On Tu Bishvat it is customary to eat the fruits of Eretz Yisrael, to plant trees throughout our land, and to hike its length and breadth. These customs express our love for the Land and they strengthen the living connection between the Land and People of Israel.
How so? By eating the sweet fruits of Eretz Yisrael, and through the blessings and words of Torah that accompany our Tu Bishvat fruit ceremony, we rectify the sin of Adam, who ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. By eating the good, sweet fruits of Eretz Yisrael, we return to the Tree of Knowledge of Good, and not Evil, the Tree of Life, which is our holy Torah, called ?good? by our sages (Berachot 5a): ?There is no ?good? but Torah, as it says, ?For I give you a good doctrine; forsake not my teaching.? (Proverbs 4:2)? Through the custom of planting trees on Tu Bishvat, we physically fulfill Leviticus 19:23: ?When you come to the Land and plant any tree bearing edible fruit.? As Ohr HaChaim comments: ?We yearn for and love the Holy Land chosen by G-d, and we literally must plant trees there.?
This carries a hint of the need to plant Torah scholars in the Land, for they are like trees: ?Say of the righteous that it shall go well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.? (Isaiah 3:10) Each generation ?consumes? its deeds.
Also our duty to walk the length and breadth of our Land we derive from Abraham, to whom G-d commanded, ?Rise, walk the land, its length and breadth, for I will give it all to you,? (Genesis 13:17) and the deeds of the patriarchs presage our own. In every generation we are commanded to love the Land, to move to the Land and to settle it, to fight for it and to sacrifice ourselves for it, as the Torah commands, as brought down to us in Jewish law by Ramban and by the Rishonim and Acharonim [medieval and later Torah sages] (see Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 75:4, and Pit?chei Teshuvah, ad loc.).
On Tu Bishvat this year, in addition to eating fruit, planting trees and walking the Land, we have a further mitzvah to strengthen our link to the Land by strengthening that force that is faithful to the people, the Torah and Land, both in the Knesset and in the government. Eretz Yisrael may be likened to a mother who is happy to receive her children into her bosom, yet who weeps bitterly when she hears that there are sons who wish to sell her to a foreign nation, as we say in the Tachanun prayer: ?Spare Your people, O L-rd. Let not Your heritage be an object of contempt, a byword among the nations.? (Joel 2:17)
In the upcoming elections, we must remove the disgrace and the terrible danger from our Land and our State. Quite the contrary, we must give our hand and our voice to those engaged in the holy task of strengthening our State and our Land. They are the forces of light at the end of the time-tunnel, linking the People of Israel to the Land of Israel by means of the Torah of Israel.
Looking forward to complete salvation.
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Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.
How so? By eating the sweet fruits of Eretz Yisrael, and through the blessings and words of Torah that accompany our Tu Bishvat fruit ceremony, we rectify the sin of Adam, who ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. By eating the good, sweet fruits of Eretz Yisrael, we return to the Tree of Knowledge of Good, and not Evil, the Tree of Life, which is our holy Torah, called ?good? by our sages (Berachot 5a): ?There is no ?good? but Torah, as it says, ?For I give you a good doctrine; forsake not my teaching.? (Proverbs 4:2)? Through the custom of planting trees on Tu Bishvat, we physically fulfill Leviticus 19:23: ?When you come to the Land and plant any tree bearing edible fruit.? As Ohr HaChaim comments: ?We yearn for and love the Holy Land chosen by G-d, and we literally must plant trees there.?
This carries a hint of the need to plant Torah scholars in the Land, for they are like trees: ?Say of the righteous that it shall go well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.? (Isaiah 3:10) Each generation ?consumes? its deeds.
Also our duty to walk the length and breadth of our Land we derive from Abraham, to whom G-d commanded, ?Rise, walk the land, its length and breadth, for I will give it all to you,? (Genesis 13:17) and the deeds of the patriarchs presage our own. In every generation we are commanded to love the Land, to move to the Land and to settle it, to fight for it and to sacrifice ourselves for it, as the Torah commands, as brought down to us in Jewish law by Ramban and by the Rishonim and Acharonim [medieval and later Torah sages] (see Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 75:4, and Pit?chei Teshuvah, ad loc.).
On Tu Bishvat this year, in addition to eating fruit, planting trees and walking the Land, we have a further mitzvah to strengthen our link to the Land by strengthening that force that is faithful to the people, the Torah and Land, both in the Knesset and in the government. Eretz Yisrael may be likened to a mother who is happy to receive her children into her bosom, yet who weeps bitterly when she hears that there are sons who wish to sell her to a foreign nation, as we say in the Tachanun prayer: ?Spare Your people, O L-rd. Let not Your heritage be an object of contempt, a byword among the nations.? (Joel 2:17)
In the upcoming elections, we must remove the disgrace and the terrible danger from our Land and our State. Quite the contrary, we must give our hand and our voice to those engaged in the holy task of strengthening our State and our Land. They are the forces of light at the end of the time-tunnel, linking the People of Israel to the Land of Israel by means of the Torah of Israel.
Looking forward to complete salvation.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.