SHALLOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM SWEEEETEST FRIENDSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am SOOOOO EXCITED ABT. THIS YEAR!!!
I have been told that I can't just be like one of those "kollel guys". It is *forbidden* to just sit and learn. One must be PRODUCTIVE!!! Torah Umadda! Torah Im Derech Eretz!!! Torah Vi-avoda!! Torah Vi-basketball!! Torah is FINNNEEE but don't be a FANATIC!! Torah with other stuff!! And I have to listen b/c I don't think for myself. I just follow whatever people tell me.
In that spirit I have decided that this year my profession will be "Israeli farmer" - just like my great grandfather who was a [poor but proud] black sharecropper in Alabama [how I am white - I have NO idea!!!]. My great grandmama proudly raised her 15 kids. They would all get up at the CRACK OF DAWN to milk the cows and help great grandpapa pick cotton. I would like to follow in their path!
MY GOOD LUCK that this year is Shmitta and me and my fellow farmers are OFF!! So what is there to do???
NETFLIXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh - what did people do before Netflix??!! I'll tell ya. They rented movies and put them in the VCR. Oyyyyyyy - VCR'S we are sorry for throwing you away!!! You were sooooo good to us when we needed you!!
As I alluded to - this year is SHMITTA!!! Shmitta is about LETTING GO!!! We are connected to our fields - the law is that we make the fields ownerless. Anyone can come in and eat to their hearts [and stomachs] galore. If we are owed money - we let go of the debt. I like to call it [as we do in Alcoholics Anon. which I would have joined if I would like alcohol more and drink as a way of dealing with emotional problems I now deal with by watching highlight clips of the '86 Mets and listening to Frank Sinatra sing "I did it my way". SO THERAPEUTIC!!!] "Let Go And Let G-d".
Teshuva [and we are hard core in the Teshuva season now!!] is ALSO about LETTING GO!!! Let go of harmful habits!!! Not next week. Not tomorrow. NOW!! The Medrash says ואין ועתה אלא לשון תשובה" - "Now" means Teshuva!!
We all have patterns in our relationships that are not helpful at best and destructive at worst. We can let go of these patterns and develop NEW ONES!!!
We also let go of our vows when we enter the holy day of Yom Kippur. We are opening up a new page, turning over a new leaf. This is the PERFECT TIME to let go of past obligations and think anew about our task in this world.
We also let go of resentment by forgiving our fellow man [and woman]. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cathartic to just let go of all of that TOXIC anger, animosity and enmity and replace it with NEW FEELINGS. Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other guy to die. NOOO!! It just eats away at you and does nothing to "yenem" ["the other guy" in French]. Our feelings are based on thoughts. Our thoughts are the stories we tell ourselves about life and the people around us. We can CHANGE those stories. We can sing a NEW SONG. What does it say will happen when we are redeemed in the future? שירו לה' שיר חדש!! We will sing a NEW SONG!!! Do you want a personal redemption? Sing your own new song!! If I may paraphrase 'ol blue eyes - "Do it YOUR way". But not your OLD way. Your new way!!
This will allow us to super enhance our relationships that are so important to what makes us human!!! או חברותא או מיתותא - A friend or death, says the Talmud!! Let's break down the walls that have been separating us until now and try new ways!!!
We also let go of GUILT!!! No more reason to walk around overcome with guilt b/c now we repented. We used our shortcomings as a way to get closer to our Maker!!! הפכת מספדי למחול לי - We can transform our eulogy to a dance or to .... mechila for ourselves!!! למחול לי!!! I forgive me!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!! Drop the Jewish guilt!!! Isn't THAT a reason to dance??!!! So yeah!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH most beloved friends!! It is SOOOO AWESOME to be Jewish. We have this magical time to help transform us into much much more effective, happier and HOLIER people!!!
As they say in the Yeshivos - "Pashut not normal!!!!!!"
I wish everybody the GREATEST Shabbos Shuva EVER and that as we let go this Shabbos of our phones and computers and jobs and all other secular pursuits, we also let go of everything holding us back from being the best people we can be!!!! A whole year of Shabbos for the land and of "letting go" for us!!!
LOVE AND BLESSINGS TO ALL
