May He who blessed our fathers, Alexander Graham Bell, Tim Berners-Lee and William Henry Gates, bless this holy group of men, the founders of WhatsApp, Zoom, Facetime, Facebook, YouYube and Twitter, together with all other holy techie nerds, them, their investors, their staff, their families and all that is theirs. May He bless those who have created virtual opportunities to unite our families in times of distress, when funerals are live-streamed to mourners in quarantine, and in times of joy, when young lovers are married  while their friends watch the chuppah on their screens. May He bless those who create online educational resources and those who form virtual synagogues for prayer and those who join online to pray, those who provide online shopping and delivery of wine for Kiddush and matzah for Pesach, those who create very funny videos for distraction, those who work in IT departments and keep systems running and for all those who faithfully occupy themselves with the needs of the community.

May the Holy One, give them the wisdom to use their massive profits for good, may He remove from them the Corona illness, grant them complete healing, and forgive all their peccadilloes. May he send blessing and success to all the work of their hands together with all Israel their brethren, and let us say, Amen.

[adapted from the Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, New Translation and Commentary by Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks p. 421]

First published 25 March 2020