New Vegetables

I received the following inspring email from A Jew in the Ayalon Valley:

Lichvod Talmidei Sha'alvim and Friends-

Yesterday we were privileged to spend Shabbos at the Yishuv Yated. This settlement, located in the Chevel Shalom area, ten minutes away from the Egyptian border and the border of Azza, is the new home for a number of families from Atzmona, Gush Katif. As you know many of the homeless families from Atzmona stayed with us at Sha'alvim for a few weeks during an extremely difficult and painful time. It was at this time that the Vatkin family, along with their 8 children, stayed with Rav Chaim Cohen and family in Sha'alvim for a few weeks and formed a close friendship. With the families at Yated rebuilding their lives, settlement and agriculture in the sand dunes of Chalutza, the Vatkin family invited Rav Cohen to bring along the boys from Sha'alvim for an up close look at these pioneers and their inspiring non-stop attitude towards Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.

On Erev- Shabbat the boys toured the new areas of agriculture, according to some areas in which agriculture has never been attempted, and actually participated in the harvesting of the first vegetables being grown in Chalutza.

The overriding message which was both heard over Shabbat and seen implemented in the lives of these incredibly idealistic personalities was the famous words of Rav Kook in Arpelai Tohar, "The purely righteous do not complain about wickedness, they increase righteousness; Do not complain about heresy, they increase faith; do not complain about ignorance, they increase wisdom."

May we merit incorporating this powerful message into our lives and see the complete rebuilding, physically and spiritually, of Eretz Yisrael b'karov.