Pre Shabbos Post

2:14 PM - I don't know what to write and why or where or when.  I do know that writing is healthy and helpful for me.  When I was a boy I dreamt of carrying a pad and writing things as they came to me.  That's a dream that came true.

I just walked for 30-40 minutes outside and it was transformative.  may G-d bless me to continue to walk and do other exercise to stay healthy.

2:47 PM - Put up chicken soup, even though I'm eating out tonight and tomorrow. I want to have it on hand, as I'm a big believer in the power of chicken soup.  I didn't have many vegetables around so I used a container of store bought vegetable soup to add some veggies and thickness.  used a whole package of raw chicken cutlets (which I hope to use for salad) and a package of chicken scarps for soup.  Cut in two onions and a lot of celery.  Put in a lot of different spices- cumin, ginger, dill, mint, basil, and much more.  Also put in some consomme mix- it's like a drug that my soup doesn't nee, but that I keep putting in.

3:10 PM - Soup boiled over.  All okay.

It just dawned on me, not that the insight is new, but it went in a little more for real - that in the case of some people whom i interact with and then feel pained, that it is their pain that I am adopting.

3:46 PM -

Vayeitzei Thought

How could it be that the year's he worked for Rochel were like days in his eyes because he loved her so much?  if he loved her so much shouldn't the time he waited feel like a very long time?

The simplest answer may be that it felt to him like a small price to pay.

Another possibility is that because he had a spiritual rather than physical perspective toward his love and longing, he was able to be patient and even keeled when he knew he needed to be so.

The Alshich says that it was like a short time in his eyes AFTER he married Rchel.  While he waited it felt like forever and then when he got what he yearned for and was so pleased all the time he waited, in retrospect was not a big deal.

Rabbi Abraham Twerski notes that it says that it was like "yamim achadim" in Yaakov's eyes.  It could be telling us, when translated precisely, that the way that Yaakov got through those long, difficult years was by taking them "one day at a time."

I once heard someone from a Kibbutz say the following idea, which to me is clearly not pshat, but it's cool that the guy thought of this and interesting how he superimposed it here: When it says that the time felt short because of his love of her (otah) it could be that the work is what is being refereed to.  because Yaakov loved the work he did, the time passed quickly.

3:55 PM - Time to go and greet and embrace Shabbos.