This past spring our Sarfan Early Childhood Center planted new garden beds and the children have taken care of them with incredible enthusiasm.  All summer, they have worked hard to tend to the school's garden - watering the plants, weeding the beds, checking on their growth, and eagerly awaiting the moment when they can harvest the fruits (and vegetables!) of their labor.  Now our garden is flourishing with flowers, basil, snap peas, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. And pumpkins will be ready for Sukkot. 

But what has truly stood out is what happens after the harvest. The children don’t keep the produce for themselves. Instead, they’ve been gathering what they’ve grown and sharing it with the members of our Grand Club weekly senior program. In doing so, they’ve learned the powerful lesson of generosity and community—of nurturing the earth, only to give from it and bring joy to others.

This week's Torah reading, Ki Tavo, speaks directly to this act of giving.  We read about the bikkurim ceremony, where ancient farmers would celebrate the year's bounty by offering their first fruits in Jerusalem at the Temple.  But the bikkurim ceremony was more than just an agricultural offering; it was a powerful act of community building. As farmers gathered their first fruits and embarked on the journey to Jerusalem, they were no longer isolated in their individual labor but united with others who shared the same purpose. The communal process of traveling together, singing, and celebrating transformed the solitary nature of farming into a collective experience.

Reflecting on this, I am reminded of Rabbi Sharon Brous' idea  of the “Amen Effect,” the idea that by saying amen, we affirm and connect ourselves to the blessings and prayers of others. When someone says “Amen,” they aren’t just agreeing; they are committing to being part of the blessing. When we respond with “Amen,” we are saying that we want to help bring that blessing into reality. The word amen transforms an individual’s prayer into a shared experience.

In the same way, our community garden is an act of collective affirmation. Each plant we grow, each vegetable we harvest, is an amen to the earth and to the hard work of nurturing it. It’s a reminder that none of us are self-sufficient; we depend on one another, just as the Israelites depended on their community when offering the bikkurim. As we engage with the garden, we teach our children that just as the land yields its fruits in partnership with our efforts, our community thrives through the blessings we share and affirm together. In this way, the garden becomes more than just a place of growth—it becomes a sacred space where we pause, give thanks, and say amen to the abundance around us.

As we enter Shabbat, may we all feel empowered to say our own “Amen” — to join in the blessings of generosity, connection, and community, and to seek ways to share our own first fruits with those around us.

Shabbat Shalom, 
Eric Maurer
CEO