Developing Our Inner “Springtime” Awareness

As I write this Minute with Moshe just days before Pesach, Spring is in the air! All around our beautiful campus, we are experiencing the bloom of Spring and can feel the hum of new life.

Tradition tells us that we must “guard the springtime” (Deuteronomy 16:1) and that the month of Nisan, during which we celebrate Passover, must always embody springtime. This is why the Jewish calendar has a system of leap years, to ensure that Passover always coincides with the celebration of Spring. 

Yet, let’s look beyond the command to synchronize the lunar and solar calendars. This instruction to “guard” the Spring is undoubtedly a strange admonition. Indeed, the seasons have their own life; they come and go without human assistance or intervention.

The Sages would have us understand that there is an internal springtime in addition to the external Spring of buds and flowers. The inner springtime is that tender place in our hearts where we nurture hope and find the courage to take the necessary risks inherent in every project of renewal.

The inner springtime requires careful guarding and protection. Hope can easily slip away, the status quo can become entrenched, and our imaginations can wither. 

The Sages understood that we must carefully guard and protect our capacity to hope and dream. This is the Hasidic understanding of “guard the springtime.”

Working with my professional staff, board, and community partners, I have great faith in our collective power to guard the South Bend Jewish community’s inner springtime. Our actions embody the hopes and dreams of our inner springtime, which include the historic conversation Sinai and Temple are undertaking to explore their shared future.

Collaborative community planning requires commitment and hard work. I know the effort we put into the change process correlates to “healthy bud growth and stronger bloom production” of our inner springtime. 

The full bloom of our community planning investment ultimately will be in our ability to shape and define our community’s vision to grow and thrive. To this end, the community is coming together to establish an urgently needed framework for developing our sustainable futures.

For the last 79 years, the Fed has toiled to create a rich tapestry of Jewish life, but our work is far from complete. As we approach our 80th anniversary in 2025, the Federation feels energized by the hopes and dreams of our inner springtime. The Jewish people have always been “One people with one heart.” 

May our hearts continue to beat as one, and may we go from strength to strength in fulfilling our sacred responsibility to contribute to the mosaic of Judaism and Jewish life in South Bend.

Moshe Kruger
Executive Director
574-233-1164 x1802
MKruger@TheJewishFed.org