A day during the pandemic is a different kind of day. You don’t know what day of the week it is because every day is Blurday.
How do we cope?
Let’s be very basic. How can I distinguish between the other days of the week? There is an old Yiddish song about differentiating days of the week:
“Every Monday my mother does the wash.
I help my mother with the wash.
This is how I help my mother with the wash
Tuesday – goes shopping.
Wednesday – cleans the house
Thursday – cooks
Friday – bakes
Shabbos – go to shul
Sunday – grandfather comes; we go for a walk
While this is just a song, the idea is that doing different chores every day helps us to know what day it is. Otherwise, all the days are a blur.
So creating a week of days with different chores is an easy place to start.
Judaism believes in structuring time, making some times different from other days. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught us that the Sabbath is a palace in time. Shabbat created the original structure of a week. G-d rests on the seventh day not because He needs to rest but so that we will rest. Time on Shabbat is different from time on the other days of the week.
That helps to structure a week. But how do we structure a day?
Again, by creating different tasks and activities. Here are some thoughts:
We should walk and exercise every single day. A recent study showed that 11 minutes a day of activity could lengthen your life. Try to get outside every possible day. If it rains, wear a hat or carry an umbrella. If you can’t go out, exercise with YouTube.
Read a book or listen to a book on tape every day. I’ve been listening to American Dirt for our Book Club an hour a day. I read it in two weeks.
Listen to music every day. Pandora or Spotify can provide music you know and music you don’t know.
Run an errand every day. Or have designated “errand days” in the week.
Join us for Shabbat services and make Shabbat, Shabbat.
Join us for a Zoom minyan once a week.
If you can’t get out in the world, let the world come to you. Find out about things you’ve always wanted to learn.
Down time should not be a down time. There is a world of learning that is at your fingertips.
We’re going to get through this. We must be pro-active.
Rabbi Scolnic