And found it exhausting. Although my “farm work” — for the week it lasted and all with the click of a mouse — didn’t begin to approach a millionth of what a real farmer does day in and day out my inability to keep up with “my farm” gave me a new lasting appreciation for the dedication of real farmers.
Although I lost nothing concrete by giving up — there was no actual financial outlay and my family’s livelihood didn’t depend on my getting the harvest in — I do remember feeling overwhelmed by trying to keep track of what to plow sow harvest and purchase and when without a break. But I also remember the feeling when all my “crops” were taken perfect care of the feeling of “I and I alone am making this happen.”
The word for farmer in Hebrew is ikar alef-kaf-reish also meaning “plow turn soil over.” Cognate roots include ayin-kuf-reish to uproot; ches-gimmel-reish to gird; ches-kuf-reish to dig; alef-gimmel-reish to collect; ayin-kaf-reish to trouble. Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch says that all have the basic meaning of concentrating energy. Each one radiates purpose.
The word for the most important part of something is ikar ayin-kuf-reish. Everything on a farm can be in place — the land the seeds the plows the fully grown produce — but if there is no farmer overseeing each step in the process then either nothing will grow or produce ready for harvest will rot in the fields. And yet as crucial as he is as much as he may be the ikar the “farmer ” he is not the ikar the “main ingredient.” That is Hashem. That is where our acute focus needs to be. We need to actively make Hashem the focus of our thoughts because our energy thoughts and concentration can so easily be diverted from what’s truly important.
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