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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Julia Neuberger

Good morning.

Two hundred and eight years ago today, Jane Austen鈥檚 much loved novel, Pride and Prejudice, was published, written by a woman who did not travel far from her Hampshire village, but could nevertheless express a world of emotion and humour in her brilliant prose. She studied the human condition, and poked fun at the social customs of her day, the snobberies, the desire for money, the obsession with landowning, the fate of women like her who had no dowry, and little to recommend them as eligible matches for bright young men seeking a fortune. We may not like many of her characters. But we can admire her wide-ranging social observations.

So as we reassess our priorities in the wake of this pandemic, having been locked down for months, Jane Austen has much to teach us. She would have grasped opportunities had they been given to her. Young people are queuing up now to become doctors and nurses, when they have witnessed the stress those clinicians are under, but admired what they do.

As we emerge from this pandemic, give us the wisdom, God, to reexamine our lives to see what we can contribute to our society. The rabbis told us this nearly 2000 years ago: 鈥淭he day is short, the work is huge,鈥︹�� and the Master of the house (God) is pressing us.鈥�

They also said: "It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it." God, give us the strength to grasp opportunities, and to do what is right to help others in this changing world of ours.