Chag Tu B’Shvat
At first glance, Tu B’Shvat, the Rosh Hashana for fruit trees, seems to be of mere technical significance – a calendar marker for the yearly mitzvot that pertain to fruits. Surprisingly, we treat Tu B’Shvat as a minor holiday; we skip tachanun and avoid fasting. What are we celebrating?
It is also noteworthy that we celebrate only the new year of trees, as opposed to that of other plants or even tree saplings, whose year starts on a different date. Why are trees more significant to us than other vegetation?
The answer lies in the special relationship between trees and man in general and the Jewish people in particular.
Our Relation to Trees
Man
Parshat Shoftim describes the relationship between trees and man when it justifies the prohibition against using a fruit tree as a battering ram by explaining that “man is like the tree of the field” (Dev. 20:19).
The Maharal (T”Y 3) uses the Torah’s next piece to explain this comparison. When faced with an unsolved murder, the Torah (Dev. 21:3-4) mandates sacrificing a fresh (unworked) calf in an uncultivated valley. Chazal saw this sacrifice of untapped potential work as atonement for the murder victim’s unrealized “fruits” – his potential to raise a family and fulfill mitzvot (Sot. 46a). Through this, the Maharal teaches that both humans and trees possess endless productive potential. By respecting a tree’s capacity to bear fruit, we learn to value humanity’s own potential for meaningful contribution.
The Jewish People
The Jewish people are compared to an additional unique arboreal characteristic. Yeshayahu (65:22) compares Jewish history to the life of a tree. What does he mean?
Like trees, the Jewish people have the unique ability to regenerate after setbacks.
As opposed to annuals, which die over the winter, trees regenerate the following spring and produce fruit again. Though trees seem dead on Tu B’Shvat, in truth, they are actually starting a new growth cycle.
Similarly, the Jewish people possess unique resilience. While all nations experience decline, Jews are distinguished by their ability to recover and rebuild. Unlike other civilizations that fade after their historical peaks, the Jewish people have consistently risen after setbacks. The golden age of David and Shlomo was not our final flourishing – we returned from the first exile and have rebounded from countless devastations and low points since.
As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks noted: “Jews have survived catastrophe after catastrophe in a way unparalleled by any other culture. In each case, they did more than survive. Every tragedy in Jewish history was followed by a new wave of creativity. The destruction of the First Temple led to the renewal of the Torah in the life of the nations, exemplified by the work of Ezra and Nehemiah. The destruction of the Second Temple led to the great works of the oral tradition, Midrash, Mishna, and the two Talmuds. The massacres of the Jewish communities in Northern Europe during the First Crusade led to the emergence of Hassidei Ashkenaz, the German-Jewish Pietists…The Spanish Expulsion was followed by the mystical revival in Safed in the sixteenth century. The greatest catastrophe of all led to the greatest rebirth: a mere three years after standing eyeball to eyeball with the angel of death at Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and Treblinka, the Jewish people responded by their greatest collective affirmation of life in two thousand years, with the proclamation of the state of Israel (Future Tense pg. 54-55).”
On October 7, the Jewish people suffered another catastrophe. After almost eighty years of thinking that the days of the mass murder, abuse, and demonization of Jews were behind us, we once again suffered barbaric attacks as well as international sympathy for the barbarians and condemnation of the State of Israel for defending itself.
Like we have throughout history, our people responded to this setback with vigor, not just by fighting and vanquishing our enemies on all sides but also by strengthening Jewish identity, achdut, and aliyah. The death of so many of our brothers and sisters has not caused us to lose faith in life. On the contrary, it has reminded us of life’s great value and inspired us to maximize our own and help others do the same.
Celebrating Productivity and Resilience
Tu B’Shvat calls us to reflect on these parallels. By celebrating the renewal and resilience of trees, we recognize these same qualities within ourselves. The holiday reminds us that our potential demands fulfillment – it is both a gift and an obligation.
As we witness our people’s return to our ancestral land and renewed flourishing, we see the living embodiment of this tree-like resilience. May our recognition of these profound connections merit divine blessing, bringing security to our nation and allowing us to grow both as individuals and as a people, advancing toward our complete redemption.
