The Prince of the Dreams Expired! India mourning....... 

The former President of, the great democratic country India, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam 

                      Repairing the World on Tu B'Shvat - 3

National Tikkun: The Restoration of Israel

“The days are coming,’ declares the LORD ... who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where He had banished them. ‘For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.’”  (Jeremiah 16:14–15)

For Zionists, the Fifteenth of Shvat is a day of national tikkun, born out of a need to repair the Land from the effects of two thousand years of exile. It is a Jewish longing to be rid of the Diaspora character and become a part of the restoration of the Promised Land. Tu B’shvat is therefore a day of planting of trees, turning the earth green.  It is a day of strengthening one’s roots to the Land, of making the desert bloom, both the physical desert and the spiritual desert caused by the removal of the Jewish People from the Land.

 

                     A group of American Jews visiting Israel plant trees together with IDF
                                                             soldiers on Tu B'shvat.

For environmentalists, Tu B’Shvat is a day for ecological tikkun olam (repairing the world), in other words, a day for repairing the planet, which has been devastated by mankind during the last century.  This school of thought initially became popular in the 1970s when environmentalist began to warn against the misuse of the environment. Increasingly, over the last few decades. the holiday became a time for sounding the alarm. The Tu B’Shvat seders began to take on an environmentalist character—so much so that this holiday now has been declared Jewish Earth Day. In so doing, Jewish environmentalist have expanded the concept of the “Land” to include the entire planet, a notion in conflict with the halakhic or rabbinic viewpoint that it relates to the Land of Israel alone.
 

Young orchard in Israel

On the other hand, the rabbis themselves exhibited an ecological perspective when they stressed the importance of trees and their sustenance. For example, Rabbenu Bahya, a medieval Jewish philosopher, writes: “The commentators explain that the life of man and his food is [from] a tree of the field … and it is not the way of a wise and understanding nation to needlessly destroy something so worthy, and therefore you should not cut down a tree of the field, rather you should protect it from destruction and damage, and take benefit from it.” “Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?”  (Deuteronomy 20:19) The rabbis also paid special consideration to what is called yishuv ha-aretz (settlement of the Land) in which special consideration is given to trees.  For example, there is a rabbinic law that anyone selling land in Israel must first give preference to any neighbor who is abutting the land. If, however, the neighbor wants to use the land for a purpose that does not contribute to yishuv ha-aretz (settlement of the Land) he loses that privilege.For instance, if the neighbor wants to plant crops but another buyer wants to build a house, the second buyer gains preference since houses are more permanent than crops.  But if the neighbor wants to plant trees, the privilege of purchasing the land goes to him.
 

A newly planted tree in Israel   

 

People are Like Trees

“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.”  (Psalm 1:3) Scripture often likens people to trees in order to teach spiritual truths.  According to the Talmud (Jewish Oral Law), the tree is similar to a man in the following four ways:
1.    Both man and trees are essentially tied to the soil.  Man works the soil for nourishment.  The soil provides nourishment to the tree and room for the roots to grow.  Without a good set of roots, the tree will not be able to withstand a strong wind. So the Talmud teaches that if a person’s wisdom (branches) exceeds his good deeds (roots) he will be toppled by a strong wind, but a man whose good deeds are many will stand firm.  (Avot 3:22) As well, Judaism holds that a person may appear successful on the outside, but if he is not rooted into his community and Jewish heritage, he will not be able to withstand life’s challenges.  But one who is connected to his community and heritage will withstand the winds of the world.
 

The community fishing park at Kibbutz Ma'ayan Zvi

2.    Both man and trees need water.  The Torah has been compared to water as Moses proclaimed: “May my teaching drop like the rain.  (Deuteronomy 32:2)”  Both rain and Torah come from the heavens and provide relief.
3.    Both man and trees need air.  Man also needs the breath of God’s Spirit.  The Bible says that God breathed life into man (Genesis 2:7).  Breath in Hebrew is neshamah, which can also be translated as spirit (Proverbs 20:27; Job 26:4).
4.    Both man and trees need sunlight.  Just as a tree needs sunlight to thrive, people need the warmth of fellowship.  For man, this warmth comes from our relationship with God, family, friends, and community.
 

Friends and family dance, clap and whistle to celebrate a Bar Mitzvah (Son of the Commandment), a coming of age ceremony in which 13-year-old boys and 12-year-old girls accept the responsibility for their actions.

 

The power of community is described in the following story from the Talmud:

An old man was planting a tree.  A young person passed by and asked, “What are you planting?”
“A carob tree,” the old man replied.
“Silly fool,” said the youth.  “Don't you know that it takes 70 years for a carob tree to bear fruit?”
“That's okay,” said the old man.  “Just as others planted for me, I plant for future generations.” We depend on a strong community to provide a warm and nurturing environment so that the subsequent generations can grow to become rooted and grounded as trees of righteousness.

“And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD to glorify Him.”  (Isaiah 61:3)