Last week, my husband and I drove to Narrowsburg, New York to bring our youngest daughter Nomi to Camp Sternberg. It was a beautiful drive through the Poconos and she was so excited to go off for her very first adventure at overnight camp.
My husband and I had decided that since there was a five day window when both of our younger kids would be away at camp, instead of coming straight home we would rent a cabin in the Poconos and vacation for a few days by ourselves. We found an Airbnb in Canadensis, Pennsylvania and set up shop as we prepared to explore the beautiful Pocono Mountains.
We found a hiking spot and started making our way through the trail, soon finding ourselves at a beautiful small waterfall. We climbed up to the flat surface of a rock overlooking the waterfall, and sat there together in silence as we listened to the powerful sounds of the water rushing through the rocks. Sruly meditated on the sights and sounds beside me, as I simply let my eyes focus on the rushing water.
It occurred to me, as I let my eyes glaze over while staring at the waterfall, that there was an incredible strength and power in the rushing water, and that no matter how much water flowed over the rocks, there was always a fresh supply of rushing water coming right behind it. The source would never run out. The well would never run dry.
When it comes to fundraising, my friend Lori Palatnik always says, “Hashem is a billionaire.” We need not think small, because the ultimate Source is infinite. We do think small sometimes, with our small prayers and wishes, but we don’t realize that God is a never ending source of goodness and bounty.
In Hebrew there is a word “shefa,” and what it means is this endless bountiful source of goodness that comes from Above. (It’s also the name of a mall in Israel.) It’s hard to translate into English because it doesn’t really have a good translation. It’s more like a feeling.
As I stared at the waterfall, I was overcome with a sensation that small children have when their parents take care of them, that they are being cared for by those who have unlimited strength and infinite power. I remember being a small child trying to push open a heavy door, and my mother or father standing behind me would effortlessly push the door open. They can do anything, I’d think.
As we get older we realize that our parents are indeed flawed and limited. But God is neither flawed nor limited. God can do anything and has a literally bottomless capacity to shower goodness upon us. His well never runs dry.
King David said in Psalms, “Thank God for He is good, for his kindness is forever.” “Forever” isn’t only a statement of time. It’s also a statement of quantity. Humans are finite and limited. But when we’re being cared for by Hashem, it’s like that waterfall. There’s no end to what God can do.
Wishing you all a life filled with shefa—now and forever!