Freeing My Soul from "Lockdown" – Words of Faith in Challenging Times

They imposed a lockdown and another lockdown / and still nothing is right.

Then they added a fine and another fine.../ and the message of Hashem still hasn't sunk in.

More masks and more enforcement / and nothing really stops the plague.

Dear people of Israel, children of the King of Kings! / Tell me, are we truly on the right path?

After all, we see every day how the virus spreads at a marathon pace / "doesn't stop at red" - not even at Professor Roni's "traffic light"...

Young and old, it wreaks havoc on everyone / every day more patients are connected to ventilators.

And now they say the lockdown might continue for a year, until we see success / no work and no learning until we hear that "the curve has flattened".

Ladies and gentlemen, it's not the "curve" that needs to flatten / it's the crooked mind that closes its eyes to the reality of faith!

"If you walk with me casually, I will walk with you with fury!" says Hashem in the holy Torah / so if such suffering befalls the entire people, it's time to change our approach.

Yes, there are medical laws here, and everyone is searching for the cure / but something deep within the heart feels, that this isn't the entire pure truth.

There's something beyond, something hidden / the One above asks us: People of Israel, wake up immediately!

Everyone says we're a strong people, but not everything "the IDF will win"... / Enough with the politics and all the factions – arguing all day with one another...

It's not a matter of a party or a health minister / not a "Corona manager", or another role with no significance.

It's not a matter of strategy, or a propaganda tactic / every day a new "wise" person arises who thinks they will solve the trouble.

Dear friends, "And you shall be very careful of yourselves" is indeed an important mitzvah / but this isn't all Judaism has to offer – what about the mitzvah of "returning in repentance"?

How long will we bury our heads in the sand, covering even our eyes with a mask? / Israeli citizens are ready to try anything, even another two-year "lockdown".

But please, dear and sweet people, if you're already willing to suffer so much / there's one small thing you haven't tried yet... Yes, you haven't tried everything!

It's much easier, pleasant, and beautiful / and it doesn't require you to wear a mask on your nose and mouth.

So instead of going "headfirst into the wall", from underneath the mask let's lift our noses / the Creator of the world wants from us the opposite – "lower the nose", and humble ourselves before Him.

It's not so hard and not so annoying, and for sure, it doesn't ruin the economy / just once a week "let's welcome Shabbat", because she is the source of blessing - "Come bride, come bride".

"If Israel keeps two Shabbats, they are immediately redeemed!", as it says in a sealed and hidden Midrash / how much more suffering must our people endure, to shed the shell of pride and the hardened heart?...

So dear Jews, whether you wear a kippah on your head or in your heart – everyone from the seed of Israel / let's strengthen together and return in repentance, and hope for the mercy of Hashem.

Each according to his level and his merit, and even those who already keep Torah and mitzvot should search within their souls / what they need to improve, what quality to rectify, seek to cleave to Hashem and return to their roots.

Let the weak say "I am strong", and the distant try to come closer / with Hashem there is no "two meters" limit - cleaving to Hashem, it's the closeness of the heart.

Another mitzvah, another good deed, another kind gesture to others / only this can remove the virus from us entirely.

So "like the eyes of servants to their master's hand", so let us turn our eyes to Hashem / and remember "not in the horse's strength does He find pleasure", and also "Assyria will not save us"...

In the hands of "He who said and the world came into being" we place all our trust / we turn in prayer to the One above, until He has mercy and grace upon us

And may it be His will that with true repentance from the heart, from our innermost being / we shall merit very soon to: May this year bring us wonders!