The Day of the First Fruits or Shavuot usually falls in May or early June, but in this grey Seattle Summer we’ve only just now begun to reap our harvest. Cate’s been tending a little pot of green beans and nasturtiums on the playhouse porch. A few days ago our housemate Sharon came beaming in from the backyard telling Cate to go peek in on her pot. Cate couldn’t be more delighted as she scampered about the yard holding two perfect green beans, the first of her tiny harvest. To show our gratitude for ‘the fruit of the vine’ we followed the Jewish tradition of marking our first fruits with a red cord, marking them as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Like many of the ancient sacrifices held in the Temple, after the prayers and the ceremony (in this case the tying of a ribbon bow) we turned our offering into a communal feast, and I carefully cooked these two beans separately from the rest of our farmer’s market stash for dinner.

This past year I’ve been working on the concept of abundance, trying to embed in my psyche the idea that there is always enough — enough power, enough talent, enough opportunity — for everyone, If. IF we practice community. If we stop hording. If we open our eyes to the needs of others. If we live generously there is always enough for a feast.

Dayenu, it is enough.

A Prayer for Shavuot:
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe,
who has kept us in life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season.