TU B’SHEVAT: Take lessons from trees in these dispiriting times

The news is full of tragedy. Many are hurt

economically or by war, or are fearful of the

political future. Homelessness, bankruptcies

and school, movie, and mall shootings fill our

minds.

A spiritual lesson is that “a person is like a tree of

the field.” When fortune has turned for someone,

and they have lost all hope and are despairing,

then they should ponder a tree in winter. Its leaves

have fallen, its moisture has dried up, it is almost a

dead stump in the ground. Then suddenly, it

begins to revive and to draw moisture from the

earth. Slowly it blossoms, then brings forth fruits.

People should learn from this not to despair, but to

take hope and have courage, for they, too, are like a

tree.

January 16, 2014 is Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for

Trees. It celebrates the rebirthing of trees in the

midst of winter, the Kabbalistic reawakening of

divine energy with God as the tree of life.

This holiday is the first Earth Day. The Talmud

declares: “If you have a sapling, and someone says

that the Messiah has come, complete the planting,

and then go welcome the Messiah.”

The idea of the importance of having faith and

moving forward, as well as being stewards of the

earth, is as old as Judaism itself.
Rabbi Arthur Segal