Shalom. This video is about Tu Bishvat. The 15th day of the month of Shabbat, which comes after Hanukkah in the middle of winter here in the spring in Israel, it is the Tu Bishvat is the 15th day of Shabbat. The reason is that the letters for 15, Tet is nine and Vob is six and you add it together you get is 15.
This holiday is a minor holiday. It is not in the bible at all. It has mentioned in the Talmud as the New Year for trees. What about Rosh Hashanah? The Talmud notes that there are four different New Years in Judaism unless you think that is really hard to understand, come and think about how we have January first in our culture. Some people have a different fiscal new year. Your birthday is a different kind of time to think when a President takes over in the middle of January that is another way of thinking about the New Year. So the Talmud is four of those with different purposes. The first of Nisan is one, the first of Tishara is what we call Rosh Hashannah. The first of Aman is another and the Tu Bishvat. The video of Tu Bishvat is the New Year for trees and there is actually a debate in the Mishna in between the House of Hill and the House of Shammi is to whether it should be the first of the month of Tu Bishvat, the 15th and the 15th when out.
That really is the beginning of spring. In fact, there is a so long for Tu Bishvat called Skadiyah, about the Aman tree. It is because the Aman tree begins blooming at that time of year which is a time for spring. In Jewish history, Tu Bishvat becomes significant because in the Great Seas of Jerusalem by the Romans which have culminated in the disruption of the second temple in the 70 CE which started at about 66 CE. It was the Karabs that sustained the Jews at the time and the Karabs are always been associated with Tu Bishvat.
It is called boxer in Hebrew. And that is because of a sling version of the word boxer in which is Jewish for Rams’ enemy, Baxer, Saint John’s bread, which has a significant role in Christianity and it is curved like a Ram’s horn. Any case, what is Tu Bishvat today? Basically Tu Bishvat is observed with the kind of Seder for the last several hundred years, not only after the Passover Seder using four cups of wine. The mystics of Shabbat in Northern Israel, the Holy City of Shabbat developed this Seder to celebrate really the land of Israel.
I said that there is no connection with the bible, but there are verses that are use in connection with the Tu Bishvat from the bible. Among them, one from Deuteronomy, which talks about seven specific food types that are really inherent and intertwined with the State of Israel? There are wheat and barley, vines and figs, pomegranates, olives and honey. The Seder often is built around those food items. Today, oranges come from Jaffa oranges, sometimes you have oranges but those are the main food items. And there are different Seders that are experienced. All having four cups of wine and they mix red and white to kind of explain the seasons.
What are the ideas behind Tu Bishvat and how do we understand that in history? Since it is the New Year of trees, which had a technical term in the Talmud, today is really the opportunity to think about the significant of trees and when you think of trees, what could be more significant? They provide shade, they provide housing for birds and squirrels and all kinds of insects. They helped with pollution. Measurably, one tree can take out the pollution from 13 cars. The wood is used for so much, paper and firewood and building material. The trees provide fruit. They stop soil erosion, will also suck up water, they beautify the world. They give you fresh air and oxygen. They do so much and we have a Bracha Proprietes, thank you for the fruit of the tree.
Trees are amazing and there is even significance spiritually about the roots. The Rabbi’s talked about how Jews need to be, have the roots planted deeply and if the roots can not be planted that deeply, when the roots are intertwined, the trees can hold together, can withstand the vicissitudes of nature. There are metaphors about how strong trees can withstand the wind by bending a bit. If the tree is rotten from the inside, the tree will fall over you and if it healthy on the outside. The tough trees build toughness in their bark from storms. They can hold on longer. There is a story of course of the smallest tree, the burning bush getting the revelation with Moses rather than some giant tree. All kind of significant powerful ideas about trees in the world.
The Jewish national fund, which is Karen Kayam in Israel, which began by buying the land of Israel from absentee area of landlords. Made Tu Bishvat its basic holiday and a lot of Jewish kids and Sunday Schools and Parochial Schools would plant trees at Tu Bishvat time. I remember bringing ten cents a time to put a little slot and when you have enough money, you got to plant a tree in Israel. There is a lot of humor about this two; one of the first Israeli movies I saw. There is about a Jew who gave a lot of money to have a forest in their name. And so there are a lot of Jews who did this to help plant because the JNF has planted hundreds of millions of trees. The Palestinians tried to burn them in they end up fighting and they were successful in some cases sadly but the land of Israel is now full of green trees.
When the pioneers got there, the land was denuded because the Turks have taken the trees to use for firewood and train tracks. Now again, there are trees all over the place, which is beautiful, the JNF forests, anyway, in this movie, Hitsala, he is called up and told that so and so is coming to see their forest. So we heard, we painted the sign, the they should pay our forest, they should pay our accumbency their forest, they live, they said as Ginzburg is coming to see his forest. He pays another sign, puts it at the same place. Very humorous, and when I take trips to Israel, people always want to see their tree. But one of the fun things to do really is to go plant a tree that makes that contribution.
Interestingly enough, the last time we went with a group, the JNF forest people did not want us to plant trees. They want us to saw limbs of the bottom trees. They had just had the war where the rockets are being fired from Lebanon by Hisbolah and the fire trucks could not get through the forest to help save the trees because of all the low hanging branches. So we cut off low hanging branches, we cut off the little branches so that the little fire trucks could get through the forest and help save trees.
What kind of person would burn a tree and kill people and some rockets? But that is what is happening there.
The part of the significance of Tu Bishvat and of course there are many others. I just would want to talk about it a little bit more. Spiritually, you think about trees. I am looking out the window now, the tree and the leaves are all falling. It is fall time here getting ready to be winter and it is really a source of renewal. The trees lose their leaves, they come back in the spring, and it is really a time to think about the power of renewal and rejuvenation.
Also, it became a major time to focus on the earth and ecology. Everyday in the paper we read dire warnings about what is happening with Global Warming and this is a whole day set-aside to think about the Earth. The bounty the Earth produces and the beauty of nature and what trees do, Tu Bishvat could be a great opportunity to do that.
Also, the idea of Bal Patrick, do not be wasteful which is related to the environment. The mitzvah of do not be wasteful comes from a tree verse in the Talmud where it says, if you are besieging a city in Ancient warfare, do not cut down the fruit trees because when the war is over, the people will need them. We learn about the idea of Bal Patrick of not being wasteful.
It is also a custom of planting trees when a child is born and then using some of the limbs later for the Hookah, the child is married.
I want to read you a beautiful blessing about a tree that is found in the Talmud. Once there is a woman was traveling in the desert, she was hungry, tired and thirsty when she came upon a tree. She rested under its shade, ate up its fruit and drank off the spring water that flowed beside it. As she was about to continue on her journey, she said, tree, how shall I bless you? Shall I say may your shade be pleasant? It is already a said. Shall I say that may your fruit be sweet? It is already sweet. Shall I say may a stream of water flowing next to your branches? A stream of water already flows beside you. Therefore, what can I say? Maybe Gods’ will that all of the shoots taken from you shall be just like you, a beautiful prayer.
Why trees? Again, think about the role the trees played in draining the swamps in the whole of Valley in the Galilee, everything that I have talked to you before about the beautiful things the trees do.
That is really the holiday of Tu Bishvat. It is a time to think about our connection to the Holy Land of Israel. The time to think about how well we can do to protect the environment, the time to really to look at trees and to be grateful for the beautiful bounty that the world gave us and all these green trees that help us breath without them, we could not breath or take away the bad stuff and put in good stuff. How many of us can say that we, all day long, take out bad stuff and put in good stuff. That is what trees do are all day long.
So thank God for the trees, thank God for this opportunity to celebrate the trees. Thank God for this beautiful holiday of Tu Bishvat.
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