[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-147247-105":59,"doc-detail-147247-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","klal-gadol-btorah-erev-rosh-hashanah-5781-rabbi-david-kosak-sermon-on-love-and-loss-during-covid-19","Klal Gadol B’Torah - Erev Rosh Hashanah 5781 Rabbi David Kosak - Sermon on Love and Loss During COVID-19","","A compassionate sermon for Erev Rosh Hashanah 5781 frames the COVID-19 experience through the image of an owl freed from a soccer net by construction workers. It contrasts the visible hardships—job loss, fear of infection, restricted gatherings, disrupted schooling—with the quieter unease felt even by those who seem fortunate. Drawing on teshuvah and Jewish tradition, it argues that the missing element beneath many emotions is love, understood as countless invisible strands sustaining steadiness and bringing people back from fear.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":45,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/klal-gadol-btorah-erev-rosh-hashanah-5781-rabbi-david-kosak-sermon-on-love-and-loss-during-covid-19/147247/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/klal-gadol-btorah-erev-rosh-hashanah-5781-rabbi-david-kosak-sermon-on-love-and-loss-during-covid-19/147247.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Sage","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-07","2026-08-26",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What story does the sermon use to set the tone for the pandemic?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The sermon recounts a newspaper-like account of an owl trapped in a soccer goal net and freed by construction workers who carefully cut the strands away while the owl remained still.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the sermon say even “fortunate” people still feel ill-at-ease?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It suggests that beyond material loss, something deeper has changed, leaving people unsettled even when basic needs are met and they can find silver linings.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does the sermon identify as the missing piece beneath many people’s emotions?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It concludes that love has been lost or torn—love understood as countless invisible strands that help keep people calmer, grounded, and able to return from fearful thoughts.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},147247,1787760719,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":44,"category_name":45,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":46},687197207057,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Klal Gadol B’Torah: A Story of Love and Loss in a Time of Pandemic  \nErev Rosh Hashanah 5781 Rabbi David Kosak  \nIt was one of those human interest stories you read in a newspaper or magazine or even on YouTube and think,“how poignant and touching.”What journalists call “soft news.” For a moment, your faith in humanity is restored.  \nEarlier this year, I saw a video about an owl that had gotten caught in a soccer goal net. It thrashed about, shaking its wings, all in a hopeless effort to get disentangled. Then these 4 burly construction workers walked over to the imprisoned owl and picked it up. I expected the owl to struggle about even more intensely. That’s not what happened.  \nOver the next 30 minutes, these brawny men carefully cut away strand after strand of the soccer net. As they moved delicately, the owl remained strangely still.  \nWhat accounted for this? Was the owl paralyzed in fright? Or did it understand these human giants were there to help? That’s a mystery I wish I knew an answer for. Seeing its bright yellow eyes fixed on the humans, though, it seemed to me that it understood these bipeds were looking out for it, were there to protect it.  \nWhat I can say is that the moment they had freed the bird and set it on the ground, the owl’s stillness turned to motion as it took to flight and rapidly disappeared into the sky.  \nThe truth is, the world is filled with stories like these. When we hear them, we get an emotional charge. Then, as we get on with our day, the story and the emotions it drew up fade into the background. Nonetheless, I have faith a residue of goodness remains with you, changes you, encourages you, supports you through the harder stuff of life.  \nFor some reason, I haven’t been able to forget this story of the owl. And when a rabbi can’t forget a story, well, you know it will eventually end up ina sermon.  \nOf course what predominates all of our thoughts and emotions is COVID-19 . We are as captured and paralyzed by this pandemic as the owl was by the net. I know that for a lucky few, this period of quarantine is a blessing. Kids who found school excruciating experience a sort of joy and freedom from what tormented them. Introverts value time alone torecharge without justifying it. But that’s not most of us.  \nThe truth is, most of us feel ensnared by this virus. Clearly, there is plenty of suffering out there. Folks out of work. Individuals worried about making rent or mortgage. High risk people who are terrified of getting infected by Coronavirus. So many have felt the most severe repercussions of this pandemic. The source of their pain is clear and heart-breaking.  \nYet what of the people who still have jobs, and food on the shelf? People who have a sufficiently loving home environment? Who feel connected with friends on social media? Who have a generally optimistic view of life? The ones who always seek and find the silver lining? The fortunate ones, in other words. Why are so many people who seem to have so much going for them still struggling when their basic needs are handled—when far more than just those basic needs are covered? Why do even those fortunate ones who see silver linings feel ill-at-ease? If we can find the answer to that group’s suffering, it may help describe some part of what we are all enduring.  \nSome of the reasons for our lack of ease are obvious and we all are aware of them:  \nOlder parents who are dwelling in senior living communities that preclude visits from their children or grandchildren.  \nFamily who can’t travel to participate in simchas.  \nFunerals with only a handful of people in attendance because of the restrictions.  \nYoung children stuck at home going stir-crazy from isolation. Parents attempting to balance working from home while monitoring their children’son-line learning.  \nCollege graduate who hoped to launch their adult lives but instead find themselves in a holding pattern.  \nRetirees who feel their precious time ticking away; who understand that even though they","cbCaip3IKxEnP4YG","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaip3IKxEnP4YG","pdf",74368,"English","# Sermon Overview: Soft News and Lasting Stories\n## COVID-19 as a Net and the Call to Teshuvah\n# Love as the Missing Piece\n## Love in Jewish Tradition and Human Experience","[{\"question\":\"What story does the sermon use to set the tone for the pandemic?\",\"answer\":\"The sermon recounts a newspaper-like account of an owl trapped in a soccer goal net and freed by construction workers who carefully cut the strands away while the owl remained still.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the sermon say even “fortunate” people still feel ill-at-ease?\",\"answer\":\"It suggests that beyond material loss, something deeper has changed, leaving people unsettled even when basic needs are met and they can find silver linings.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the sermon identify as the missing piece beneath many people’s emotions?\",\"answer\":\"It concludes that love has been lost or torn—love understood as countless invisible strands that help keep people calmer, grounded, and able to return from fearful thoughts.\"}]","Klal Gadol B’Torah - Erev Rosh Hashanah 5781 Rabbi David Kosak - Sermon on Love and Loss During COVID-19 | PDF"]