Baruch ata Adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam borei p’ri ha’eitz. Baruch ata Adonai eloheinu melech ha’olam borei p’ri ha’adamah.
Blessed are you, Adonai, our God, Encompasser of the World who has created the fruit of the tree. Worthy are you, Source Of Life, this thing I call our God, that created the produce of the land.
These blessings flow from my mouth as the summer comes to an end. We reap what we (and our nearby farmers) have sown. We enjoy the tastes of fruit recently picked from a nearby orchard. We smell the juices as they drip down our chin.
So too for life, I hope, for each of us. As the Jewish year comes to a close in a few short days and we begin the season of spiritual reckoning, I am reminded to eat life to its fullest, and from there, hopefully I remember to live life to its fullest.
You may have noticed upon emailing me over the last three weeks that my away message tells you I have/will only work select and predetermined hours this month. I wish I could tell you that I held to that perfectly. I wish I could tell you that when I was not at work I was playing in the sprinkler, swimming in the pool, harvesting from my local fruit growers. More often than not, though, I found myself working when I said I would not.
I know enough to know that this habit of working more than my share did not begin with me. I did not create nor invent it. It has been passed down to me. And I am trying to leave 5773 behind asking the question: is this a tradition I want to continue?
May the end of 5773 be a time for us to contemplate what our short-comings are and have been. May we find the space, during this holy season, to then ask further: am I willing to leave this one behind?
See you under the tent,
David