Charles River Watershed

Thanks to my friend Jodi who’s bat mitzvah is shortly after mine, I am starting my summer of Mitzvot off strong with a morning spent on the Charles River removing invasive plants. The plants we were specifically looking for were water chestnuts.

There were two people to each boat. I only knew two people that were from my Hebrew School out of about twenty three, so my options were limited. I decided to go with my friend Rina, and I took the back because since I had grown up on a lake, I had plenty of experience. We paddled out to a small, closed off section of the river that was heavily inhabited with lily pads. The two instructors that led the group looked to be only about sixteen. I was surprised that people who were so young could play a role in helping out in the issues they believed in.

They told us that it was time to go out and search for the chestnuts. Rina and I steered over to a patch of lily pads infested with the invasive species. She pointed one out to me, so I leaned over the rail of the canoe, extended my arm, and grasped my fingers around the small circle of spiky leaves that poked their way up in between lily pads. I gave the plant a gentle tug, and I could feel that it had detached from the sediment below the water. I continued to pull, and the vegetation came up, stem and all.

The actually nut was much spiker than the leaves that it was connected to. It was small and brown, with huge points sticking out from every part of the surface possible. Rina laughed a little at my expression as I surveyed the species. She suggested that we should continue to search, and I nodded and began to paddle.

The more we searched and pulled the chestnuts out, the more I found that there was no way we were going to get them all. Every time Rina or I would see one, we would pass by different plants we could have pulled up. It was extremely frustrating to see one go by and not be able to reach it. A part of this including having to work as a team. When Rina saw a few, I would have to steer us in the right direction and leave a few that I could have gotten behind. No matter what, we always found more options to find new plants, and we always could keep going. Not going to a few did not stop us at all.

In Hebrew, Tikkun Olam means ‘repairing the world’. (You can learn more about it on the Meaning of Mitzvah page.) In this case, it was very literal. We were trying to help the environment, and repair the Charles River. Although it was impossible to get every last Water Chestnut in the two hours we were given, we helped out the ecosystem and the species within it.

There was a multitude of lessons I learned from this. I won’t try to list them all, because then we’d be here awhile, so instead I will list some of my favorites:

You cannot open all of the doors that life will give you.

No matter how hard we tried, we could not get all of the Water Chestnuts. We could not reach every patch we saw, and we could not get to everything we wanted to. There are so many opportunities that life will give you, and you will have to say no to some. You will have to set your priorities, and you will have to let go. Being perfect and taking every single chance you get is impossible, and at some point you will need to look back and be satisfied with yourself and your deeds.

In order to work as a team, you have to make sacrifices.

Both Rina and I were instructed to get as many water chestnuts as possible. At some points, I needed to leave behind a few plants that were in my reach so that she could get to some that were in her’s. In order to be the most successful we could be, we both needed to give up some of our opportunities so that the other could get theirs.

I definitely recommend doing something to help out your environment. It’s a great way to do good deeds, and it’s a fun opportunity to get outside during the summer. Thank you Jodi for an amazing way to kick off my Summer of Mitzvot.