Within our sacred Scriptures, the Torah is described as "a tree of life" (Proverbs 3:18). In fact, the first mitzvah - Divine mandate - recorded in the Torah is the mitzvah to increase life: "Be fruitful and multiply." (Genesis 1:28) This mitzvah also enables us to

People who are unable to have children are not to consider themselves to be "shriveled trees."

transmit the life-giving teachings of Torah to future generations. Given the importance of this mitzvah, men and women who have life-challenges that prevent them from fulfilling this mitzvah may feel that their service of the Creator is inadequate.


Many centuries ago, the Prophet Isaiah addressed this concern when he proclaimed the following message from HaShem - the Compassionate One - to those who are unable to have children: "Let not the barren one say, 'Behold I am a shriveled tree.' " (Isaiah 56:3)


According to the classical Biblical commentator Radak, the barren one is expressing the following concern: 'Of what use is my being in the world? Since I do not have a child, it is as though I did not come into the world, and God has no desire for me. I am but a dry tree that produces no fruit and branches. Indeed, God created the world for people to reproduce.'


After conveying the Divine message that the childless person should not say, "I am a shriveled tree," the Prophet adds the following Divine message: "For thus said HaShem to the barren ones who observe My Sabbaths and choose what I desire, and tightly grasp My covenant. In My house and within My walls, I will give them a place of honor and renown, which is better than sons and daughters; eternal renown will I give them, which will never be terminated." (56:4,5)


People who are unable to have children are not to consider themselves to be "shriveled trees." If they do what HaShem desires, then they can be compared to fruitful trees. Their "fruits" are the good and holy deeds they perform through fulfilling the teachings of the Torah, and these fruits are "better than sons and daughters."


Our sages find an allusion to this idea in the following passage from the Book of Genesis: "These are the offspring of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, whole in his generations; Noah walked with God. Noah had begotten three sons - Shem, Ham and Jafeth." (Genesis 6:9,10)


The above passage begins to introduce the offspring of Noah; however, before it mentions the names of his children, it tells us that he was righteous. The classical

The main offspring of the righteous are good deeds.

commentator Rashi explains that this comes to teach us the following truth: the main offspring of the righteous are good deeds.
Rashi's statement is based on the following commentary from the Midrash Rabbah on this passage: "What are the fruits of the righteous person? Mitzvos and good deeds." A similar commentary is found in the Midrash Tanchuma (Noach 2), which teaches:


"Rabbi Judah the Levite said that when a person departs from the world without children, he is troubled and weeps. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, says to him: 'Why do you weep? Is it because you did not establish fruits in this world? You have established fruits which are nicer than children!' The person then asks: 'Master of the Universe, what fruits have I established?' And the Holy One, Blessed Be He, answers that he established the fruits of Torah - the Tree of Life, as it is written (Proverbs 11:30): 'The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.' "


In his commentary on this verse from Proverbs, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains: "For the righteous person, everything he does is a tree of life. Out of his every deed grows something beneficial and life-giving to his surroundings." (The Wisdom of Mishlei, page 69) Each human being on earth can therefore become a fruitful tree of life.


The above teachings may not fully comfort the barren ones among the People of Israel who yearn to have children so that they can contribute to the continuity of our people and our spiritual heritage. Our tradition teaches, however, that we can achieve this goal by giving birth in other ways. For example, the Talmud (Sanhedrin 19b) states that if someone teaches his friend's child Torah, "It's as if he gave birth to him," as it is written: "These are the offspring of Aaron and Moses on the day HaShem spoke with Moses at Mount Sinai. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the firstborn Nadab, Abihu, Elazar and Ithamar." (Numbers 3:1,2)
The Talmud points out that the verses only list the sons of Aaron, yet the Torah calls them the "offspring" of both Moses and Aaron. This is because Moses taught Torah to the sons of Aaron, and through his teaching, states the Talmud, he became their spiritual parent.

We can achieve this goal by giving birth in other ways.



Another example is the following statement (Sanhedrin 99b): "Whoever teaches his friend's child Torah, it's as if he made him, as it is written (concerning the disciples of Abraham and Sarah): ‘...the souls they made in Haran.' (Genesis 12:5)"


In Haran, Abraham and Sarah served as teachers and guides to the spiritually-searching men and women of their generation. Rashi, in his explanation of the words "the souls they made" states that they brought people "under the wings of the Shechinah (Divine Presence)." Their teachings gave new life to these searching souls, and from the perspective of the Torah, these are "the souls they made in Haran."


Like Abraham and Sarah, we live in an age of spiritually-searching men and women, as the Compassionate One proclaimed: "I will send hunger into the land - not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of HaShem." (Amos 8:1) In fact, some rabbis have called our generation the dor yasom - the orphaned generation. This is because most Jews today grew up without having Torah teachers to help them connect to their spiritual roots. These spiritual orphans are in need of spiritual parents, but one does not have to necessarily teach advanced subjects such as Talmud in order to help bring these souls "under the wings of the Shechinah." For example, someone told me about a single man who devotes his life to teaching Jewish adults how to read and write Hebrew, and he also teaches them how to pray from the Siddur (the traditional prayer book).


There are other ways to help connect people to Torah and thereby contribute to the continuity of our people. For example, one can invite people to a Shabbos or Festival meal, where they can be introduced to the unifying and joyous atmosphere of these holy days. When I lived in Manhattan, I would often invite unaffiliated, searching Jews in my neighborhood to my Friday night Shabbos meal. During these meals, we would chant wordless Chassidic melodies, and I would introduce certain Torah teachings or stories that would lead to a lively discussion.
 
Another way to contribute to the continuity of our people is to help schools and organizations that are engaged in Torah education or outreach. This can be done through financial contributions and also through volunteer work.


May the Compassionate One help all of us to increase life by becoming spiritual parents.