Shlomit's March 2010 Column
“Ki ha’adam etz hasade” (Dvarim: chapter 20, verse 19)
For man is a tree of the field
Until this year I had never had a real Tu B’Shvat Seder (Order). I mean, I ate the fruits, and planted trees, but there was no Seder. The first time I actually saw one was when my Israeli friends from New Hampshire invited me to one; some of them hadn’t had a Seder in Israel either. Apparently the tradition of the Tu B’Shvat Seder began outside of the land of Israel, and because of it. This was a day where people could express their longing for the land, for its fruits and nature. One thing that I have come to understand from my experience here, is that, a lot of times, you need to be far, in order to feel close.
The Gemara tells us that learning Torah is like a tree, just like we use a little tree to light a big tree, so do teachers learn from their students: 
I learned from all my teachers but from my pupils I learn the most (Talmud Bavli, Ta’anit, page 7, a). Before I could plan a Tu B’Shvat Seder myself, I had to study well, because when you teach others, you really need to know what you’re talking about, or at least be aware of your limits.
The expression “For man is a tree of the field,” is actually a question “For man is a tree of the field?” Talking to students about the comparison of humans and trees, a lot of things came up. From the fact that we both need water to the fact that we look alike “the treetop is like the hair.” So although the real answer to the above quote is actually no; man and trees are not alike. There are quite a few things that bind us together…
Living in Israel you don’t just feed on the news, you get to live it; some moments are good, some are not, but it’s all part of life. On the news however, good things are not “interesting” enough to be published, and since having the highest number of Nobel Prize winners per capita, or being one of the greatest democracies in the world (it’s the only country that allows a parliament member that opposes it’s actual existence…) is not really interesting, we are left with mainly bad news, and bad feelings.
The awful earthquake in Haiti was “interesting” news, there were a lot of bad things to show, and mixed in with all this pain and tragedy, there was also a lot of kindness. On the news you could see people and organizations from all over the world that reached out to help. Israel was also there, it is no surprise, we are always there when needed; we even take care of our enemies at time of war.
One of the things that the students, of all ages, agreed about was that both trees and humans need a root. But not just any root; it is about having a strong one.
Knowing the history of your people and keeping the tradition of Tu B’Shvat is one way of “root strengthening”, having the right values and reaching out to help are others.
Being in America, at this time, I realize over and over again how strong our root is, it is a root that can stand even the strongest wind.
When you read this, it will be just slightly past Purim when we celebrated the prevail over one such strong wind, the wind of “Haman Harasha” (the wicked Haman). According to the tradition on the month of Adar, our joy should be increased. I want to invite you all to join an exciting evening with a piece of Israel’s history, Shuly Nathan is the Israeli singer that “electrified Israel with her heartfelt rendition of the then unknown song, Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold)…” and is coming to the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire on March 6!!! Hope to see you all for some more “root strengthening”, celebrating the cultural root!!!
“Mishenichnas Adar marbin b'simcha” (Talmud Bavli, Ta’anit, page 29, a)
On the month of “Adar” our joy is increased!
