Tu B'Shvat (ט״ו בִּשְׁבָט‎), Pricey Platters, and Majestic Redwood Trees

To ask someone what is Tish above Would be like asking someone for the correct number to dial 911. Or who's buried in Kevah Ruchel, or what color is the White House. They're all self-explanatory, self-evident. They're obvious to be shva, named very cleverly for the date that we celebrate, to be shva on the 15th day of shva, a minor holiday for the Jewish people. Some actually refer to this day as Chami shea. Us are beshvat. But the name of the holiday, while it does tell us when we celebrate it, the name, doesn't speak to Its significance or what our service should be on the 15th day of shva. It's also rather perplexing and pressing that we discover what is the significance of to be shva. Why are we excited? Because, after all, it's such a serious and Energized holiday that we omit tachanon. The same tachanon that kept Amor I'm alive, the same tachanon that shows our total subservience and subjugation to Hashem, is skipped because of the significance of to be shva Holiday, a moate of sorts. It's actually a rather frightening day as well. A Lot hangs in the balance. A minor young kipper yeah, because the banei is us car he tells us in his minor on the month of shva, citing a reference to the mission in mesechtar, russia, shana Bayes. I'm at Olive there To be. Shva is the new year for tree Roche Hashanah. Le Elon is their literal text of the mission. It is singular, not le Elon note, but le Elon, even if the song is Sung with different words. The Mishnah is, in singular, just one tree. It's a rem as a reference to the tree that will be used in the coming year for Kedusha the Elon, that is, the Esarok Elon. And today is the day that we daven to have a mohuder, a beautiful, symmetrical, dazzling Citron, and asterisk. You daven for it today. It's very scary. You don't want to be the fellow on the side of the show that's stuck with an asterisk. It looks like it's a cheap suitcase that's been Handled by some aggressive TSA agents that by the time you arrive at your destination, your suitcase comes down, that baggage claim Mechanism that brings the suitcases out and all you see is a big bumpy, beat-up, cheap, barely Recognizable suitcase. You don't want that asterisk to be your asterisk of choice. And that all hangs in the balance today. And if you're a capitalist, you like the mysticism. Well, it's a unique day, for the Ariso would have the custom to Set the table and make a Quasi Pesach, seder, tubisvatseder, with the fruits of Eretz, israel, letting out the sparks and the hidden jewels of Kedusha that have been trapped inside of these fruits, going after the Nizaitis. So if you have the misoora of the Lurianic Kabbalah that you like to practice, there's even more on the line. If you're a cult, the Litvak like me, when you like your Yiddish guy to be cold and dark, well, it is even doubly as scary because Tubisvats brings all these bracha questions. Do you make a shehechianu on these fruits, all new, odd fruits that you haven't eaten in quite some time? Suffolk, brachos all over the place, don't even mention the Tulaim, the insects that are crawling in the fruit. Do they have to be checked? How many Isurre, the Orisa, are there? If, god forbid, one does have one. What to do with a chocolate covered apricot and the jelly dipped kiwi? Are we allowed to consume? Should we? How do we Consume these seventy five dollar fruit platters? It's a serious day, a weighty day and a great opportunity. So let's explore, let's figure out what we can take out of this day, what our avoda is, hopefully on earth, the depths plum, the goldmine of Tubisvats, and maybe we will be socha to bring home a goodie bag Full of Yersham. I'm in something practical to do. So let's start at the very beginning. Where's the source for Tubisvats? Where does all this come from? Need the text? That's a very easy question to answer. It's an open mission at the beginning of the sector. Russia Shana. Don't you know Bayza Malal of Arboroshe Shonimheim? There are four new years on the calendar. The mission of finish is off. Bechod Besvat, russia, shona Lee Elon. The first day of Shavat, not today was the Russia Shana for tree, that is, kedivre Beshami. That is how the Academy of Shami learned and base Hillel Omrim, bechami Shasarbo. No, in fact, the Russia Shona Lee Elon is on the 15th and the Gamara explaining the root of the Machlokas of Bay Shami and Bay Sillel. It does so on On Daphiod Dalai, going back and forth about what changes on the first day of the month. The 15th day of the month Is at the end of the rainy season, the beginning of a new season. Does it still rain? Are there cold days to come? Rainy days to come, mansoons to come? A fascinating Gamara. But the bridge that connects trees to people never seems to be crossed. Seems like the trees should be celebrating. They're bar mitzvah. It's their special day. Was it have to do with people. Why do we eat $75 QE apricot platters? So maybe we aren't outlandish to draw the parallel that people are very similar to trees and celebrations and lessons can be had and should be learned from trees, and after all, the Torah notes of the similarity between trees and people. Very frequently the Torah talks about the importance of trees in Mishnahis, in Psochem, in Gimaras. Even if you start at the very beginning of Tanakh, you'll find that the tree of knowledge plays a significant role. And obviously I have something deeply rooted pun intended. In Chochmas Hashem, the parashah Shaitim tells us that literally Adam ate HaSada, the Apostle, says that man is a tree of the field. How about the Mishnah in Ovos that says that you should be like a tree with a lot of roots, even when a ruach she'enim tzuya, a very intense hurricane, tornado, like wind, comes that you're in rooted, entrenched in the ground with your fear of heaven, and even the Haskelov movement or technology cannot uproot your fear of heaven because you've got to have deep roots like a tree. So maybe we are kind of like trees, really, the Torah comes to mind, even compared to a tree, for eitzchayim hi, lamachazikim beh is a tree of life and there are a plethora of parables, similarities, examples and lessons that are taught about our spiritual climb to greatness, to growth, to that of a tree, but there must be something unique about the fifteenth of Tubishvat that we get all excited about. Yeah, there is Tubishvat. Something happens to trees, something that we seems to feel the need to commemorate and celebrate, and I heard this from the great Rabbi, kaelish, the angel, the malach, himself, and pointing out making a beautiful diak in one of the voraches when Rashi's explaining the machlokas of Beishamayim Beishillel about when Tubishvat actually is. That what happens at this time is the tree finishes soaking up its nutrients from the ground. During all the past couple months, the tree has spent its waking hours soaking up the sap from the ground, building itself up. But on this day the tree's all grown up. This is Bar Mitzvah and Rashi explaining the Gamara. A little bit later gives over the Halachik, explaining the Halachik nafkeminas about why we have to know this state for laws of Tyves and Netarovai and different Halachik reasons. But what happens on this day, hashkophically, is that the tree is no longer. Sumuch al-shulkhun shall ground. The tree is no longer supported. It's a self-sustaining organism. It's all grown up. The maturation phase has concluded. It has reborn, taken its first steps and now will walk by itself, even get a job by itself. There's a new California redwood that doesn't need any help from anyone else. On this day, a powerful lesson is that human beings commemorate this new beginning for trees, this rashashan al-ilam, for it's something that in our lives we should incorporate, for we really are dependent upon people, the nutrients that life provides. We are dependent on our parents. When we're young, some of us still dependent upon our parents when we're older, we are dependent upon our rabayim and our chavrusas for spiritual encouragement and Torah teaching. We are dependent upon our spouse. We are dependent upon others. We are dependent on so much to get the mitzvos and Torah done. But the Outer of Calh'm says over, very poignantly, that the more of a necessity something is to life, to existence, the more readily accessible it is. Haqqat al-Shbaruq made it easy for us to access water, because it is a tremendous necessity for life. Bread, easy to get, air would be impossible to live without. So it's everywhere, it's a spectrum, and when you go the other way, the more of a non-entity, non-important luxury that the item is more rare, because, vice-tice it must be, it's not all that important and crucial to human survival. But really a human being, him by himself, with nothing else but a brain in his head, could survive. Hashem gave him everything you can take shelter in trees and if it wasn't for other aspects of honor, maybe we would live in a cardboard box in some basic shelter and food and water. But Vayivos or Yaakov Levado and Vayel HaVrohom are of us. The Birochem points out. They were able to become their own hotels, five-star hotels of Torah and Kedushah, self-inspiring organisms, self-sufficient, re-energizing Rukhnia's factories, their own soul-Torah proprietorship. They could learn and they could grow on their lonesome. Rabbi Kailesh, he told his Bahram this beautiful lesson that there is a time that a person needs to become self-inspired. He needs to be able to recreate his Rebbe's enthusiasm with his own mind. And this is the lesson of the trees that they no longer need the help of the ground but they grow into tall, towering California redwoods by themselves. In our lives we probably, hopefully, will have help from others Help from ArtScroll, help from Online Sheerim, help from our parents, help from our Rebe'im, help from the daily motivational Torah platform, the Motivation Congregation like. Subscribe, donate, rate, review. Them en'anili mili, says Rebbe Nuyonah. It means if you are not for yourself who will be for you, because if you don't learn to be like a tree and become a self-inspiring human organism, well then it's not going to work out. You know these getaways I, by Kalish, spoke about these beautiful, inspiring Shabbos projects the Torah and Masora Principle, shabbat tones, the question-answer sessions with the Gdolim, the Hanukkah Ruchnius Conferences, the Halla summit. They're all so inspiring, so Re-invigorating. But what to do? Because they only happen every so months. We need one every week, but all the mates have sawed that like on to be shot. There comes a time when a man can learn that his own Friday night, pseudo him and his spouse and his children, they can recreate the Shabbos project, the Torah and Masora convention, around the table with the Shabbos candles off to the side. He can have his own question-answer session with his family. He can have his own inspiring talk with his Shaniya Microsafer and his own motivational Jorah Shah from his Mishnias. That's what it means To grow up, to grow into a large, towering California redwood. On the day of to be shot, it's tree independence day. It's a quasi-moid. We leave our parents basement and we become self sustaining Ruchnius organisms. It's not by coincidence that we celebrate the 15th day of Shabbat. Something big is happening and a big lesson is being taught at the University of trees. Holiday it's packed. We omit Hachanon. It's a moid. If you're svardy, you're going to have to make sure to sit down and have a great big bowl of the delicious ashore Some sort of cocoa dessert made of grains and dried fruit, to celebrate the holiday. Or maybe you're gonna sit down and have a full sater with four cups of wine, but either way, we soak up the nutrients, we enjoy all the inspiration, but we take our first steps as our own tall, towering California redwoods. So my to be shot. What is this day? Today of independence? Today, a holiday? We learn that we are for ourselves. Mealy, who's for me? I'm for me, and even if I'm alone, by myself, I'm able to recreate the inspiration, reenergize and galvanize myself Like a tall, towering California redwood.