“In Proverbs, there's a wonderful message ‘Nishmat Adam Ner Adonai’ that the soul of the individual is the candle or the light of God.”
-Rabbi Michael Torop, Temple Beth-El, St. Petersburg
As we bid farewell to the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, we spoke with Rabbi Michael Torop from Temple Beth-El in St. Petersburg about what the Festival of Lights can teach us about Life in The Time of Coronavirus.
If our souls are like the candle or light of God, then giving of ourselves is like sharing our light.
“It's something that gives of itself completely and is not diminished in the giving. In fact, it doubles itself or triples itself and so on,” said Rabbi Torop. “And if that's a metaphor for us, then it teaches us something very deep.”
The lesson – giving your light to others only makes the light grow stronger.
It’s a force of hope.
“And I think we do that individually, and I think we can learn to do that communally and societally as well,” said Rabbi Torop.
Since March Virginia has taken us all over the Tampa Bay area to see how folks are dealing with Life in The Time of Coronavirus.