January 2002 - טֵבֵת .. שְׁבָט תשס״ב Tevet..Shevat 5762

Tu B'Shevat hi-gi-a, ze-man ha-I-la-not, Tu B'Shevat, the time of trees has arrived. There is a midrashic legend about an old man planting a tree when a Roman general happened to pass by. He laughed at the old man and said, “You Jews are stupid. Don't you realize it will take twenty years before that tree will grow enough to give fruit, and you will be long dead by then.” The old man answered, “When I was a small child I could eat fruit because those who came before me had planted trees. Am I not obliged to do the same for the next generation?”

The general responded, “If you are privileged to eat of them, let me know.” In the course of time the trees produced figs, and the old man lived long enough to enjoy them. He filled a basket and brought them to the general who honored him.

The general's servants were surprised that he would show honor to a Jew, but the general told them, “His Creator honors him, and shall I not honor him too?” (Lev. Rab. 25.5)

Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish new year of trees, also called the Jewish arbor day, is on Monday, January 28th this year. Coincidentally it falls only a week after the national holiday celebrating the good works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There is a Chasidic tradition of the Mezeritzer Rebbe that each good deed is used by God to plant a tree in the Garden of Eden, and in this way each of us plants our own paradise. Dr. King planted many trees for us to enjoy their fruit, their lumber, their beauty and shade. This year as we celebrate Tu B'Shevat let us make a commitment to plant a Garden of Eden for the world around us through our good deeds and through our commitment to the well being of the future generations.

May you all be blessed with a happy and healthy secular new year!

—Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

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