Temple Solel Paradise Valley Arizona

Rabbi Linder 03272020 Parashat Vayikra Faith in Uncertain Times March 27, 2020 – Nisan 2, 5780 Temple Solel, Paradise Valley, AZ Rabbi John A. Linder As a religious leader, there have been many questions on my mind over the past couple of weeks, as COVID-19 takes center stage across the United States, the latest stop in its unyielding pandemic spread. Foremost, for me, is the question, “How can our respective faith traditions help us navigate this crisis.” In these times of magnified disorientation, fear, loss, uncertainty, and instability, what does Judaism offer, to a solid foundation upon which to stand? First of all, Judaism has never presented the world as a place of order and certainty. Quite to the contrary, our creation story dismissed from the start any illusion that life will be lived in the perfection of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, after a brief taste of the garden, leave that mythical place behind, and step into the real world of uncertainty and chaos. At the end of the day, the essenc