Most of my “Mendel’s Messages” posts are original ideas but now and then there’s something out there really special and want to share that which others said or wrote. This is a piece I heard from my mother who follows Israeli journalist Sivan Rahav Meir, who shared this short Corona-virus inspiration from Chani Lifshitz, the Chabad Shlucha in Katmandu, Nepal (translated by Yehoshua Siskin): 

“Suddenly (due to the spread of the Corona-virus) we need to think very well: Which route did we take? Which people were in our area? How long were we in the presence of those people? Do we recall other people who passed by, their exact proximity and what exactly happened between us? Did we shake their hand, embrace one another?

“How many of us stop and think about such things when we are not talking about the coronavirus?  Day quickly follows day and suddenly we need to stop – to understand how critical it is to remember every detail concerning those we met along the way. This can have a major impact on our lives. Suddenly it becomes clear how much long term influence there is in every encounter with another person.

“We should never think for a moment that the contact we make with another is arbitrary. It becomes clear that contact with another can stay within our body and soul for many days, can change our life from one extreme to the other, for good or for bad. And one can infect another who infects another. So it is in this world. We are dependent upon each other.The influence of every action is felt from one end of the earth to the other. And there are those who need to be quarantined.They are given time to look inside, to reflect in isolation, kept far away from everyone. I am sure that when they are released from quarantine, they appreciate anew the energy generated in every contact between two people. Shabbat shalom.″