[thereisone] The Virus--Why?

From: Gutman Locks <locks.gutman@xxxxxxxxx>
To: thereisone@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2020 06:11:48 +0300

[image: image.png]

The Virus--Why?

     I was asked if I think that Hashem is bringing this virus to us for a
specific reason.

     We all know that everything that comes, comes for a reason. All the
more so is this true if it is deadly and massive.

     This virus is wide-spread, pretty much all over the world, so the
reason it comes here may not be the same reason it comes there. But what I
am going to suggest certainly appears to be at least one of the main
reasons it has come to us.

     Whenever we try to understand why something comes, we have to look at
its symptoms to try to figure out its reason. *Mida keneged mida* (portion
across from portion--i.e. cause and effect) surely has to be recognizable
or we would not be able to learn from the symptoms what we are to change in
our lives.

     What is certainly the most obvious sign that the virus is here? Seeing
everyone walking around with face masks covering our mouths and noses.

     Last week’s Torah portion told us what happened to the righteous
Miriam when she needlessly spoke negatively about Moshe. Oy! Her body was
covered with leprosy-like symptoms and she was thrown out of the camp for a
week! This week’s Torah portion tells us what happened when the righteous
leaders were sent to spy out the Land came back and needlessly spoke
negative things about the Land to the Jewish people. They were killed in a
plague! Oy!

     From these cases of even righteous people speaking *lashon hara*
(derogatory speech) being so severely punished we see how bad a sin it is.

     And now back to us. Why is it that the most obvious sign that the
virus is here are the face masks covering over our mouths making it hard
for us to talk and breathe? When the breathing gets difficult, as it often
does, we usually lower them to cover only our mouths.

     Seems to me that we should make an all-out effort not to speak (or
*write*!) needless negative things about each other. Speak nice! Remember,
the problem with *lashan harah* is not that it is not true. It is true. The
problem with *lashan harah* is that it is derogatory, and that there is no
need to say it.

     Say only good things about each other. Even if it doesn’t cure the
virus right away, it will certainly make things nicer for all of us while
we have to wait.

     ----

To reply; email me directly at:  locks.gutman@xxxxxxxxx

- There Is One - Spiritual Thoughts from the Old City, Jerusalem, mailing
list, copyright by Gutman Locks.  Sharing and reprinting for non-commercial
use allowed with attribution and link to http://thereisone.com.
- SUBSCRIBE by visiting //www.freelists.org/list/thereisone and
choosing action Subscribe.
- UNSUBSCRIBE by sending email to thereisone-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the Subject field OR by visiting
//www.freelists.org/list/thereisone and choosing action Unsubscribe.
- Emails will arrive from thereisone-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, please make sure
to add this to your NOT SPAM lists, so the emails don't end up caught by
your spam filter.

[thereisone] The Virus--Why?

Other related posts: