In less than three weeks we will celebrate our son Shlomo’s Bar Mitzva, G-d willing. Those of you who have had the privilege of meeting him know that underneath the black hat, fringes and payos (sidecurls) he is one cool kid – into farming, animals (he raised the first flock of laying hens for Isabella Freedman/ADAMAH), woodworking, sustainable building and even a bit of WalMart and corporate America bashing once he gets going!

We eschew labels and don’t really consider ourselves “environmentalists” per se as much as Torah Jews for whom our reverence for Hashem’s earth is seamlessly integrated into our daily halachic and social practices.

The weekly Torah portion of a person’s birthday is said to offer deep insights into the person’s inner nature. Shlomo’s Torah portion is “Aikev”. Aikev is homiletically translated as “heel” and it is explained that mitzvos (commandments) that the Torah is exhorting us to do are the small ones which typically get trampled underfoot. So even before getting into the nitty gritty, the Torah is already telling us that it’s small details that can make a difference. Picking up on the “Aikev” – “heel” theme we wanted a bar mitzvah celebration that while leaving a soft footprint on the earth would leave a lasting imprint on people’s hearts. We’d like to share our progress with our many friends in the extended JCarrot cyber-community “in real time” as we embark along this exciting and inspiring journey.

Not quite coincidentally (remember – in our world there are no coincidences!), one of the highlights of his Torah portion is the commandment that when one eats and is sated, that one should thank Hashem for the bounty He gives us. Since Shlomo grew up on a farm, he enjoys a special relationship with the earth and the fruits it yields and he is ever mindful of his role as a steward for both the earth and its inputs and outputs. So like most bar mitzvas, food was going to have a special significance at this simcha. Unlike most bar mitzvas, however, the food – from origin to presentation to leftover disposal – was going to play a central role in the educational and learning component as well.

For starters we decided on a modest, homegrown, local affair never losing sight of the bar mitzvah as a welcome to Shlomo in his role as a Jewish adult.

Invitations were simple, printed on recycled stock and didn’t contain the customary envelope within the envelope within the envelope plus the obligatory piece of rolling paper (I never quite understood why they put that in anyway). RSVP was done on a “regrets only” basis by phone and e-mail keeping the “paper trail” to a bare minimum.

While political correctness was not a significant factor in assembling the guest list, it was a chance to show chessed (kindness) to some community members who don’t get to share many community events for one reason or another and a lesson to Shlomo in how to avoid hurting people’s feelings unnecessarily. To us that’s almost as important as learning how to read the Torah. But then we hit a snag.

Next installment – the exotic wood “yad” (Torah pointer) dilemma.