"If it's not impossible, there must be a way to do it." -- Sir Nicholas Winton
This past week we had a Yom HaShoah memorial ceremony on Zoom. As part of that, we watched a documentary about the extraordinary achievements of Sir Nicholas Winton, may his memory be a blessing. Sir Nicholas saved 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia and found them good homes in the UK, and in doing so saved their lives. The quote above is how he answered when he asked how he managed such an extraordinary achievement. "If it's not impossible, there much be a way to do it."
This week, were we in shule, we would read about our vision, the Torah's vision, for our future in the Haftorah. All humanity will come together as one. There will be no more war. There will be no more hunger. There will be no more suffering. And together we will acknowledge and worship the one G-d. This is a compelling vision. However, though life has unquestionably improved, the realisation of our spiritual ambition for humanity doesn't seem any closer. It still seems unattainable, especially in the age of coronavirus, when we can't even come together as a shule, much less come together as a race.
But really, it's not as far away as it seems. We have come together incredibly. Sure, we can't be physically near each other, but people are communicating in a way they never have before. Both locally and internationally, we speak to our friends more than we ever did. We check in with others more often. We help each other more. While we can't be physically together, spiritually, people have never been more united.
Once this disease is defeated, when we leave from our isolation, our challenge will be to carry that feeling forward. The unity that we have attained over the last few weeks has been very hard-earned. Let's not squander it. "If it's not impossible, there must be a way to do it." Let's do it.
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