January 21, 2011- Yisro/Tu B'shevat
A week of birthdays. Happy birthday Rabbi Lynn (40 - whoa!), happy birthday Rosa Lynn (8), and happy birthday trees (5771). And although it's not the actual date this week, the Torah portion recounts the original 'Birthday' of the Jewish nation at Mt. Sinai (before that, we were merely a family - now we became a nation). But let's get back to the trees for a second. Yesterday was Tu B'Shvat, which basically means the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shvat (Tu is the sound the Hebrew letter numerical system would make if you pronounced it, much like 'vol' would be VL or 45 in roman numerals), and it's known to be the birthday of the trees.
There are two points which need an explanation. Firstly, the Talmud teaches that there are actually four Rosh Hashanas. We know of the one for us, but there's another for water (succot), grains (passover) and trees/fruit (tu b'shvat) - four distinct cycles of time where these essentials are recycled and thus 'judged'. On our Rosh Hashana we review the previous year's crop of good deeds vs bad deeds and set the course for the coming year's consequential allotment. So too for water, grain, and fruit at their appropriate time, with however one small note of importance; neither water nor grain nor fruit misbehaves - rather WE are judged on these days vis a vis water, grain and fruit. On a simple level, or measure of these things for the coming year is meted out on these dates (and there are special additions to our prayers and customs accordingly). However on a much deeper level, we are 'judged on these days vis a vis what water grain and trees represent to us. Water is Torah and Grain means our livelihood. But what are the trees about????
Here lies the second point - and a very beautiful one. To Shakespeare, tis the winter of our discontent. To the world at large, winter represents death, dearth, darkness, dread and dreary. Spring is full of life and vigor. Etc. Granted, the world looks quite bleak during the winter. The days are dark, the cold oppresses, and life seems a million miles away - as of this writing, the snow has begun to fall in Philly. And yet, in typical Jewish fashion, we are the iconoclasts. In the dead of winter, the very heart of death and darkness, the Jew celebrates life. Tu B'shvat's ritual is namely the eating of fruit - tons of it, classically 15 different kinds, or at the very least the species indigenous to the land of Israel. In the heart of winter we celebrate life because we have a secret; our Sages teach that unbeknownst to those with superficial perception, the sap actually begins to enter the tree on this day, when everything else looks bleak. WE know that the seeds of life are sown amidst the outward gloom, rays of light are planted in the heart of darkness because the world in never what it seems when God runs the show and you are His people. We celebrate that faith, that trust, that no matter how grim things seems, salvation is already on its way. Bitachon - trust - the Jewish way of understanding. That's what Tu B'shvat is all about.
And if you've been following this so far, then the both aforementioned points make sense together. Tu B'shvat is the Rosh Hashana when we're judged specifically vis a vis our faith and trust in God's system. Do we have it? Can we pass the tests? Can we not be fooled by trends and externalities? Not so simple. But oh so Jewish.
As I send my little girl off into her eighth year full of life and sparkle, I turn an auspicious corner in my own timeline and endeavor to take the Tu B'shvat message to heart.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Lynn
There are two points which need an explanation. Firstly, the Talmud teaches that there are actually four Rosh Hashanas. We know of the one for us, but there's another for water (succot), grains (passover) and trees/fruit (tu b'shvat) - four distinct cycles of time where these essentials are recycled and thus 'judged'. On our Rosh Hashana we review the previous year's crop of good deeds vs bad deeds and set the course for the coming year's consequential allotment. So too for water, grain, and fruit at their appropriate time, with however one small note of importance; neither water nor grain nor fruit misbehaves - rather WE are judged on these days vis a vis water, grain and fruit. On a simple level, or measure of these things for the coming year is meted out on these dates (and there are special additions to our prayers and customs accordingly). However on a much deeper level, we are 'judged on these days vis a vis what water grain and trees represent to us. Water is Torah and Grain means our livelihood. But what are the trees about????
Here lies the second point - and a very beautiful one. To Shakespeare, tis the winter of our discontent. To the world at large, winter represents death, dearth, darkness, dread and dreary. Spring is full of life and vigor. Etc. Granted, the world looks quite bleak during the winter. The days are dark, the cold oppresses, and life seems a million miles away - as of this writing, the snow has begun to fall in Philly. And yet, in typical Jewish fashion, we are the iconoclasts. In the dead of winter, the very heart of death and darkness, the Jew celebrates life. Tu B'shvat's ritual is namely the eating of fruit - tons of it, classically 15 different kinds, or at the very least the species indigenous to the land of Israel. In the heart of winter we celebrate life because we have a secret; our Sages teach that unbeknownst to those with superficial perception, the sap actually begins to enter the tree on this day, when everything else looks bleak. WE know that the seeds of life are sown amidst the outward gloom, rays of light are planted in the heart of darkness because the world in never what it seems when God runs the show and you are His people. We celebrate that faith, that trust, that no matter how grim things seems, salvation is already on its way. Bitachon - trust - the Jewish way of understanding. That's what Tu B'shvat is all about.
And if you've been following this so far, then the both aforementioned points make sense together. Tu B'shvat is the Rosh Hashana when we're judged specifically vis a vis our faith and trust in God's system. Do we have it? Can we pass the tests? Can we not be fooled by trends and externalities? Not so simple. But oh so Jewish.
As I send my little girl off into her eighth year full of life and sparkle, I turn an auspicious corner in my own timeline and endeavor to take the Tu B'shvat message to heart.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Lynn
posted by Rabbi Lynn at
1:58 PM
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