“You Call This a Vacation!”

  This is the week Suzy and I would have been relaxing in a mountain lodge with two other couples. We were the last holdouts to cancel; we were hoping against hope that things would be “good enough” to take the chance. It wasn’t the location itself inasmuch as there have only been twenty-three cases in the entire county since the pandemic began. The Lodge people explained how they are super-careful in cleaning the rooms after guests leave, and how no member of the staff enters the room except in that gap. The bottom line was that we don’t know where the other vacationers had been. Since the Lodge doesn’t test guests the answer to that question is “Your guess/guest is as good as mine.” In this environment, we didn’t want to guess. So, we’re staying put. Hey, after all, haven’t we all been on “vacation” for at least six months?

  Surely, it’s been no vacation, not for us, nor for our children or grandchildren, friends, nor you, my congregants. Reading about the impact of the virus (beyond the medical), the rise of major anxieties has wreaked havoc on far too many people, especially children. We’ve been babysitting our 3 year-old grandson and his 8 month-old sister. They are really just fine, but their parents are having a tough time balancing their professional duties with their parental ones what with day care having come to a screeching halt. How much the more so our older grandchildren and their parents! 

  And with lockdowns, isolation, quarantines and the like, plus the Jackson Pollock-look of our national landscape, our, shall we say, kishkes, aren’t on vacation either. I don’t know about you, but my emotional equilibrium looks forward to a much-needed break from the upheaval we’re experiencing. Our American values are on the line and the uncertainty of where they’re headed is keeping me from a really good night’s sleep. And, double negatives notwithstanding, that ain’t no vacation, believe you me!

  Oh, lest I forget…the High Holydays have always made me a little Meshuggah (a “little”?), but my colleagues are in the same boat. Again, how much the more so this year! You’ve heard me and your lay leadership inform you about the new look of the New Year, at the least worship experience. While friends in waaayyyy larger congregations are still potchkeeing around with technological options, we’re pretty much on target. And we’re all – Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist – attempting to offer our congregants worship services that are in line with the allowances of our denominations. Quite a number are pre-recording all services; even some more traditional ones aren’t being as picky as whether it’s kosher to turn on the service via a Livestream or Zoom recording. I guess it’s the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” philosophy.

  So maybe going to a mountain retreat wouldn’t have been as restful anyway. I only hope each of you begins each day with a prayer of hope, with a smile, and with a hug…real or virtual.