2/2/22
“I wake up every day, right here, right in Punxsutawney, and it’s always February 2nd, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
—Bill Murray as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day
Anyone else feel like they’re in Punxsutawney? Thanks, Omicron. You’ve made our lives scary, uncertain, confusing, and frustrating . . . ALL OVER AGAIN.
If you know the movie Groundhog Day, you know the feeling. In this 1993 comedy, Bill Murray plays a grumpy and arrogant TV weatherman visiting the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to report on the annual Groundhog Day festivities. Somehow he gets trapped in a time loop where EVERY day is Groundhog Day. (Which, being on February 2nd, should be right around when this article lands in your mailbox.) So each morning he is awoken by the clock radio playing Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” and the same day unfolds. Same activities, same encounters, same results. Much like many of our days in 2020 and the early part of 2021.
Mid-way through last year, though, the availability of vaccines gave us hope and allowed us to work, learn, play, and congregate together again. The CRS opened in person and everyone welcomed being together for religious school. We could see the end of COVID on the horizon.
Until this latest variant emerged and our rates of infection suddenly soared higher than ever before. Like the main character in the movie, many of us reacted with disbelief, anger, and depression. We just did this. It wasn’t fun. Do we have to do it again? And, is it ever going to end?
At the Community Religious School, we had to make some very quick and critical decisions in early January for how to proceed in the face of a variant that was causing more and more serious infections in children — our population.
Many other congregations throughout the US had already postponed the January reopening of their religious schools. Doing the same, especially as it would be followed by the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, gave us another few weeks for things to hopefully settle down.
If the situation improved enough, on Sunday, January 23rd, our students will have enjoyed an exciting morning of Tu B’shevat activities at the JCC Benderson Building and Camp Centerland. If not, CRS will have been remote that morning for the first time.
We will continue with online religious school for as long as appropriate and, as we go forward with the hope of meeting again in person, we will also be revisiting our policies regarding student vaccination.
Many thinkers and theologians have analyzed the themes presented in Groundhog Day and note how the main character alters his behavior and his perceptions so that by the end he is a mensch (someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character) living a joyful life. He performs what we call mitzvot, and appreciates his blessings. Perhaps we should all follow his example.
L’shalom,
Beth Steinberg
Co-Director Community Religious School beth@tbz.org
716-835-6565 ext. 131
Einav Symons
Co-Director Community Religious School einav.symons@shirshalombuffalo.org 716-633-8877
NOTE: Harold Ramis z’’l co-wrote and directed Groundhog Day. Read about his thoughts on the movie at https://www.latimes. com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-harold- ramis-dies-groundhog-day-meaning-torah-20140224-story. html and watch “Harold Ramis on the Metaphor of Ground Hog Day” on YouTube. He speaks directly about Torah at about 2:39.
Last Updated on 01/27/2022 by Marc Slonim