D'var Torah

Hamvaser – Tevet - Shevat 5767

Living Trees: What We Humans and Trees Have in Common

In a directed meditation for Tu b’Shevat, the New Year for Trees, Susan Singer wrote:

“Close your eyes and relax as we concentrate on our breathing. Let’s now focus on our breathing as we prepare for a garden journey. Now follow your breath as it travels down into your body as you inhale and up as you exhale. Like the way nutrients flow down through the deep roots of the trunk of a tree . . . and out to the branches . . .down to the roots . . . out to the branches … down to the roots…

“Imagine a lush orchard, rich with every flower, tree and fruit, those nourishing to the eye and those nourishing to the taste.

“All seasons are represented in the garden. See and anticipate spring in the foreground, sprouting of tender new shoots. And in near to spring are the lush colors of summer with shiny leaves of every shade of green and tree branches hanging low, graced with fruits of every variety. In the distance see and know the deep colors of the fall.

“As we roam in the garden, I am delighted to see that winter work has begun in a quiet corner. I notice the dead leaves and branches, last year’s growth, have been cleared and cut in little pieces to fertilize the soil and prepare it to receive the new seeds or saplings for this year. The garden has been winterized, the soil fertilized, making it richer with nutrients and oxygen. Feel and smell the soft ground underfoot.

“Everything a gardener needs is here. The tools are nearby, gleaming and ready, in a beautiful container. I notice the size and texture, and each tool so finely crafted.

“I think of a corner of my life, where there are two projects that want to take root. One inner and spiritual, and one project that has been on my “to do” list just waiting for me to lovingly recognize it. Think of your own list now! I have room in my garden to nurture both. Barukh Ha-Shem. This is the time to plant my yearnings, and appreciate creation all around me.

“Seeds of new projects, aspects of my life that I really want to take root. Shekhinah, light of my soul, I bless you, bless my endeavors.

“Protect them like the ground in winter with its hard protective covering which nurtures the life within—like a child ion the womb.

“With a blessing, place it in the soil. With loving hands I plant a new sapling, a new seed. Thank you, Shekhinah, for the tools to work my garden. Thank you, God, for the beauty and bounty of life and for the tree of life, the Torah, from which blessings flow.

”Open your eyes when you are ready and tell someone near you the seeds of one project that you want to take root.”

Join us on Friday night and Saturday morning, February 2-3, 2007 as we celebrate Shabbat Tu b’Shevat. Celebrate during our Shabbaton, plant your seeds, nourish your saplings, replenish your energy; get your Jewish sap flowing. In the tractate Ta’anit [6a-b], Rabbi Nahman reminds us, If you are planting a tree and come to you saying, “Come and greet the Messiah,” first plant the tree and then go out to meet him. Redemption is in the very act of planting. Together, let us make our children, our families, and our community the project we want to root.

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