Blessing Our Plants at Teva

On a warm first day of camp, a room full of 3rd-6th graders filled with the sound of gentle whispering. The 30-or-so 3rd-through-6th graders at the farm activity, indoors because of the heat, had planted cucumber seeds. Now, they we

re challenged to whisper a blessing to their planted seeds for their initial moments of germination and lives of growth.

When asked about how it felt to whisper a blessing to their plant, the responses began “silly,” and then “positive,” “like a ray of happy,positive sunshine for my seed.” One camper shared that “scientists have done studies showing that plants which are talked to in a positive way grow with more health than those which are talked to in a negative way.” With this wisdom in mind, I watched the campers–themselves seedlings embarking on their journeys of growth this summer at Camp Ramah Boston–encourage one another with kind actions and words. T

hey kindly took turns making fruit salad together at outdoor cooking, gently helped one another fit their pots with seeds on them onto our communal tray, and respectfully listened to one another speak in pairs and in whole-group conversations.

As we watch our seedlings grow up over the course of our summer at camp, 

may the sound of these whispered blessings continue to reverberate in the way we show up and care for one another. And, may we continue to relish moments of silliness, of positivity, and of kind speech and action which helps us grow and thrive in our environment.

(Written by Rivka Nechemya Thorpe, Rosh Farm)