THE MONTH OF SHVAT

To all of us who ever ask, or are ever asked, or ask ourselves,
why we are not somewhere else, further along, why we haven't
gotten married, or had children, or found a career...
....a teaching on the importance of going slow and gentle.

(disclaimer: I am not a poet and I know it, so excuse this time such a silly rhyme)

Today starts the month of Shvat
They say its the new year of the trees
but it's really a rememberance of the Etz ha Dat
Whatcha think about that?

You may ask, what do we need to remember?
As in re-member: was there a branch of the tree
that got cut off or separated? Don't you remember?
It was the fruit of the tree that we ate too tender!

So Sefer Yetzirah says this month is about eating
we can eat out of impulse, hunger, or pleasure
But eating could really be soul and body meeting!
WIth intention, thanks, and praise we elevate what seems so fleeting.

For when we eat, we set food on a course of transformation
from protein to speech and deeds, to thoughts and emotions.
It is our food, what we take in, that defines our re-formation.
and the way in which we eat, that can effect an elevation.

So take a pause, and reflect, what you eat and how you eat,
what you think while you do, where you want its energy to go.
You can heal or you can poison, and this is the great feat,
of choosing to receive, rather than consume, all the life you greet.

You may ask, how does proper eating, relate to going slow
in a friendship, a life transition, or anything else of the sort.
See Adam and Chava, were not just told "Oh don't eat" No!
They had to wait, for on Shabbat, the magic fruit they would know.

We get excited, we tend to want, and we pursue
but we need to let things happen in their time and in their place
This month I'd like to practice, to center Self before I do
and to really take a breath, and be present as I chew.

...i hope this made you laugh..it was meant to be silly!

Chodesh Shvat Tov!