Of Planting, Blossoming and Growing (not necessarily in that order)

In the midst of the pre-Rosh Hashanah frenzy, I'm treating myself to these few minutes of quiet time. I hope you've got a few minutes to join me.

Whereas my last post was all about concrete and steel, we're back to nature here as I reminisce about my delightful visit to the Gan Habotani, the Botanical Gardens of Jerusalem, this past June.

My dear friend, Shoshana (who took full advantage of her summer membership subscription and allotted guest passes) showed me around this oasis of color and natural wonder BLOSSOMING in a corner of a busy, bustling city.

Put it on your to-do list for your next trip to Israel. Maybe Shoshana will still have some guest passes for you. ;-) But you might want to wait until after Shemittah...

This Rosh Hashanah will mark the beginning of a Sabbatical year, when the Land of Israel rests from all agricultural work. For "everything you need to know about Shemittah", click here. 

Thanks to the amazing work of Keren Hashviis, Bill and I have become proud partners in this once-in-seven-years mitzvah.We are supporting a farmer in Israel whose land will lie fallow. With no PLANTING permitted, he will not have the usual means to feed his family. He will spend his Sabbatical year studying Torah and observing this mitzvah with joy. And Bill and I will be co-owners of a small plot of his field, thus enabling us to fulfill the mitzvah of shemittah as well.

With Bill's signing of our contract and a halachic "kinyan" (acquisition), one thousand square feet of holy soil is partly ours. This is very exciting for me as it is the closest we have come to owning land in Israel! May it be the first step toward owning a larger parcel that we may eventually call Home. Please say "amen"! Keren Hashviis sent us the precise location of our piece of land and I hope we will merit to visit it in the year ahead. If you go to https://www.kerenhashviis.org/ you, too, will able to "partner with a farmer and share the reward". And I highly recommend that every woman click here to watch an absolutely beautiful video about the wives of Israel's shemittah farmers. Truly inspiring.

When I Remember Jerusalem, I recall the one shemittah year during the time we lived there. May we all be back Home for the next one. 

Rosh Hashanah is upon us. Many folks send out family photos at this time of year, wishing a Shana Tova to relatives and friends. Though our family seems to be a bit "challenged" when it comes to group photos, for our anniversary last January, the kids came through with this: 

Thank G-d, the grandchildren are GROWING (as is our #1-son's beard) and I'd like to think that us "grown-ups" have been doing some growing of our own. On behalf of the whole gang, I wish you and yours a blessed new year. May you BLOSSOM and GROW in the soil where you are PLANTed until, to paraphrase King David, we are all "planted in the house of Hashem, blossoming in G-d's courtyard..." (Psalms 92:14) Please say "amen"!

P.S. If you'd like to re-read my Rosh Hashanah poem, you'll have to go back to September 2019 (see blog archive on the right). Only the date has changed...

Blessed is The Builder of Jerusalem

Ask an English-speaking Israeli "What is the National Bird of Israel?" and he/she's likely to smile and say "The Crane".  

On our recent visit, we were astounded by the construction going on around Jerusalem. Buildings, roads, highways, tunnels, light rail... I was hardly surprised to find myself face-to-face with a bulldozer on the new forest road outside Har Nof. 

The pessimist might see all this activity as one huge, man-made traffic jam (which it certainly is); the optimist sees the city - and country - preparing every inch of its infrastructure and housing opportunities for the imminent ingathering of the exiles, all under the Divine Direction of the true Builder of Jerusalem. 

What looks like this today...

...will be this tomorrow.

Even trash collection is new and improved. Every five year old boy and his father (and middle-aged grandmother!) watches this daily spectacle with wide-eyed wonder:

(I don't think the worker should have thrown his paper cup in as he did but I won't use this video against him.)

My friends in Har Nof reported that they could feel their apartment shake as the digging was done beneath their buildings for these enormous tunnels (the photo hardly does them justice!) which will cut through the mountain - and cut travel time from one end of the city to the other in half:

The main street leading into Har Nof is a colossal construction zone as work continues to extend the light rail line to the western edge of Jerusalem. Yes, progress is slow but what now looks like this:

will soon, please G-d, be this:

Destination: The Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple)! All aboard!

Our daily prayers make numerous references to The Builder of Jerusalem. We bless Him and beseech Him to rebuild His holy city speedily and in our time. On your next trip to Israel, you'll see it happening before your very eyes! 

This Sunday is Tisha b'Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, when we Remember the Jerusalem of the first and second Temple periods - and both Temples' destruction. Yes, I will fast and I will mourn once again if this long, bitter exile hasn't ended by then. But this year, I'm feeling oh so hopeful that we'll be spending the Ninth of Av dancing together on the newly paved streets of a rebuilt Jerusalem in the shadow of our Third and Eternal Beit HaMikdash. Amen.

K'Heref Ayin - In the Blink of an Eye

I started this blog post in March in order to publicly thank G-d for His apparent assistance in arranging Covid vaccinations for me and my dear husband. Just when it seemed like we would be waiting endlessly for our turn, we got our shots in the blink of an eye. 

Then I blinked and it was Pesach. Blinked again and joy turned to tragedy in Meron. Another blink and our long-awaited trip to Israel was planned. Blink. Trip postponed due to a war that seemed to come out of nowhere. Blink. Ceasefire. Blink And We Are Here. Home. In a peaceful and mostly mask-free Jerusalem. In our beloved and beautiful Har Nof. 

Our sages tell us that "yeshuas Hashem k'heref ayin" - G-d's salvation comes in the blink of an eye. Thank you, dear G-d, for every blink that reveals your kindness, compassion and perfect timing; may we soon merit to understand the blinks that have not cleared the blur of tragedy and loss, of terror and antisemitism...

Each blink draws attention

to G-d's personal intervention

in the details of our stay 

and in the lives of those we meet along the way.

Torah lectures and beautiful weather,

friends and relatives

with whom we've gotten together,

even the hit to our rental car 

showed G-d's presence, 

never too far.

To Remember Jerusalem 

while I am here

is to recall all her splendor 

as I watch her prepare

for what will be again

very soon, b'ezrat Hashem 

(with G-d's help).

I could go on but Shabbos will be here in the blink of an eye and I want to send this out in time to say Shabbat Shalom to you from the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Today is also the first day of the month of Tammuz. According to Kabbalah, the month of Tammuz is associated with the sense of sight. (I totally did not know this when I started this blog post in March, finishing it on the first day of Tammuz!)

According to chabad.org "the month of Tammuz is the best month of the year to learn to exercise our sight in the most positive way possible (which) involves both shying away from that which is negative and training ourselves to see things in a positive light". May Hashem help me during this visit - and always - to see His Land and His people - with clear vision. Wishing you a month full of blessing and clarity. Hoping to see you and all Am Yisrael (the Nation of Israel) here k'heref ayin - in the blink of an eye.

Photo credit: Elisheva. From the beautiful blog she writes from the holy city of Tzefat. 

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