Scene Around

This comes directly from the "Jerusalem Post" newspaper recently ...

Its title is "The Jewish imperative of the coronavirus crisis."

"The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented global crisis. Hundreds of thousands have died, millions have been sickened, and billions have been confined to their homes. Healthcare and economic systems have been stretched and strained, and many nations are facing a test the likes of which they have not encountered since 1945.

For many months now, the pandemic has disrupted our civilization. Life seems to have stopped in its tracks. The whole of humanity has found itself contending with a common threat to life as we know it.

Even as next year brings hopeful signs, humankind is facing a gargantuan challenge. As governments around the world set about easing restrictions and life begins to gradually, carefully and haltingly return, it is evident that the coronavirus has changed every one of us, creating a new historic reality.

The Jewish people have once again found themselves at the forefront of the struggle against worldwide calamity. New York City has been an outsized victim of the pandemic, and some of its Jewish communities have been especially hard hit.

London, too, has suffered badly, and in some of its Jewish communities the number of cases has been especially high. The same is true in other major European cities, chief among them Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Moscow. From Borough Park to Golders Green, from Williamsburg to Stamford Hill, Jewish communities are experiencing loss, panic, hardship and pain.

However, these same communities are demonstrating exceptional fortitude and cohesion. Their difficult hour is also their finest. At a time when darkness seems to be descending upon the world, they are lighting the candles of dedication, determination and love.

Now we must raise our eyes and look toward tomorrow. As the pandemic peaks and begins to abate with the resulting devastation plain for all to see, we must understand its implications for the near and far future of the Jewish people.

In the coming months, the Jewish world will have to confront the same challenge facing all nations: how to safeguard our lives and wellbeing as we renew business and economic activity. In order to find the right balance of life in the shadow of coronavirus, we must demonstrate prudence, ingenuity, self-discipline and creativity. At the same time, we will have to find new ways to conduct our communal life and educate our children. The social-distancing we have all been compelled to undertake should become a tool of community-building and social-bonding. We must ensure that Jewish life isn't enfeebled, but empowered.

The second challenge is solidarity. Like every family, the extended family of the Jewish people is tested in a time of crisis. On one hand enormous external pressure exacerbates internal tensions, often sharpening divisions that may descend into brotherly strife. On the other hand, today more than ever, it is clear just how dependent we are on one another. It is doubly clear that we must overcome that which divides us, rediscover what unites us, and above all, support one another. The virus does not differentiate between ultra-Orthodox and Reform Jews. The economic implosion hurts liberals and conservatives alike. And the imperative to nurture a strong, unified Jewish community grows exponentially in the face of dangers surrounding us. Now is the hour for unity and harmony, for a renaissance of Jewish solidarity.

The third challenge is anti-Semitism. In the last few years, we have witnessed a new outbreak of one of the oldest and most odious plagues the world has ever known: hatred of the Jews. Now the situation is deteriorating even further. Today there are those who blame the Jews for the spread of coronavirus, and there will be those who will blame the Jews for the coming severe economic dislocation. As in the past, a fatal biological epidemic is spawning a vicious torrent of anti-Semitism, endangering the lives of Jews. On this front, there is absolutely no room for compromise. We must stand as one against those who would destroy us."

(There is more to this article but it repeats the message of staying strong and defending each other. We must protect every Jew and Jewish community.)

On a lighter note ...

Zionist Organization of America President MORTON KLEIN had a long meeting with rapper/actor ICE CUBE, who had this to say: "I strongly support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State."

(Gee, why can't everybody feel that way?)

Wait! There is another famous person that does ...

I didn't know this but it's so. The fabulous and gone but never forgotten, Louis Armstrong, was not a Jew, but because of closeness with a Jewish family he loved, he wore a Star of David his entire life.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando ...

This is worth a repeat from last week: If you've decided to learn more about Judaism and want to get more involved in our Jewish community, you may want to join the Melton Adult Jewish Learning Program.

For more information, contact JULIA BERGER at jberger@jfgo.org.

The Roth Family Jewish Community Center ...

And if you want to stay in shape (like me. OH SHUT UP!) Let's repeat this as well...

Want to get in shape? Want to get healthy? This is the place for you.

There is a fitness center open Monday-Thursday, 6 a.m., 7 a.m., noon and 10 p.m.

Friday-6 a.m., 7 am. noon and 6 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m., 5 p.m.

All safety precautions are in place.

Advance reservations to http://www.orlandojcc.org/workout.

For more information, phone 407-645-5933. Also inquire about water aerobics on Wednesday, at 1 p.m. and Israeli dance.

One for the road...

Here are some rules to live by:

1. For the ladies. Here is the truth in just 13 words ... Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened.

2. If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

3. If you have chin hairs, refuse to think of them as such, think of them as stray eyebrows.

4. A man's got to do what a man's got to do. A woman must do what he can't.