Late January is a strange time to celebrate trees as most are bare of leaves and seemingly asleep for the winter. Yet yesterday, Jews around the world celebrated Tu B’shvat – a holiday marking the birthday of the trees. How could such a holiday be celebrated at this time of year?
The 19th century Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that it is during these winter months when something begins to happen inside of our trees. He writes, “In the core and the arterial network of the trees, silently and softly, hidden from casual view, the new sap flows, announcing the coming of spring…Under this torn, dark, cold bark, new, fresh life pulsates…”
The heart of winter is certainly a tough time to imagine life and growth. Yet this is precisely the time of year in which that very process must begin…
The goal of our lives is to learn from the trees and to continue the process of change and renewal during times in change seems impossible. Just like our trees, we are asked to surge forward during these darkest of times, to continue the work of transforming our world and to acknowledge that one day soon, the reward of such work will be tasted.
Tonight, we celebrate Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of Song. It is on this Shabbat that we recall the song sung by our ancestors so long ago when they were freed from Egypt.
Freedom today feels distant for so many – and yet we do not stop doing the necessary work to bring that freedom forward. We continue to push through even in the bleakest of times to build a world we can all be proud of.
Wishing you and your families a Shabbat of joy and meaning.
