health

How can ordinary people get reliable information about the pandemic in order to assess their risk and make informed decisions? We sat down (remotely) with Baruch Fischhoff, a noted expert in risk assessment.

When I turned 30 a few months ago, I had no idea that COVID-19 and cancer would disrupt my life so violently, but I have discovered an opportunity to reorient my life toward the intangible sparks that make life worth living: love, kindness, amazement, and gratitude.

We see everything around us through a coronavirus-colored lens these days, searching the past for clues about what is to come. This month, I'm using the rhyme about April showers and May flowers as an occasion for hope, seeing every holiday in May as part of this unfolding pandemic.

In this time of COVID-19, my mother will likely spend her upcoming 100th birthday sheltering at home with her caregiver.  I asked her how this tsura (tragedy) is different from the time of Hitler.

I pray that this pandemic may be lifted speedily from this planet – and when it is, may we be able to look back without shame at the way we behaved and how we treated one another.

In recent weeks, we have found ourselves on a journey for which we have felt totally unprepared. Like our ancestors, we lack maps and familiar signposts (though we do have Zoom!) to help us get oriented in our new reality.

I run the Squirrel Hill Health Center, a nonprofit federally funded community health center in Pittsburgh. Many people have asked me what it feels like in the trenches. The answer? We feel very much alone.

"Let me one day soon wake up to praise Your name first and not to think about tragedy and fear. Let all humanity arise from slumber and fight injustice wherever it may occur."

Though handwashing in the medical realm is relatively modern, handwashing in the religious world is decidedly ancient.

I wonder: Do souls see and remember? Are they aware of what goes on among the living? Do they have feelings? Are they close with God? Do they only see and connect with people they love? Does this connection last for eternity?