1.
It all started three, maybe four months ago, in the city of Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province. At the bustling local market, an elderly Chinese man buys his lunch. Between the mushrooms and other vegetables, some unfamiliar, others unidentifiable, between the animals, some dead, most alive, our anonymous Chinese protagonist, of all things, picks the least appetizing item: A creature that many in the West don't know, a pangolin, which is officially prohibited from being sold at the local market. Therefore, it's possible that he chose to eat a bat instead.
One way or another, he will have returned home hungry and satisfied. He would have prepared his pangolin (or bat), savored the meal, and died a short while later. Although we, the citizens of the world, weren't invited to that meal, we are paying the bill without knowing how expensive it will get. The health cost, together with the economic, social and even diplomatic costs, will be exceedingly high. Think of a number. Now add a few zeroes. Suddenly people understand that we are already living – even before this global crisis has ended – in the world of tomorrow. And here we thought we'd seen it all.
It took the Chinese time to grasp the magnitude of the disaster. There was a young local doctor who treated countless infected people. He realized something was happening; that it was apparently a virus the world hadn't seen yet. His death, from the virus, caused an outpouring of grief across the country, and even the authorities were forced to apologize for ignoring his pleading warnings – in vain – that matters were spiraling out of control. But by the time the Chinese snapped to attention, our virus had already decided to embark on a journey around the globe. The number of infected people has now reached one million and counting. The virus has already visited 200 countries and territories!
2.
An entire generation that only read about pandemics in books; about the Spanish flu in 1918, or Albert Camus' La Peste, or the Antonine Plague that afflicted Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd Century, didn't believe that in 2020 the world/nature/God (whichever you prefer) could still produce such horrors. Man, who in all his modesty believed he had transcended it all, is suddenly a vulnerable, frightened creature, searching for protection against COVID-19, the terrible disease caused by the coronavirus spreading at tremendous speed. Masks at the Passover Seder? We'd rather wear them on Purim. But that really isn't up to us anymore.
3.
We can only hope the virus disappears quickly, even if it doesn't happen tomorrow. We all know that the world of today, the one we live in, can be extremely harsh and demanding. Any decision made by a leader will be met with criticism. The decision to impose a lockdown – devastating to the economy. Allowing people to wander about – the same as killing them. Hence we are seeing countries such as the UK and Japan managing and changing their policies in accordance with the pandemic's progression. The coronavirus is an unprecedented human event in our time, a global force majeure, and therefore leaders are expected to make decisions without fearing criticism.
And apropos criticism, news broadcasts from across the world all look exactly the same. Experts come on camera and often contradict one another. What's good one day isn't necessarily good the next. And the internet, as per usual, is delivering its daily dose of fake news. From one moment to the next we hear a certain medicine is effective, that there's a vaccine, that China is to blame – or actually a different country altogether.
4.
The children have gone on vacation without extracurricular activities and without babysitters. There's no piano teacher and no soccer. All this abundance we had and didn't appreciate has also gone, leaving all of us stunned and appreciative.
But mainly we also understand the limits of so many things we thought were stable and certain. Suddenly Asian countries are astounding us with their levels of readiness and crisis management, while Europe is sinking to further depths along with the EU, which has given us everything, except for coherence and solidarity. All of a sudden, NATO looks utterly helpless and even unnecessary.
More than anything, however, we are witnessing entire industries – aviation, for example – collapse in an instant as an unknown virus takes mankind by surprise. On the other hand, we can be encouraged that the world, for one moment, is able to unite together above the fray.
The people of the world no longer care as much about many of the issues of yesterday. Today, only this virus matters. People want back the most important thing that has been taken from them: their freedom. Just to leave their homes. "Just" being able to do simple things is quite the rage these days. Maybe we needed this to happen to appreciate that as well.
5.
In a few days we will sit around the Seder table, which has already been re-dubbed the "segger" (shutdown) table. I'll see my mother and oldest daughter on the screen. I will hug my wife and three children closely, and tell them that once, a long time ago, we were slaves, and there was a pharaoh, and there were the 10 plagues of Egypt. And suddenly each of these plagues seems more real, because we're all living through the 11th right now.
But despite the millionth person to fall ill, or in his honor, we will conclude on an optimistic note: In China and South Korea, where the pandemic struck extremely hard, life is returning to normal and the curve has flattened out.
This proves we will survive the coronavirus. There will be dead, a price will have been exacted, but humanity will persevere. "The spiritual aspect of the coronavirus is the idea that man's control is also limited," Israeli-French philosopher Shmuel Trigano told Dr. Rona Tausinger in an interview appearing in Friday's Israel Hayom. Maybe the coronavirus is eradicating globalization, but perhaps it will restore something valuable we'd forgotten: humility.
We will all get through this. We will come out stronger, and hopefully more humble. Shabbat Shalom.
