On a recent Saturday night, just a few minutes after Shabbat ended, I received word that my friend’s mother passed away from COVID-19.
Under ordinary circumstances, I would have been on a plane the next day to attend the funeral and shiva. But in the midst of the plague, such a trip was out of the question. Even my friend—who had become infected during the days she spent with her mom in the hospital—was not permitted to attend the burial. She delivered her eulogy through Zoom, sequestered in her space. No one was to visit.
