We’ve got a lot on our plate.

On a good day, life is busy around here, but busy has meant a lot more as of late. For ten consecutive weeks, starting with Passover preparation in March, through the week of Bar Mitzvah week festivities, our guest speakers, the holiday of Shavuos, kid related trips to DC and NY, a Bar Mitzvah in Jackson Hole, and just daily life at our home and Shul, it hasn’t stopped. Chavie and I needed a break to rest and re-energize for the busy summer season ahead. So, with the blessed help of Rabbi Mendel and Brocha, who held down the fort with the three kiddos at home, we escaped for three nights to enjoy each other’s company and catch our breath.

It was wonderful.

In this week’s Torah portion, Behaalosecha, we read about the Jewish People Kvetching in the desert, complaining to Moses and demanding meat. G-d’s Manna from heaven didn’t do it for the Jews, they needed barbeque. This is one of many times that the Jews were ungrateful due to this, that and the other. Moses was pretty tolerant of their nastiness, but at times it was too much even for him, and he said to G-d “…I cannot carry the responsibility of this entire people alone, for it is too hard for me…If this is the way You want to treat me, please kill me first, if I have found favor in Your regard, so that I not see my evil.” There was no prophet like Moses, so perhaps he didn’t need a break, we see that with people like the Rebbe who never vacationed, but the rest of us need an occasional retreat, a change of scenery and pace, to recharge.

I try to remind myself that “growth often happens in the pause, not just in the hustle”. When one is a workaholic such as myself, it’s not easy to pause, but when I do, I realize how beneficial it is for me, my family, my community and the vital goals I have set out to achieve. Even during break, I still work at the crack of dawn, I just can’t help myself and there are always things that are due, but the down time, not rushing, the slower pace, not doing all the pickups and drop-offs, not talking to humans, no soccer and track, it helps reset the body and mind. It is my hope that someday I will succeed in finding calm even in the daily work, in the rhythm of life, and until then I will wait for the next Mensch club to have my monthly cigar and chill with the boys.

Deep breathes; deep breaths.

Earlier this week we had the opportunity to attend the joyous Bar Mitzvah of Nachi Mendelsohn, son of our colleagues in Jackson Hole Rabbi Zalman and Raizy. It’s always a blessing to see Jewish values, holy traditions, passed on to another generation of youth. On the way home, while driving through Island Park, immersed in the beauty of Hashem’s creation, I was thinking back to Shavuos with our amazing Bozeman community. In addition to meaningful services, inspirational sermons and celebratory meals, we were also blessed that Reuven Ben Dovid HaKohen, one of two Kohanim in our Shul, gifted us with Birkas Kohanim blessings on both days of Yom Tov.

In this week’s Torah portion, Naso, the longest Parsha in the Five Books, we read those powerful priestly blessings “May God bless you and watch over you. May God shine His face to you and endow you with grace. May God be partial toward you and grant you peace.”. Rashi explains that these blessings aren’t only for the spiritual wellbeing of the Jew but include blessings for financial prosperity, protection from thieves, G-d shining His countenance on our lives, blessings us to have grace in the eyes of others, and so much more. It feels so good to know that G-d not only cares for our spiritual bond with Him but wants us to have physical and material blessings in every aspect of our lives.

Growing up, I, together with my brothers and occasionally one of my sisters, would go under my dad’s Talis during the priestly blessings. Now I take Menny and Chana Laya under mine and stand there listening intently to Randy or Dan reciting the blessings. Do I need their blessing? Indeed, I do. They carry a 3,300- year-old gift from Hashem that started with their ancestor Aaron the High Priest and continues to this very day. Watching Nachi recite his Chassidic discourse in Yiddish, seeing him surrounded by his grandparents enveloping him with love and tradition, was a reminder that Hashem’s blessings keep flowing for those who are willing to receive them.

Open up and let G-d in!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!