Dear TBZ Community,
On the 15th day of the
Hebrew month
of
Shevat
, this Sunday evening, we celebrate the Holiday of
Tu B’Shvat
.
This ancient celebration, also called
ראש השנה לאילנות
Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot
literally “New Year of the Trees” has never been more vital or significant. Trees play important roles in some of our most challenging environmental issues and deforestation in particluar is a powerful driver of climate change.
We find in
Talmud Bavli, Tracte Ta’anit 23a
, a well known story often told in connection to
Tu B’shvat
about a man named
Honi Hameagel
(the circle maker). This is how the story is told in the Talmud:
יומא חד הוה אזל באורחא חזייה לההוא גברא דהוה נטע חרובא אמר ליה האי עד כמה שנין טעין אמר ליה עד שבעין שנין אמר ליה פשיטא לך דחיית שבעין שנין אמר ליה האי [גברא] עלמא בחרובא אשכחתיה כי היכי דשתלי לי אבהתי שתלי נמי לבראי
One day, he [Honi] was walking along the road when he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. Ḥoni said to him: This tree, after how many years will it bear fruit? The man said to him: It will not produce fruit until seventy years have passed. Ḥoni said to him: Is it obvious to you that you will live seventy years, that you expect to benefit from this tree? He said to him: That man himself found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.
יתיב קא כריך ריפתא אתא ליה שינתא נים אהדרא ליה משוניתא איכסי מעינא ונים שבעין שנין כי קם חזייה לההוא גברא דהוה קא מלקט מינייהו אמר ליה את הוא דשתלתיה א"ל בר בריה אנא אמר ליה שמע מינה דניימי שבעין שנין חזא לחמריה דאתיילידא ליה רמכי רמכי
Ḥoni sat and ate bread. Sleep overcame him and he slept. A cliff formed around him, and he disappeared from sight and slept for seventy years. When he awoke, he saw a certain man gathering carobs from that tree. Ḥoni said to him: Are you the one who planted this tree? The man said to him: I am his son’s son. Ḥoni said to him: I can learn from this that I have slept for seventy years, and indeed he saw that his donkey had sired several herds during those many years.
The moral is simple: we harvest from the trees planted before we were born; we plant trees for our children to harvest, literally and spiritually, after we are gone. Our planting and harvesting connects us across generations: as my grandparents planted seeds before me, I also plant seeds for my grandchildren and the students-of-my-students, whom I may never know.
There is an additional part to the story, often not told. The story continues has follow:
אזל לביתיה אמר להו בריה דחוני המעגל מי קיים אמרו ליה בריה ליתא בר בריה איתא אמר להו אנא חוני המעגל לא הימנוהו אזל לבית המדרש שמעינהו לרבנן דקאמרי נהירן שמעתתין כבשני חוני המעגל דכי הוי עייל לבית מדרשא כל קושיא דהוו להו לרבנן הוה מפרק להו אמר להו אנא ניהו לא הימנוהו ולא עבדי ליה יקרא כדמבעי ליה חלש דעתיה בעי רחמי ומית אמר רבא היינו דאמרי אינשי או חברותא או מיתותא
Ḥoni went home and said to the members of the household: Is the son of Ḥoni HaMe’aggel alive? They said to him: His son is no longer with us, but his son’s son is alive. He said to them: I am Ḥoni HaMe’aggel. They did not believe him. He went to the study hall, where he heard the Sages say about one scholar: His halakhot are as enlightening and as clear as in the years of Ḥoni HaMe’aggel, for when Ḥoni HaMe’aggel would enter the study hall he would resolve for the Sages any difficulty they had. Ḥoni said to them: I am he, but they did not believe him and did not pay him proper respect. Ḥoni became very upset, prayed for mercy, and died. Rava said: This explains the folk saying that people say: Either friendship or death, as one who has no friends is better off dead.
This ending adds another layer to the teaching. The scholars of the future don't believe Honi's identity, and he becomes so inconsolable that he asks God for mercy -- which is to say, for death. On the basis of this, Raba teaches us that in Jewish tradition, companionship --
hevruta
, friendship in which we learn with and from one another -- is so important that without it, one might die. Honi dies because he doesn't belong anymore.
As we may depend on our connections across generations, we also need horizontal connections in our own lifetimes. This story presents an awesome, yet simple teaching. We are part of something bigger than ourselves. We are connected to what came before us, we are connected to what comes after us, and, our interconnectedness with other humans and with the planet, is intrinsic to our existence.
We live in times where we are prone to separate ourselves from others, from our shared earth, and from anything that is not directly important to me or my own interests. This Sunday, with
Tu B’Shvat,
we are reminded that we need the teaching, and the reminder that we are connected to something bigger than ourselves.
A sweet video about the story, great for all, but especially for children can be found
here
, please show it to your children! (The version of the video includes an introductory part about Honi that I didn’t quote but that is found on the Talmud).
The teaching of this story in a literal way is also important and from that perspective I want to share with you a note from our teacher
Rabbi Art Green
, who is spending a semester in Israel and sent me the following note:
I have recently had the great privilege of being in on the ground floor of a new Jewish environmental effort called
JTree
. This is a worldwide REFORESTATION project, planting trees to preserve the earth - quite literally - especially to offset the terrible things happening in Brazil, Australia, and elsewhere - also right in the USA.
The idea is to take the noble effort we Jews undertook to reforest Erets Yisra'el and to universalize it, in face of the environmental crisis. We hope to plant a million trees this year, at a cost of one dollar per tree. We are working with a responsible ecological forestry project, chosen after much research. That million, part of 50 million tree effort, will hopefully make a small dent in helping the planet.
As Rav Tiferet spoke about back in October with our Beit Rabban Community,
we are not just TBZ but TreeBZ
! Just as each person is a letter of Torah, each person is like a tree. TBZ is undertaking the task of planting enough trees for every member family we have, maybe even every member! So let's aim for that goal.
As we celebrate this holiday, and as we are in a global environmental crisis, let's recommit ourselves to work towards a more sustainable world in any small and big way that we can.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May our interconnectedness with other generations and people and the planet bear fruits for a better future.
May we have a joyful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
