The Rav’s words this week were very moving to me: I urge one and all not to accept the present state as the “new normal”…

We are in the midst of a test from Hashem. How we will all react?

There are many halachas that are still applicable in todays’ “new normal”, such as to greet each person b’sever panim yafos. Do you smile and greet your fellow Jew? It is not so easy today. Someone at the merkaz said “hello” to me and I didn’t recognize him until he took off his mask. It was someone I stood next to for a decade in shul!

Another halacha, which is on a biblical level (read: d’oreisa), is to not embarrass a fellow Jew. For exa mple, when another man (from a “competing” kehilla) saw me smile at him near the shops, he responded with “Are you trying to kill me?”

Don’t get comfortable behind your mask! It is not normal, and it will come off one day (please, Hashem, may it be soon). Keep practicing your smile now so that the moment the mask comes off, you will instantly be smiling at the person next to you.

Wishing you all a Kesiva v’chasima tova!

Lev Seltzer
Chairman