One of the unique and difficult challenges of Covid-19 is that many who have it are asymptomatic and to some degree they can shed the virus without knowing they have it. Not to diminish this fact in any way, and the seriousness with which we have to deal with this current situation – there’s a powerful, empowering message to learn from the positive flip side of this.
Think of the ways we all can be asymptomatic carriers of good things! We may not even realize the beneficial effect we have on others, we may be shedding good vibes, values and behaviors to others without any intent to do so, sometimes without even knowing that we have these good vibes and traits ourselves!
We see this so often in building Jewish campus community. It’s amazing how much people do to build up, expand, further our campus community, just by being who they are, role-modeling, being a positive example. They may not even realize it but they are impacting others.
We gave two examples of this in the tent, on the second night of Rosh Hashanah:
1) Thanks for introducing me to Tefillin. Click to see this story.
2) The Red-Haired Kippah Guy. This isn’t a story as much as a description. There was a student years ago with bright orange/red hair. He was an eager student, diligent, studious, so he’d often sit up in the front rows, happy to engage with the teacher and the lesson. Now he wore a dark brown kippah on his bright orange/red hair, so it was very visible. And in Lecture Center, there’d be rows and rows of seats behind him who all noticed his kippah, something he never realized that everyone in the class saw. But he was a great students, earned his peers respect and that translated into great vibes about the Jewish kid – the red-haired kippah guy.
And we have many, many such stories.
(Obviously, a heavier viral load will positively “infect” much more but that’s a different inspiration for another time).