Tu Bishvat is right around the corner – this weekend to be exact.  I’m watching the snow fall and the temperature hover around -15C and I can’t say I’m in a very ‘happy birthday trees’ mood.

This week alone I had 3 of my children home with the flu and my husband suspected every tickle in his nose… Last night I got an email from my sons’ school informing us that within 5 days they will be moving downtown creating a 1.5 hour commute (one way) for my sons – 3 hours every day back and forth.  To deal with this I needed to cancel one of the ongoing Mussar groups that meets weekly.  Half my office is heated while the other half has a less efficient system so ultimately right now we can choose to sit in a t-shirt or file papers in our coats and mitts – ok, maybe not that bad but it feels that bad…

Anyone wishing a tree a happy birthday yet?

And then I realized how easy it is to just put off the Jewish stuff.  It’s only trees, right?  I mean, Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur, Pesach – that’s major Jewishness, but trees??  How easy to just lose myself in fixing vents, finding schools and chicken souping a cold.  But ultimately, I don’t want to choose being the person who copes and bandaids.

Being Jewish in every moment means I can choose meaning over chores.  Not to say I won’t fix the vents or find the schools but now I am motivated to do that so I get them out of the way because understanding Tu Bishvat, celebrating nature and trees, reminding myself of my place within the whole – that’s way beyond the chicken soup.

So on Tu Bishvat I will indeed stand outside, heavily layered in winter clothing, lean on a tree, close my eyes and think of Torah and Trees of Knowledge and Trees of Life. Genesis clearly tells us that within hours of creation, we headed to a tree and changed the world forever.  We’re forever connected to the trees, it’s probably worth a thought one day a year.

Have a great Tu Bishvat!

For the past two days I’ve been groggy, exhausted and sore. Every time I swallow, it feels like razor blades are cutting my throat.  My doctor tells me that it’s strep throat.  In between the penicillin doses, I’ve been popping cold and flu medication for fever and congestion, gargling with salt water and sucking on lozenges.  I’ve accumulated some serious Shoppers Optimum points this week! The only relief that I’ve felt has been from eating bowls of my mother’s chicken soup, that I have stock-piled in my freezer.  Maybe it’s the comfort of my mother and the taste of her secret ingredients, but I truly believe that there are some medicinal effects of chicken soup.  I get sick quite infrequently, so I save the soup for emergencies only and I take eating it very seriously. First, it starts with boiled broad egg noodles.  There is pretty much an equal ratio of noodles to soup. Then, to top off the delight,  I generously sprinkle some “crunchies” on top. (You know, those little yellow soup mandel made by OSEM). I especially like it when there is cut up chicken or pipicks in the soup.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you with Jewish Penicillin:

The cure

Does anyone know how many weight watchers points those things are? Actually, I’m sure they’re fried, I’d rather not know…