“That’s what I’m saying, Sam. They should be in jail!”
“Yeah, Ben. Sometimes I think maybe I should go to law school just so I can sue them.”
“Shoilam alichem!”
Sam and Ben looked up from their intense conversation as Farmer Richard Bazoigenstein approached the table for Rabbi Stefnotsky’s amud yomi shiur which was starting in two minutes.
“Hi Richard,” said Sam. “Tell us, being a farmer, were you affected by COVID-19 as much as we businessmen were?”
“Oh, of course I was! I had trouble buying seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides because there were less trucks on the road and factories were shut down. A lot of the hotels I sold to were shut down so I was making less money. It was quite a rough time for me.”
“Well you know who was responsible for all of that, right?” asked Ben.
“Oh, you bet I do,” Farmer Richard said as he opened his Gemara.
“Yeah, so you know how we feel,” said Sam. “We wish we could do something about it - make those people pay.”
“Those people? Pay?” Farmer Richard looked confused.
“You know,” Ben said. “Those people who made the whole pandemic - the ones who shut down the economy and caused us to lose money.”
Farmer Richard reached deep into the pocket of his overalls, pulled out an old blue surgical mask, and looked at it.
“You still walk around with a mask?” Sam asked incredulously, moving back slightly.
“Oh of course I do!” Farmer Richard said proudly, still looking at the mask. “It helps remind me of Who is responsible for COVID-19!”
“Wait, do you know or not know who is responsible?” Ben asked, now feeling confused himself.
Farmer Richard looked at Ben and Sam in shock. “Of course I know!” he said indignantly.
“Who’s responsible?” asked Sam challengingly.
“Why Hashem, of course!” Farmer Richard said with a smile.
Rabbi Stefnotsky sat down at the head of the table. “Richard,” he said. “It sounds like you learned the lesson of this week’s parsha.”
“Oh, Rabbi,” laughed Farmer Richard. “That was back before I learned Parsha. But you know what happened during the lockdown? I was sitting there in my living room all alone wearing my mask and I started thinking - what is going on in this world? The shul was closed down so I had to daven in my kitchen and use my stove as a shtender. I couldn’t go to any shiurs. And then I realized...”
“What did you realize?” asked Ben and Sam together.
“I realized why Hashem made the COVID-19 virus. He did it to stop the world! He brought life to a grinding halt - stores and business closed, kids were home from school, and I had to try and come up with my own tune for Lecha Dodi when I davened alone on Shabbos night!
“And why did he stop the world? Because he wanted us to stop and think and remember that it’s Him doing everything. Not some silly lab in China or whatever - that’s not important. What’s important is that we know and remember that it is Hashem who is always controlling everything.”
“Excellent, Richard!” Rabbi Stefnotsky said. “And that is the lesson Hashem was teaching us in Mitzrayim in this week’s parsha. A river full of blood, frogs everywhere, lice, wild animals, and more! Hashem disrupted daily life in Mitzrayim to teach us that life doesn’t just ‘go on’ - it’s He who is running every part of every day.”
“And that’s why I always carry this,” Farmer Richard said, still holding his surgical mask. “Any time I reach into my pocket, say to pull out my wallet or a tissue, I feel this mask and I remember that it was Hashem who was running the world during COVID and it is Hashem who is running the world now.”
“Yeah, but what about the people who are responsible?” asked Sam.
“What people?” said Farmer Richard, waving the mask in Sam’s face. “It wasn’t people, it was Hashem! He wants us to talk about how it was Him making us go into lockdown! It was Hashem! It’s not the scientists, the doctors, or the politicians. It’s only Hashem.”
Sam and Ben looked at Rabbi Stefnotsky skeptically.
“He’s right, you know,” said Rabbi Stefnotsky as he opened his Gemara to start the shiur. “We can all learn a lesson from Farmer Bazoigenstein and never forget that everything that happens in this world is from Hashem and no-one else.”
Have a Wonderful Shabbos
Let’s Review:
- What did Farmer Richard realize when life suddenly slowed down and everything shut down?
- How does that relate to the Yidden in Mitzrayim?
