Quandaries of Quarantine in Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Literature (4/4) with Rabbanit Leah Sarna

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "COVID"

Solitude comes in many forms in Jewish tradition: Miriam was sent out of the camp for her leprosy. The High Priest quarantines in advance of Yom Kippur. Rav Anan sat in a box to study with Elijah the prophet and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son learned deep Torah in their cave. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov wrote a How-To Guide for Hitbodedut, the practice of solitude, which he called “greater than everything.” So, what is it: punishment and torture or privilege and treasure, or, confusingly, all of the above? We will look at these sources together to help give articulation to the jumbled experience of our past year and enrich what might hopefully be our last months of isolation.

This audio was originally captured from Zoom on 04/29/2021 as part of Drisha's Spring Zman.