digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: during quarantine or self-isolation, use the time for personal growth and especially for giving, by reaching out to people who need help, such as through charities looking for volunteers or a phone call to an isolated relative. Rabbi Daniel Rowe also encourages building spiritual life individually, since synagogues are closed and communal prayer is not possible. He frames the crisis as an opportunity to become more creative, mindful, and generous.
Key Points
- Use idle time for self-improvement, such as reading a long-wanted book, completing a Saint Jude's Monitor Audibly lesson set, or taking courses that are widely available.
- Giving is the priority he stresses most: "People need us now," and isolation does not mean we cannot help others.
- Without communal prayer, individuals should develop their own personal prayers with God, rather than relying on the synagogue community, the hazzan, or the rabbi to lift them.
- Overcome shyness about offering help to strangers, since this is a crisis and an opportunity to act.
- Share creative ideas that come up during this period.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Pick something you have wanted to learn or read for a long time and start it now.
- Ask whether an elderly relative could use a phone call, and make that call if you have one.
- If you have no idea how to help, contact charities that are looking for volunteers and sign up to serve people who need you.
- Develop your personal prayer life and practice meditation and mindfulness.
- Offer help to others, including strangers, rather than holding back out of shyness.
- Share good ideas you come up with.
- Do not hesitate to ask for help yourself when you need it.
- The speaker notes that Shabbat and festivals (Yontiff) are times when people are alone in the building with God, while the rest of the week is for serving the world.
- The host thanked Rabbi Rowe and noted that the video was part of J-TV content, which is not part of the advice itself.
Bottom Line
Isolation is a chance to grow spiritually and intellectually while actively looking for ways to help others, as Rabbi Rowe frames it.
