, and reach what will become our new normal.