Gut Shabbes, happy Tu b'Shvat to everyone! Well, we'll begin at the heart of the matter… Because that's what Tu b'Shvat is likened to, the heart. It says is the gemara (Rosh Hashana), that this is the time to start praying to have a nice etrog in the coming year. The etrog is the symbol of the heart, and is representative of that member of Am Yisrael whose self is made out of a tasty inside and a sweet smelling outside: the talmid chacham as he manifests positively in the world. As Rav Daniel showed in an incredible shiur the other night, the sages describe an etrog as a fruit that is also a tree. The etrog is remarkable in that it will stay on a tree for more than one season, just growing until it's decided to be picked; a fruit that is content with developing itself to be all that it can be, without regard to the outside pressures to conform, to sell short its dream. This is a quality that I am really starting to see is emphasized in Torah learning, and it is a strong tikun to the tendency of the modern world to emphasize results, especially in the education system: on passing the test, on finishing the paper. The modern world's preoccupation with the end-product is an attitude more geared to creating professionals than to creating critically thinking members of society. Torah learning on the other hand, is all about process and growth, about struggling to embody our learning, and to enhance the thought process, to bring out our deepest selves.
I was thinking during davening the other day about the part where we say: "And let our eyes have vision of Your return to Zion in Mercy, Blessed are you, Hashem, the Returner of His Shechina to Zion."
Here I am, asking for the fullest redemption of the world, for Hashem to bring His deepest desires back to Zion… I started to question how much I myself am bringing my deepest desires back to Zion… Am I still being powered by the dreams that dwell in the pistons of my soul? Am I working to manifest those visions, which once drove me to put myself on the line, for Zion? I just made a new friend who was volunteering through Livnot, from Arcata, California. He is living amidst the same counter-culture that my dreams were floating in back in America (where they still are in many ways). I asked about what was happening with the Headwaters in Northern California (the largest remaining stand of redwoods, some well over a thousand years old) that has been slated to be logged. He told me of these three women (Jewish, no less) who have been up in their tree-sit for over 8 months now… That is some "mesirot nefesh" (complete and total self-commitment) on behalf of our beloved birthday trees: holding tight to a dream for this precious part of creation, and devoting life's energy to its fulfillment, personal sacrifice. Am I doing anywhere near the same for what I believe? Am I devoted to bringing out the songs of Zion? Is my Torah inspiring and leading me to be an Etrog?
I've always seen trees as such an inspiration for myself, because they work tirelessly, efficiently and with all they have, to do the deepest will of the Creator. Though they may appear to be just standing there, they are churning inside, turning air, water, sun, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen into a healing, fibrous shade that in turn gives fruit bearing, climate-controlling, oxygen- releasing wonderment. Fully realized potential. They are a deep and simple lesson in emunah that such creatures can be born of such little seed.
As it is both Shabbat Shira and Tu b'Shvat, it is definitely the time to sing out our heart song, as some circles say. It is odd to have a new year in what is clearly the middle of a long dark winter, but this is the reminder to connect to those inspirations that moved us on Rosh Hashana, and to check our lives to see if we are still striving to live out those dreams… Mazal Tov, and a big SHANA TOVA to all the trees in our backyards…
Shaul David Judelman
|
Shaul David Judelman currently resides in Jerusalem. After growing up amongst the Douglas Firs of Seattle, Washington, he came to Israel on a quest for Judaism alive in its land. He spent six years in the Bat Ayin Yeshiva Rabbinical program and now teaches at Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo while working on several different environmental initiatives in Jerusalem. He is the founder and coordinator of Simchat Shlomo’s Eco-Activist Beit Midrash, a program offering holistic in-depth Torah study around issues of ecology. |