Religious identity is an intricate reality, diversely defined and adopted by many across the United States. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 70.6% of U.S. adults identify as Christian, 1.9% as Jewish, 0.9% as Muslim, 0.7% as Buddhist, 0.7% as Hindu, 1.5% as other faiths (including Unitarian, New Age, and Native American Religions), and 22.8% as unaffiliated. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown has had practical and theological ramifications for many religious-identifying individuals and communities. The nature of these impacts may be as varied and dynamic as the range of religious experience itself, but some of the challenges faced by organized religious groups can be looked at systematically.

Case Study: Orthodox Judaism

Community Infrastructure

Communal prayer and Torah learning plays a central role in Jewish life. Traditionally, Jews gather three times a day in the synagogue, or shul, to pray the daily prayers, as well as additional times on Shabbat and holidays. In Yeshivas and Jewish schools, live dialogue, often centered around a table in a packed study hall, is a crucial element of education. These realities proved to be major challenges for many in the Orthodox Jewish community, both in curbing the spread of the disease and maintaining the framework of Jewish life after lockdown. When the severity of the situation became known, government and religious leadership closed synagogues and schools and instructed those who wished to pray to do so privately in their homes. Many felt confused and at a loss without the daily communal rituals. Jews have a long history of sacrifice amid social and political turmoil and oppression to maintain their religious practices and perpetuate their way of life. Reconciling the prolonged lifestyle changes in the context of this unprecedented situation was confusing, devastating, and isolating for many.

While attempts were made to relocate, or at least imitate, some services and practices through new mediums such as Zoom, many Orthodox Jews do not use technology on Shabbat or holidays, leaving them completely isolated for 24-72 hour periods. Some were tasked with conducting the Passover seder, a ritual which generally involves extended family and friends, completely alone for the first time.

As restrictions eased and the situation began to improve, communal prayer was gradually allowed to return. Many prayed in outdoor groups, masked and socially distanced, in the heat of summer and cold of winter. It was a far cry from life before the pandemic, but many wept tears of joy for the opportunity to pray together with a community again. In accordance with CDC guidelines, Rabbinic leadership has recently allowed limited numbers to transition back indoors for services with strict guidelines.

Jewish Lifecyle Events

In addition to disrupting day-to-day life, Jewish lifecycle events were also significantly impacted. Weddings, baby ceremonies, and bar- and bat-mitzvah celebrations were cancelled, postponed, or limited to only the few immediately necessary participants. A Jewish wedding is traditionally a communal event involving tens to hundreds of guests and an abundance of dancing, singing, and eating in close proximity. It is considered a day of utmost holiness and celebration. A new genre of "Covid-weddings" emerged amid the pandemic and some young Jewish couples had to make the decision to marry in compromised circumstances or postpone the wedding while awaiting a return to normalcy (a decision with significant ramifications, being that some Orthodox Jewish couples will not live together or even engage in physical touch until after the wedding).

Many who passed away during the heaviest-hitting parts of the pandemic, whether from COVID-19 or unrelated factors, were unable to receive traditional death-rituals or funerals. Many who died from COVID or in the hospital did so alone, without the traditional family members or spiritual leaders surrounding them. Funerals were collapsed to include only immediate family members, and in some cases denied altogether. Some Jews purchase burial plots in Israel with the intention to be buried there. As air travel was an impossibility, many of these wishes were unable to be fulfilled. The mourning period, too, was altered. Traditionally, the closest family members of the deceased observe Shiva, a week long mourning period during which visitors come to the family's home to offer comfort, condolences, and care for their basic needs. This process was replaced with phone calls and Zoom meetings.

Resilience

While many tensions arose in reconciling religious life with the novel circumstances, many Americans have expressed feeling that COVID-19 has strengthened their connection to religious faith. In the Orthodox Jewish community, this can be understood in a number of ways.

• Religion has been identified as a buffer to the impacts of psychological distress, serving as a form of coping through the act of meaning-making, or creating a framework through which to make sense of suffering and stress and find hope. In difficult times, having beliefs and/or practices to hold on to can be extremely comforting.

• As touched upon, many in the Orthodox Jewish community feel connected to the concept of struggle and hardship, viewing it in the context of larger Jewish history. Some have been looking to Holocaust survivors or others who have lived through adversity for guidance and inspiration, as well as a little perspective, on the topic of perseverance.

• Although the intricate and far-reaching schedule of practices mandated by Jewish law made the pandemic particularly disruptive for many Orthodox Jews, one can argue that it is precisely this demanding lifestyle that helped many maintain normalcy and structure during this time. Many within Orthodox Judaism believe that God and religion are not confined to the synagogue or other external structures, but are meant to permeate one's home, day-to-day life, and internal character. In this way, although prayer uprooted from communal services and holidays from one's family may have been uncomfortable and unnatural for many, it did not deny those who wished to continue practicing as Orthodox Jews the ability to do so.

• Ask respectful questions about the religious/cultural/ethnic/racial identifications your patient associates with and the ways in which they impact their life. Allow space for whatever context or personal history they choose to bring into the room, and seek to be curious, respectful, and non-judgemental.

• People identify with religion in different ways. They may or may not consider it an ancenstral heritage, a way of life, a social identification, a set of values, and/or a way of thinking about the world. Take notice of the way your patient conceptualizes religion and their relationship to it. Follow their lead regarding the manner and extent to which it is integrated in therapy, if at all.

• Educate yourself about the aspects of one's religion which might be relevant to the patient's self-concept and attitude towards treatment. Consult with outside resources for guidance on constructs or themes that could be helpful to have some background understanding of.

• Be aware of your own biases and presuppositions about particular religious groups or backgrounds. Allow your patient to describe themselves and their situation on their own terms.

• Some patients may use terms or make references that are culture-specific. Don't be afraid to be honest about things you do not understand and ask follow-up questions. Allow the patient the opportunity to show you the way they see the world.