Simplicity in Apples

My son is 2 going on 13. He truly amazes me with his excitement for Torah and mitzvot at such a young age. He makes blessings over food, says the Shema prayer and likes to wear a kippah. Yesterday, my family and I went apple picking with some other families. My little guy has been intrigued by apple picking ever since he read a book about Elmo picking apples at Grover’s farm. So, you can imagine his excitement at actually going to do this ourselves. He had a wonderful time picking apple, eating apples and talking about all the things we would make with the apples and how we will eat them with honey on Rosh Hashana. The best part is, when we were walking out of the orchard I asked him who made the apples and he proudly declared “Hashem!”.

For me the whole experience is a reminder of keeping it simple. Its easy to get caught up in complex thoughts and to lose track of who we are and where we are going. Yes, we need to constantly work on ourselves to learn and grow. But, at the end of the day we need to come back to the basics. What better why to learn this then by watching the world through the eyes of a two year old child? The happiness he get’s from such simple activities such as making blessings and picking apples reminds me to appreciate all that I have. As long as we are striving to be good people and know who created the apples, I think we are on the right track.

Check out this great class on Rosh Hashana:

Turning Evil into Goodness

by Rabbi Hershel Reichman

In this shiur (Torah class) Rabbi Reichman discusses the idea of teshuva, where past misdeeds have the In this shiur (Torah class) Rabbi Reichman discusses the idea of teshuva, where past misdeeds have the ability to actually become merits. This Torah class is available online in streaming video and for download in mp3 and ipod video formats