Day 1: Still Tired from the Move

I can't believe it. More than four years in the making, and I'm actually on sabbatical! It hasn't quite sunk in yet, although saying goodbye to Elyssa and the boys made it a little more real, for sure!

I hope to use this blog to record my thoughts and experiences in this, the first of two summers of the first sabbatical of my rabbinate. I've named it "Let go and let God," because as plans for the summer have evolved, it has become increasingly clear that the major themes of the summer are: "I'm not in charge," and, "I don't really know what exactly I'll be doing tomorrow!" I am so looking forward to a summer where I try to live those two mantras-- so different from my everyday life back home.

This summer begins with time on an organic farm in rural Maryland, and I've just moved into my platform tent that I'll be sharing with one other guy. It's a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree day, and the tent is nestled in a shaded area, so I'm resting comfortably on my bed after a bit of unpacking followed by a bit of exploring the grounds. The farm is on the grounds of a Jewish retreat center and adjacent to a JCC summer camp, so the place is always hopping.

There are three acres of fields already bursting at the seams with what I could tell includes herbs, garlic, asparagus, tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, carrots, and a ton of other things that I'm sure I'll be able to record over the next few days. In addition, there's a brand new plot of land-- about the same size, I think, that was just planted this morning with hundreds of tomato plants. The farm director tells me that we'll be spending a lot of time in that field because, being new, it will need a great deal of work. God is laughing, I think; me who can't seem to successfully grow a single tomato back in New Jersey is going to be tending hundreds of plants here in Maryland...

I'm soon to join a small group of summer interns to cook dinner in what's called the moadon-- a small building with a kitchen, a washer/dryer, and bathrooms. Don't know what's for dinner, but I'm told it'll rely heavily on what's growing in the field...