Is the new normal in a post COVID-19 world something to fear or something to embrace?

I am writing this column while participating at my religious movement’s annual Rabbi convention from the cloudy overcast skies and intermittent rain falling down on the beautiful La Jolla area of San Diego. Maybe the contrast of clouds and the burgeoning sunshine reveal a similar kind of dichotomy from what we are all dealing with in the new normal in a post pandemic world.

Sure, rabbis like all clergy have conventions, too, and we study sacred texts, worship together and socialize with each other just like all professionals at their national conventions. We attend workshops and listen to speakers as well as reconnect in person with old friends and make new ones. For this is the first convention we have had in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly this year’s convention was different because there has been a pervasive feeling here of returning to normal and for that reason alone this convention was successful.

Is the new normal in a post COVID-19 world something to fear or embrace? Many of the workshops and seminars I attended certainly focused on themes that identified the inner feeling of ambiguity and even fear in us about emerging out of a dark cave where we have lived for the last two years. We are entering the sunshine (not here) and reassessing our spiritual and physical sense of place in the world. Does that sound familiar as we, too, appear to be slowly-but-surely coming out of our self-imposed isolation from COVID-19?

The question for all of us is whether this time of declining covid infection rates and the dropping of mask mandates will lead us to a better world? What will we learn from our experiences about the new normal in how our society functions? Will we try to slide back into how we once lived, or will the death of a million Americans and the long-term medical effects of covid change our mindsets about life in general?

We are already seeing the changes unfold in the world of religion with service attendance now using hybrid means of reaching out to congregants by providing in-house worship services and high-tech live stream equipment to bring what is happening from the pulpit closer to us watching from the houses where we live.

The economy and the work world is changing in ways that many of us could have never imagined during out working years. Faith communities like businesses are going to have think differently about how to be financially secure and how to reach out to grow their communities and particularly draw in young families. Are we living in a world where faith and fear are inhabiting the same space together? If that is so then can we as a society begin to reestablish trust in the pews and build community again not just inside our houses of worship but in the larger community where we live in together? Can we move from fear to renewal for the future? Will faith communities meet the challenges facing them in their own viability as well as serve humanity in its time of need?

This last question leads us to the case of Ukraine. Of course there were a few workshops and discussion groups on Ukraine. There was one workshop titled, “Identity and Renewal in the Context of Exile and Return: The Case of Ukraine.” In addition, I had the chance to meet a new friend and colleague during this convention. His name is Daniel and he is a rabbi who serves a congregation in Germany.

Almost all of Daniel’s current congregation are former Soviet emigres from decades ago. Now they are in the forefront of working to support and settle the influx of Ukrainians coming into their community. He tells me that he is praying for peace in the most intense way because they in Germany fear what can happen in Putin’s Russia and how war could at any minute engulf them, too. It’s not a theory but a distinct reality that they live with daily. So exile for millions of Ukrainians provides a great test for faith communities there and in the United States as well.

As much as it appears that COVID-19 is receding in our nation, do we still keep up our guard? Should we still wear masks and continue to encourage our fellow citizens to get their vaccinations? Can we open our eyes and see a world we can embrace with a positive and optimistic countenance? Can our sense of religious identity restore faith to those who might be willing to take a second look at joining our faith communities? Might we grow stronger in the new normal that is opening up to us?

And finally, can we take a step back with faith in God and in humanity after the long winter of the pandemic and figure out how we can repair the breeches in our public discourse so that we can move forward and heal the nation’s wounds for the sake of our children and grandchildren?

I cannot think of a better mission for America’s faith communities at this hour.

This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 4:50 AM.