A Guten Chodesh!

The days are definitely getting longer. For those of us that love the sunlight, waking up in the light, and having longer evening light, it lightens our mood and invigorates us. We are getting there.

A few beautiful gifts merged together 2 weeks ago to create real inspiration for me.

Firstly, I had the wonderful gift of a) being in Eretz Yisrael, b) being with our children, c) being there for Tu B’shvat, and this might sound like a small thing to you but it’s one of my happiest places, d) I was in the Machane Yehuda Shuk on Tu B’shvat amongst every fruit and vegetable that Eretz Yisrael produces.

There was something about that combination that infused me with positivity, happiness, and hope.

Alongside the heaviness that I felt at times in Eretz Yisrael, I felt the hope and the strength that we Yidden carry in our DNA- the knowledge that after the darkness comes the dawn, after the winter comes the spring- and Tu B’shvat always restores that within me.

When we don’t see anything, there is growth happening. The trees still look bare, the skyline still bleak, but we know that inside, deep within the earth and the trees, growth is happening, and within a few weeks, those delightful crocuses will start pushing through.

It’s not just with trees and flowers, so it is with us.

Sometimes, we can’t see out… It’s just dark.

How are things ever going to change? Will things ever be better? Will the yeshua ever come?

The shidduch, the baby, the money?

Will the relationship change? Will I get over the loss? Will I get a “yes”?

I don’t see it, It just looks hopeless…endless …. scary…. dark…

The message of this time of year is yes, it’s there!

Good things are happening! Growth is occurring, change is germinating.

But I don’t see it!

Right, because it’s’ just right under there, where It’s hidden and waiting for just the right moment to push through.

We can fall back on thinking “If I don’t see it, it isn’t there”.

Not true.

The message of this time of year, is that it IS there, and we have to believe it, we have to daven for it, and we have to be open to seeing it.

Wishing you a beautiful month,