Sunday, April 26, 2020

Lunch arrives during afternoon prayers. The bosses have ordered it from the best shawarma joint in town, two doors down from the friendly one that I go to. We come in from the hallway. I pause to gather up the prayer books and yarmulkes and put them away. The food is in the conference room. Usually we sit around the table, each of us with a falafel or shawarma, serving ourselves relishes, vegetables, sauces, and fries from containers arrayed down the center. Today, too many of us are at the office to sit in there with proper distancing. Instead, we stand at the doorway. Two workers inside put together plates that they hand out to us. We sit at our desks to eat. I check the news for any new loosening or tightening of rules. I see that hair salons are open. I resolve to stop by mine after work to see if I can get an appointment. I send a photo to my family of the prayer books and yarmulkes sitting next to a box of masks, hand sanitizer, and a thermometer. I write a liturgical phrase in Hebrew as a caption: “Healing for the spirit, healing for the body.” A message comes back: “Exactly.” I nod and get back to my work.