Kfar Maccabiah, February, 2015

ט"ו בשבת, הבריאה וההתגלות

Tu[1]Bishvat- Creation & Revelation

Dear friends,

One of the most colorful of Tu Bishvat customs, the New Year of Trees, is its "Seder Tu Bishvat" (similar to the Passover Seder), a dinner specially designed to celebrate nature in general, and the Land of Israel and its fruits in particular. White wines - representing the cold winter - and red ones - the heat of summer - adorn the tables together with fruits and grains like wheat, apples, dates, olives, figs, pomegranates, almonds, pears, walnuts and more. It is a feast of the fruits of the Earth; the recognition of the blessing of life that arises from both the partnership between God and man on one hand, and simple Divine generosity on the other. At the family reunion around a festive table in which Talmudic and Kabbalistic stories and explanations are told, Tu Bishvat becomes a dialogue between the interior of the home and the majesty of Creation, of Nature, of Israel and its landscapes. The subjects of this meal are the meaning of the fruits, the link between the People of Israel and our ancient homeland - the Land of Israel - and the common denominator that gives significance and the Pole Star of Jewish national identity: the Torah.

 

The Seder Tu Bishvat began in the Middle Ages' passion for Jewish mysticism (centered then in the city of Tzfat, Safed, in the Galilee). The order of the family dinner has countless versions, each community free to choose texts for their celebration. Amongst the different stories, there is one that provides the common thread between the Creator, Creation, His Revelation, and our due appreciation for the world God entrusts to our work and care. Explaining figs as both a fruit of the Land of Israel and of Paradise, the Midrash[2] associates them with the Living Word of God:

 

"Why is Torah compared to a fig tree? Because most trees, like olives, grapes anddates, have their fruit picked at one time. But the fig tree is picked gradually. So it is withTorah. One learns a little today...and most of it later. It is not learned in only one year, oreven in many years. "

 

Tu Bishvat, then, transcends the framework of ecological celebration - so important to our survival on this planet. It fills that celebration with a supreme content, dressing the family table for a gala that links all the wonder of existence, of complete Divine Creation:

- the whole Cosmos,

- the Earth, and our Land - the Land of Israel,

- His Word - Revelation: the Torah.

 

Tu Bishvat is awareness of life, of Creation, of interdependence; of a People reborn and recreated in our recovered Land - a Land celebrated in the green landscapes of our old-new Israel, in its forests, pastures and meadows.

 

May we celebrate the life of the world in which we live, recognizing the ultimate meaning of Creation, the deep, intrinsic communion between the Creator and all things created.

 

May we be able to feel our deepest connection to the miracle of the Land of Israel and the State which was reborn in it.

 

And may we take very good care of our world, conserving and returning some of the splendour that it gives to us every day.

 

Tu Bishvat Sameach!

Chazak ve'ematz!

 

RABBI CARLOS TAPIERO

Deputy Director-General & Director of Education

Maccabi World Union