Yohanan ben Zakkai famously said, "If you are holding a sapling in your hand and someone tells you, 'Come quickly, the Messiah is here!', first finish planting the tree and then go to greet the Messiah."
I have always taken this as advice about tending to the needs of the world that is now, and the people who are in it, before we tend to the world-to-come. I still do..
But these days I also take it as a reminder that even when it feels like the world we know might be ending, we should still behave as if it will go on.
This weekend, Iran fired 300 drone and missiles at Israel. This weekend I gave a pint of blood. Tonight I will plant two viburnum bushes.
Because sometimes all you can do is hold the sapling in your hand and find a place to plant it.