Rabbi Howard Morrison

Wearing a mask, maintaining physical distancing, receiving two vaccinations, taking a covid-19 test - Where do all these precautions come from? Why are they binding? What about my personal freedom? You cannot force me!

I believe that the background for today's contemporary norms as well as the response to personal freedom when it comes to the safety of those around us emanates from one single law in today's Parsha. "When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet (fence) for your roof, so that you do not bring blood-guilt on your house if anyone should fall from it (Deut. 22:8)." In Talmudic law, one who refused to observe this commandment was subject to excommunication. The Torah takes as a basic necessity of life the idea that we all have a responsibility to each other, and that responsibility starts with the actions we take in terms of safety to those around us. 

As we continue to struggle with the Corona virus, we are responsible for one another's safety. Judaism does not define freedom as "Me, me, me," but rather as "We, we ,we." We pray largely in the plural because we are part of a larger group than one person. When God freed us from bondage in Egypt, we became free not merely "from bondage," but "free for a higher purpose" - to serve God and to be part of a spiritual community. I might not like wearing a mask; I might not want to get vaccinated; I might not wish to sit apart from friends in shul; I might not desire to take a covid-19 test. I do all these things,  however, because I care about those around me, not just myself.  

Upon my return from the United States this past week, I had to show that I was vaccinated when I got to the Canadian border. I had to show that I took a Covd-19 test and scored a negative result within 72 hours of my entry to Canada. As these laws are normative for entering our country, it only makes sense that they are now normative for entering our synagogue. If one earnestly believes that his or her individual freedoms are being compromised, there is a safe place for such a person in the context of others feeing safe as well - One can always participate individually in our services via our livestream, and I say this seriously. If one truly does not want to wear a mask, be vaccinated, or show a negative Covid test, that is fine, as long as others are not adversely affected. This in part explains why accessibility to livestream must continue to be made available.

Our Parsha today instructs us that freedom begins by being responsible not only for one's own personal safety but also for the safety of others, by building a parapet, or fence, around the roof of one's house. In the ancient world, a lot of individual, family, and community interaction took place on rooftops. The Mitzvah we read today about the safeguarding of a roof is directly parallel to safeguarding the inside of a synagogue. What an important lesson in advance of the High Holy Day season.

Rabbi Howard Morrison