Yesterday we went to Kayam Farms for a Tu B’Av celebration. It reminded us a lot of Eden Village Camp. Kayam Farms are associated with Milldale, a Jewish day camp and Pearlstone, a kosher conference center.

Tu B’Av is a day when traditionally women would dress all in white and dance out in the fields outside of the city and men would come.  Then the men and women would find their future spouses.  Today Tu B’Av is a happy holiday we enjoy celebrating, especially after all the heaviness of Tisha B’Av.

Kayam Farms had a special event to celebrate Tu B’Av and love. They brought in a band from Israel and a couple of local Jewish bands to play.  They had music playing the whole time and plenty of fun people to meet. There were a lot of Jewish hippies there, which was neat.

We also went for a walk through the woods surrounding the camp and farm. It was a beautiful nature walk. We saw holes where animals live and a pretty little creek flowing through. We relaxed in one of the Camp’s outdoor structures and contemplated what it would be like to live outside.

All in all, it was a very fun and relaxed day. It was a happy and friendly celebration of a Jewish holiday celebrating finding love.

Havdalah drumming in Baltimore with Derch Hateva crew

Last summer, we spent a month in living in the outdoors, hiking, biking, and riding camels across Israel. I was one of two counselors for a group of teenage boys. It was an awesome trip. Type “Derech Hateva” into the search box for more about this.

Anyway, Came to Baltimore for a few days because two of the Derech Hateva boys are here. We’re spending a few days together getting back to nature, with getting spiritual in the outdoors: hiking, tai chi, praying, and meditating.

Last night after havdalah we had an awesome jam session on the drums.

We are in Baltimore. It’s a very Jewish neighborhood where we are staying. Almost every house is Jewish. I like this because the streets were quiet Friday night and Saturday because not many people were driving.

Shabbat morning I heard Rabbi Dovid Katz speak. Now, normally I’ve got issues with Rabbis talking for 35 minutes during the service, but not with Rabbi Katz. He’s a well-known Rabbi, professor and historian and he had some good stuff to say.

We should all strive to make our homes into real places of refuge, by cultivating an atmosphere of love, openness, and security.

As I write this, I am sitting on a bus. It’s a nice bus, a Greyhound, not a third-world bus that seems to be falling apart. We are leaving behind Virginia and my family, leaving behind the home I spent at least a few years in as I was growing up.

Rabbi Ben and I don’t have a home of our own (unless you count our backpacks – we travel like turtles!) so our parents’ homes are a bit like places of refuge for us. If, G-d forbid, something happened and we had nowhere left to go, we would have somewhere to turn. I think this is true even for those of us who aren’t traveling: if something happened, at the very least we can turn to our families for support. (At least, this is the way it should be, ideally.) Our family is our place of refuge.

This week’s Torah portion has a stunning lineup of commandments the Jews are reminded about just before Moses dies. One of these is the concept of cities of refuge. If one person accidentally kills another, he must run to the nearest city of refuge so that he will not be killed by the vengeful family. The Jews are even obligated to put up clear signposts telling the person exactly where to run to get to the nearest city of refuge.

Now, I’m not suggesting that if you accidentally kill someone you should go running to your house (you probably should go to the police)… And you should probably visit your parents even when you haven’t done anything wrong. Yet, we all make mistakes in our life. And when we do, we need somewhere to run. Even if nobody is pursuing us, we need to know we have a safe place to go to. (Haven’t you ever had a bad experience and just felt that “I want to go home and hide” feeling?) Not only do we need a safe place, but we need clear instructions on how to get there, every step of the way, because when we’re feeling terrible about what we’ve done, the mistake we’ve made, we might not be thinking too clearly.

When I’m traveling, I feel comfortable just knowing I have somewhere to go if I ever really need it. It’s an important lesson on the value of family, trust, and support. Everybody needs to know that they have a ‘city of refuge’ – even though we hope to never have to use it.

As we move into the coming week, let’s focus on making ourselves and our homes into cities of refuge for our friends and family. I hope that when something happens to my loved ones, they feel like they can run to me… Even while at the same time, I hope they won’t need to use it. Still, if we focus on making our homes safer and more accessible, we and our families stand to benefit by growing together, growing stronger, and growing closer.

Shabbat shalom!

Farmer Ben Picks Kosher Vegetables

So as I blogged about earlier this week, Last Sunday Rachel and I visited a farm where we picked vegetables with farmer Ben and his wife Lisa. http://travelingrabbi.com/2011/08/08/rabbi-ben-meets-farmer-ben/

The farm is in a beautiful area which is on a one hundred acre plot of land. There is a small pond where Rachel caught a fish, and a river that runs alongside the property. Most impressive is an old colonial home with the first parts built in the 1700’s. It has the old colonial charm to it. Walking through it is like going back in time. Some of the furniture in there must be a couple hundred years old.

Farmer Ben does not grow stuff on all one hundred acres. He uses a small area where he rotates various crops as the seasons change.

Being a traveling Rabbi, I had to check out that all was okay from a halachic point of view. There are many laws of farming that apply but more so in the land of Israel. Outside of Israel, the main two laws would be ‘Kilayim’ and ‘Orlah.’

Kilayim  is the prohibition of growing certain produce together. Grape vines may not be planted alongside grains and vegetables. Further, there are certain vegetables, legumes, and grains that are Biblically prohibited to be planted together.

The other prohibition to take into account is ‘Orlah.’ After planting a fruit tree, the fruit is forbidden to be eaten for the first three years. Fruit means anything on which we say the blessing ‘Borei Pri Ha’etz.’ Thus, grapes and blueberries are fruits and one would need to wait three years from planting before eating their fruits.

Tomatoes, though some may consider them a fruit, are a vegetable according to the Torah. One would not have to wait three years before eating them. This would be impossible. The same with bananas, on which we say the blessing  ‘Ha’adama;’ they are not considered to be a fruit according to the Torah.

Anyway, Farmer Ben’s farm was kosher and in perfect order.  And the vegetables that we are now eating  are delicious!