You have distanced my friends from me; You have made me an abomination from them; I am imprisoned and cannot go out (Psalms 88:9).

A virus plays itself out in a way that is unprecedented in human history and is out of control.

Our sages tell us that we must take every calamity as a message from G-D to awaken the Jewish people.

Heavenly punishment is always crafted in a form that is measure for measure, to match defects in behavior. This is how G-D talks to us.

Look what G-D's microscopic messengers have done: We separate from each other; our wealth is decimated; we close our synagogues; we close our schools.

Rabbi Aharon Feldman is the Dean of the Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore MD. This is what came to his mind:

Separation: To what degree were we afflicted by discord? Were disagreements based on scholarship and objective principles or on personal preference and self-serving interest? True, we are individuals and very prone to disagreement. Did we disagree in respectful ways? To what degree did discord affect couples, family members, and neighbors? Why is the divorce rate so high? Are more people insisting on changing the other party instead of changing themselves? To what degree did we focus on the good of the other person? Did we judge our fellow favorably?

Disappearance of wealth: How did we use our wealth? Expensive Passover hotels are closed. Extravagant weddings intended to impress others are cancelled. Have we been doing all we can to meet the needs of deserving charitable causes and the needy among us? Did our institutions have to beg and pander us before we gave anything?

Closure of synagogues: Did our decorum in synagogue match the intended sanctity? When sitting in synagogue during prayer sessions, to what degree were we talking to G-D and to what degree were we talking to our friends? When we prayed, how focused were we on G-D and what we were saying? Did we use a prayer book to help us focus?

Closure of lower and higher-level (Yeshiva) schools: Were our children's financial future more important to us than their spiritual future? Did we prefer our children to be professionals over their becoming Torah scholars? What environments were we willing to expose them to achieve our goals for them? How did we speak to Torah scholars? How did we speak about Torah scholars? Was it always in respectful ways? Were our blogs and on-line news media managed in a way that reflect respect to Torah scholars? Did the heads of Torah institutions have to go begging door to door and make personal appeals to support their institutions? If we do not respect our Torah scholars and leaders then G-D may take them away from us. [Note that this plague targets the elderly.]

A virus plays itself out in a way that is unprecedented in human history and is out of control.

Isiah 2:11 states: "The pride of man has been lowered; the haughtiness of people has been low. G-D alone has become exalted . . ."

Pride and haughtiness bring one to fantasize that he controls the world, not G-D.

Our response must be to realize the shortcomings, change our attitude, change how we behave, and realign our values and priorities. It's up to every one of us, while we have that opportunity.