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January 14, 2022 (12 Shevat 5782) Etz Chayim Hee Dear Friends, I hope this correspondence finds you well and in good health. We hope you will be able to join us for our hybrid services, this Shabbat morning at 10:30am, which will be held in our sanctuary and over our regular Zoom prayer link. During this upcoming week, the Jewish calendar celebrates the holiday of Tu Bishvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat. The Torah states, “When you enter the land [of Israel] and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten” (Leviticus 19:23). The fruit of the fourth year was to be offered to the priests in the Temple as a gift of gratitude for the bounty of the land, and the fifth-year fruit, and all subsequent fruit was, finally, for the farmer. Later, the Rabbis of the Talmud established four “New Years” throughout the Jewish calendar: Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish new year for the calendar; a new year for establishing the reign of kings; a new year for tithing animals of Jewish farmers to be given to the Temple; and finally, Tu Bishvat, the new year for the trees (Mishnah, Rosh Hashanah 1:1). In medieval times, Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) gave Tu Bishvat greater spiritual significance. Seeing in Tu Bishvat a vehicle for mystical ideas, the Kabbalists imbued Tu Bishvat with new religious significance, as well as created elaborate new symbolic rituals. According to Lurianic Kabbalah, the original school of Kabbalah named after Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the Jewish rabbi who developed it, all physical forms, including human beings, hide within them a spark of the Divine Presence. This internal spark is like a fruit or nut, within which is the seeds of new life and potential growth. In Jewish mysticism, human actions can release these sparks and help increase God’s presence in the world. On Tu Bishvat, the Kabbalists enacted a type of Seder, during which they would eat certain fruits associated with the land of Israel, as a symbolic way of releasing these divine sparks. Environmentalists have come to see Tu Bishvat as an ancient and authentic Jewish “Earth Day.” They use the holiday to educate Jews about the Jewish tradition of advocacy of responsible stewardship of God’s creation, as manifested in today’s ecological activism. While this is all a nice, historical overview of the development and significance of the holiday, I would also like to share my experience, in 1996, when I was living in Israel during the holiday. My two children were 4 and 2 years of age at the time, and were attending Gan (pre-school), while I was learning at Yeshiva and studying to become a Mohel. When we went to pick them up from Gan, all of the children in the class came outside with their faces beaming, having sung, danced and celebrated during the school day. Each of them was holding a small plant in their hands. I was thrilled that my young daughters were enthused, but I was even more overwhelmed while walking home and seeing so many other young people rejoicing, celebrating, and holding flowers and plants. This was not a religious holiday, per se, but rather a national holiday, taking pride in the continued growth, development, and flourishing of Jewish independence in the modern State of Israel. Back then, our cell phones did not have cameras, but if they had, I would have taken myriads of photos. Finally, remember that the Torah itself is likened to a growing tree with strong roots and multiple branches. As we sing, when placing the Torah back into the ark, “Etz Chayim Hee.” It is a tree of life to those who hold fast to it. Please join Rabbi Stern and Cantor Zim, this Monday at 12:30PM, as noted below, for our Tu Bishvat Seder, which will take place over Zoom and let us pray that this Shabbat will inspire us to hold onto our Torah values, remind us of the gift of the earth, and see the potential for growth and nurturing in all of life itself. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD.
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