As if to tell us that, in the words of
Albert Camus, “in the midst of the winter I came to know that there was in me
an invincible Summer”, TubiSh’vat comes at the time when in Israel, the winter
rains are slacking and the trees start filling themselves with the sap of new
life.
In Safed, in the sixteenth century, the
mystics conceived the idea that on the 15th. of Sh’vat the Tree of
Life, the tree of the Ten Sefirot, renews the flow of life in the
universe. Planting a tree on this date
assumes special significance. We are
asserting our faith that the tree will sustain new life and that its fruits
will feed and delight us.
The TubiSh’vat vegetarian seder celebrates
the bounty of creation and brings us closer to the miracle of Creation. The
fifteen fruits that we eat contain within them the seed of the new fruit, just
as we welcome the new generation that will follow us and continue our work of
repairing the world.
A story is told in the Talmud about
Honi, the Rainmaker: He
was also known as Honi the Circle Maker because, by drawing a circle and
stepping inside of it, he would recite special prayers for rain. Sometimes he would even argue with God during
a drought, and the rains would come. He was very wise but, when he saw something
that puzzled him he would ask questions to satisfy his thirst for knowledge.
One day, Honi the
Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi
asked the man, "How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?"The man replied, "Seventy years."
Honi then asked the man, "And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?"
The man answered, "Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees."
The idealistic
settlers of what was then Palestine understood that planting trees and drying
the marshes was a sure way to restore the land and bring it to the splendor of
previous centuries. Presently, Israel is
the only country that has entered the 21st. century with an
increased number of trees. Every TubiSh’vat the Israeli children plant trees, a
practice that has extended to the Diaspora.
In Isaiah
65:21-22 we read ”They shall not build for others to dwell in, or plant for
others to enjoy. For the days of My people
shall be as long as the days of a tree.
Let us honor the
“giving trees” that give us nourishment, shade, a home for the birds that
delight us with their singing and, mostly, unconditional friendship.
Martha E. Lichtenstein
Adar 5773
