We live in a culture that separates moral behavior from the natural world, separates society and ethics from science.
That distinction is useful in some ways but it hides the reality that these two dimensions of life are related.
How are they related? That is a matter of study and exploration.
Reconnecting these two aspects is critical for repairing and healing the world AKA Tikkun Olam
An epidemic is an familiar reality
The prophets and the rabbis taught that there is a connection between social justice and the realities of the natural world
Seven kinds of punishment come to the world for seven categories of transgression:When some of them give tithes, and others do not give tithes, a famine from drought comes some go hungry, and others are satisfied. When they have all decided not to give tithes, a famine from tumult and drought comes; [When they have, in addition, decided] not to set apart the dough-offering, an all-consuming famine comes. Pestilence comes to the world for sins punishable by death according to the Torah, but which have not been referred to the court, and for neglect of the law regarding the fruits of the sabbatical year. The sword comes to the world for the delay of judgment, and for the perversion of judgment, and because of those who teach the Torah not in accordance with the accepted law.
Savage beasts come to the world because of vain [i.e., unneeded] oaths, desecration of the Name, [i.e., transgressing blatantly in public, or being seen by others, who emulate one's deeds]. Exile comes to the world because of idolators, illicit relations, bloodshed and (not) leaving the land idle [i.e., plowing and sewing on the sabbatical year]. In four periods pestilence increases: in the fourth year (of shemitah), and in the seventh year, and at the conclusion of the seventh year, and at the conclusion of the festival (of Succoth) of every year. In the fourth year, because of (omission of) the poor-tithe of the third year. [For in place of the second tithe of the other years of shemitah, in the third and in the sixth years the poor-tithe is given]. In the seventh year, because of (omission of ) the poor-tithe of the sixth year. At the conclusion of the seventh year, because of (profanation of) the fruits of the seventh year, and at the conclusion of the festival of every year, because of theft of the gifts of the poor: [leket, shikchah, peah, peret, and oleloth].
What is the definition of an epidemic?
Hand washing
(א) וירחץ בנקיון כפיו ויברך בא"י אמ"ה אקב"ו על נטילת ידים וידקדק לערות עליהם שלשה פעמים מפני שרוח רעה שורה על הידים קודם נטילה ואינה סרה עד שיערה עליהם ג"פ ועל כן צריך למנוע מהגיע בידו קודם נטילה לפה ולחוטם ולאזנים ולעינים מפני שרוח רעה שורה עליהם ואם אין לו מים יקנח ידיו בצרור או בכל מידי דמנקי ויברך על נקיות ידים:
(1) 4. He should wash his hands clean and recite the blessing ‘Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe, who sanctified us with His mitzvot and commanded us concerning hand washing.’ He should be exacting in pouring over them three times on account of the evil spirit alighting upon the hands prior to washing, which is not vitiated until he has poured over them three times. Therefore, he needs to refrain from touching with his hand, prior to washing, to the mouth, to the nose, and to the ears and to the eyes, on account of the evil spirit alighting upon them. But if he has no water, he should wipe his hands with a stone chip or with any type of wiping implement and recite the blessing ‘concerning the cleaning of the hands.’
Rabbi Sacks on the question of the moral lesson from this epidemic