Shavuah Tov

One of my favorite divrei Torah is the commentary the Baruch She'Amar's take on the mishnah which says that if two people sit and there are no words of Torah exchanged then they are considered leitzim - scoffers. He notes that it doesn't say that they have to talk Torah as their main topic, rather that Torah should come up in the conversation. When you love something (or someone) it tends to always work its way into your talks with one another. It brings me great joy when Torah comes up organically during a phone call or while doing dinner with a friend.

Recently a dear friend said he heard something that he thought I'd like. He was right. We say in the prayer Baruch She'Amar that Hashem is "gozeir umekayeim" - that G-d makes decrees and fulfills the decrees. How is this good? One answer is that mekayem does not only mean to fulfill, it means cause something to stay standing. The idea here is that after G-d makes a difficult decree He remains by the person's side to help them endure and grow through what needs to happen.

Tonight at Shaloshudis at the Young Israel of Windsor Park I mentioned that they say that talking to plants helps them grow. I was amazed when Rabbi David Feldman pointed out that in our daily prayers we say a passage about how in olden times they would talk to plants to help them grow.

Can you name the passage alluded to in the paragraph above?

In my intro to my speech this morning at the Young Israel of Windsor Park I mentioned that it's been about thirty years since Rabbi Louis Bernstein first shared that pulpit with me. I am forever grateful. I told a story that involved a smile (it's in the previous post) and someone came up to me after and said that he generally is cheerful but has been a bit frowny very recently and my words helped him find his smile again.

PS - Go here for a seasonal Rosh HaShana piece with comments and rhymes from Kishke and a special appearance by SSLABW, ZL. Sigh.