I went to Ralph’s and above the bread section were the following words:
LIMITS…
Due to the huge increase in demand and to ensure that more of our valuable customers have the opportunity to purchase, we are limiting bread to 2 packages per customer.
There were signs like this all over the store. Yet, all I could see was that word, “Limits.” Yes, limit the amount of food and supplies in taking what we need. But the idea of limits extends far beyond the grocery store.
In order to live within the unknown, our minds and bodies survive within limits. Understanding there must be a limit to the energy we expend, the anxiety we produce, the tension we feel, the rapid beating of our hearts. While fear is normal and healthy, limiting our fright so that we do not remain paralyzed, glued to the couch watching the news play over and over again.
Consider these limits:
Limit the amount of harsh words expressed to a love one. We are often cruel with those we love.
Limit the anger towards our children who cannot understand why their environment has changed so dramatically. Choose embrace and understanding over rage and avoidance.
Limit the grudges against those who hurt us. Now is the time to exercise forgiveness and expansion of heart.
Limit your judgement of self. We are all in this together. Trying. Stretching. Falling. Getting back up. We are all doing our very best. Our expectations of yesterday will look very different than tomorrow. Give yourself a break.
Halakha is the Hebrew word for Jewish law. It also means “walking”. We use our Jewish tradition to keep walking, understanding that each day, the path may look and feel different. But it is the commitment of family, friends, community and God that propels us forward. Devotion that knows no limits. Support that knows no bounds.
Limit resentment, bitterness, anger and fear. Limit disappointment, frustration, hatred, and hostility.
But never limit love. It will be love that allows us to remain on the curvy path. It will be love that enables our spirits to rise higher and higher. Love for God. Love for each other. Love for the stranger. Love of self.
Limit so very much.
But never limit love.
Shabbat Shalom
