In this time of mounting uncertainty, in which the coronavirus (COVID-19) is disrupting normal life and bringing it to a near standstill, Reconstructing Judaism is offering a “Virtual Shabbat Box” filled with essays, meditations and other resources that can be downloaded for Shabbat.
In it, clinical psychologist Ameet Ravital, who specializes in treating trauma, provides three suggestions about how to approach despair about the state of the world.
And a six-minute spoken-word meditation by Rabbi Alex Weissman, a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, advises that “arriving at the foot of the mountain, it is no longer time to ‘o, go, go,’ but rather to ‘sit, sit, sit’ and await revelation.”
For millennia, Shabbat has served as a vital source of resilience for Jewish individuals, whether or not communities meet in person, says the movement.