Dear Revealer readers,

To my surprise, the modern Orthodox synagogue down the street from my apartment recently announced that it would offer a daily morning minyan, a gathering of at least ten adult Jewish men for public prayer, for the first time since the pandemic hit New York City earlier this year. Alarmingly, reopened religious institutions are responsible for at least 650 new coronavirus infections, if not more. In an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus, the synagogue near my home is limiting the size of the daily minyan and giving priority to people who need to say Kaddish, the Jewish mourner’s prayer. According to Jewish law, the mourner’s prayer can only be said in the presence of ten or more Jewish adults. The ancient rabbis reasoned that a person in grief should never pray alone. The community must support the bereaved, and so the mourner’s prayer can only be uttered in the presence of a quorum. For months, those in mourning had to rely on Zoom to connect with others. But now, as the virus ravages other parts of the country the way it did in New York three months ago, religious institutions like this synagogue are reopening and offering modified approaches to prayer, ritual, and community. Time will tell if praying alongside others can be done safely.

Revealer Editor, Brett Krutzsch

Reopening. A term that instantly raises my anxiety. While I know others find the term exciting, I remain hesitant. We have seen what reopenings have done in Arizona, Florida, Texas and elsewhere where coronavirus cases have spiraled out of control. And although we know more about the transmission of Covid-19 than we did in those frightening early weeks of March and April, we still do not have an effective treatment, vaccine, or strategy to mitigate the disproportionate spread of the virus among people of color. Nor do we know the full extent of what the virus does to the body, why some suffer with symptoms for months, why others have permanent lung and brain damage, and why others have died from heart attacks and strokes. We do, however, know that far too many Americans refuse to wear masks, listen to medical experts, or demand our elected officials find ways to keep the economy running without sacrificing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. And so the virus continues to spread in bars, at family gatherings, and in religious communities. Perhaps I would feel differently about reopening if I believed we were united in our fight against the virus, if I had witnessed countless business executives offer up billions to support everyone in need, if I believed institutions cared about the racial dynamics of their essential workers, or if the President displayed any empathy about the catastrophic horrors this virus has inflicted under his watch. But that is not the situation in America. And none of those things have been qualifiers for reopening.

Our Summer issue grapples with the present conditions of the pandemic as we face demands for reopening, continued protests for racial justice, and ongoing issues of misogyny, racism, and heterosexism that existed before the pandemic and that will continue after states reopen. The issue begins with Eloise Blondiau’s “Protesting Racism as Religion” where she profiles six activists who describe how religion inspired their commitment to participate in protests for racial equality. Next, in “Worship During a Pandemic,” Katie Breslin describes how college chaplains and religious life staff at several universities have transformed their operations to meet students’ religious needs as the pandemic disrupts higher education.

The Summer issue also features powerful articles about the conditions of our world that have been with us long before the emergence of Covid-19. In “A Hindu Guide to Wealth,” Deonnie Moodie—one of our Sacred Writes/Revealer Writing Fellows—reports on a trend in India where self-styled gurus present Hinduism as compatible with capitalism and as the best path to individual riches. In “Hate Male” Audrey Truschke describes the daily hate she receives as a woman scholar of Indian history and the risks women and people of color face when they share their expertise beyond the academy. Next, in “Ramy Season Two: Let’s Talk about Sex, Habibi,” Mehammed Amadeus Mack reviews the show’s depiction of how American Muslims are confronting queer possibilities in the present day. In “On Moodiness and Righteous Rage,” Contributing Editor Kali Handelman interviews Karen Bray about her book Grave Attending: A Political Theology for the Unredeemed and what it can teach us about the current global protests against white supremacy. And, in an excerpt from Hidden Heretics: Jewish Doubt in the Digital Age, Ayala Fader shares a story of a Hasidic Jewish man who privately rejects his tradition’s teachings while still practicing Hasidic Judaism.

Our Summer issue also features the fourth episode of the Revealer podcast: “Hasidic Jewish Heretics.” Ayala Fader joins us to expand on her book excerpt from this issue, discuss what it means to lead a double life as a Hasidic Jew, and reflect on why Hasidic communities are flourishing in America despite the presence of Hasidic double-lifers. You can listen to this fascinating episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play.

As summer continues, and as the desire to reopen grows stronger, I hope more of us can accept the reality of the virus. I, too, long to embrace friends and spend time with loved ones in far off places. I also understand why people in mourning would want to connect with others in prayer, ritual, and community. And perhaps there are ways to come together safely—indeed, some activities and gatherings are lower risk than others. But we must continue to re-imagine our lives and institutions, remember that our actions impact the people we encounter, and accept that we share the world with a virus that will continue to bring grief until we radically change so much of how we lived before 2020.

Yours,
Brett Krutzsch, Ph.D.

P.S. We hope you enjoy our Summer issue. We will be back in September with a special issue on religion and fashion!