HaRav Dov Begon is Head of Yeshivat Machon Meir.
A person who goes outside during the days of Nisan and sees trees blossoming recites a blessing with God’s Name and Kingship, that is :
"Blessed art Thou, Lord of the Universe…Who has not left anything lacking in His world, and created within it good creatures and good trees for the enjoyment of human beings"
(Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 226)
Contemplating the blossoming of trees comes to teach us a great principle. Our lives are compared to a tree. Just as the tree in winter stands stripped of its leaves and appears, seemingly, as if it were dead, yet in the spring, in the days of Nisan, it returns to blossom and bud, and eventually yields its sweet fruits, so too are the lives of human beings.
When one looks at life from a broad perspective, with a general vision, even though there are periods when we appear like a tree in winter barrenness, in the end, all is well that ends well, as it is written in the Torah:
“And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good"
(Genesis 1).
When one sees the whole and not only fragments, then everything is good.
At present, just as in the life of the individual there are ups and downs, periods of illumination and periods of concealment, seasons of barrenness and seasons of blossoming, so too in the life of the People of Israel.
For thousands of years we were in exile and appeared as if dead, as described by the Prophet Ezekiel in the vision of the dry bones. And finally we have returned home and we see how Israel has risen again to life in the Land of Israel.
Even now, when we are in the midst of war with Iran and Lebanon, we must strengthen ourselves and recognize and believe that although “many are the thoughts in a man’s heart," the counsel of the Lord - Who intends good for Israel - will prevail, as it is written:
“For the Lord will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance" (Psalm 94:14).
True, we are only at the beginning of the budding and blossoming of our People in our Land. But the day is not far off when we will merit to see and feel, face to face, the sweet fruits of the People of Israel in the Land of Israel, whose ultimate purpose is to benefit and illuminate the entire world.
Then there will be great joy in the world, as it is written:
“Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad… Let the field exult and all that is in it; then all the trees of the forest shall sing before the Lord" (Psalm 96).
For in the end, all is well that ends well.