TELL May-June 2020

{FROM TINY GNAT TO COVID 19 TO
THE FESTIVAL OF RESILIENCE}
By Rabbi Dr Orna Triguboff
“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cessation of most normal
activity, and constant changes in our lives, it feels like we can plan about as far
as lunchtime. This is a reminder of the limits of our power as human beings
and the fragility of life on the planet we share.” Rabbi Josh Feigelson.
Almost 2000 years ago, the
Roman military commander
– soon to become Emperor –
Titus, destroyed the Temple and
laid Jerusalem in ruin. Titus
returned to Rome triumphant,
having succeeded in finally
squelching the tenacious
Judean rebellion against the
mighty Roman Empire.
The Talmud tells the following
story, which has some
relevance to our situation
on planet earth today.
Four years after the destruction
of the Temple, Titus was out
at sea, when a typhoon hit,
his boat almost capsizing.
"This is the work of the God of
the Judeans!" Titus shouted, as
he hung on for dear life with
salt-water spraying and giant
waves almost sweeping him
overboard. "This is revenge
for destroying Jerusalem! "
At that moment, God declared:
"What a shmuck! I happen
to have at my disposal, a
gnat. A tiny creature, barely
visible to the human eye,
yet extremely powerful."
No sooner had Titus made it
safely to shore, when the gnat
entered one of his nostrils,
making its way into his brain.
This gnat pecked at his brain
for the next seven years, causing
14
Titus much annoyance and
suffering. No matter how
hard they searched, no cure
was found for this malady.
In the years to come, Titus
became Emperor yet his suffering
from the gnat continued. During
the fifth year of the gnat, while
Titus was on parade through the
streets of Rome, Titus and his
entourage passed by a blacksmith
who was hammering on metal.
To his surprise, the sound of
the hammering caused the gnat
to finally cease its pecking, and
his pain subsided instantly.
Titus promptly ordered a daily
regimen of blacksmiths to be
present in the palace at all times
Nicholas Poussin - Conquest of Jerusalem by Titus
hammering away on any sort
of metal to allay his pain.
Over time, however, the
gnat grew accustomed to the
hammering and developed an
immunity to it, and it wasted
little time in resuming its painful
pecking which it continued
to perform faithfully until the
day Titus died, barely eleven
years after the fall of Jerusalem
(Talmud Bav'li, Gittin 56a).
Rabbi Gershon Winkler of
California notes that, like the
gnat which humbled Titus
and pecked painfully away at
his sense of supremacy, the
COVID-19 virus reminds us
today, that as immutable as