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January 2010

Translated by Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW

Holiday of the Trees

In honor of Tu B’shvat, "Holiday of the Trees," we are sharing with you some Jewish texts about trees. The holiday this year falls on January 30th, 2010. Translations are provided by Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW.

He will be like a tree planted alongside the waters,
which gives forth its fruit in its season,
and whose leaves do not wither,
and all that it undertakes, succeeds.
— The good, just person as described in Psalms 1:3

When you besiege a city... you shall not destroy its (fruit) trees;
if you eat of the, do not cut them down;
for man’s life depends on the trees of the field.
— D’varim/Deuteronomy 20:19

Where the tree falls, there shall it be.
— Kohelet/Ecclesiastes 11:3

For lo! The winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land;
the fig tree puts forth is figs, and the vines are in blossom,
they give forth fragrance.
— Shir HaShirim/Song of Songs 2:11-13

Rab Judah says:
If one goes out in the days of Nissan and sees the trees sprouting, he should say,
"Blessed be He who hath not left His world lacking in anything
and has created in it beautiful creations
and beautiful trees for the enjoyment of humankind."
— Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 43b

Trees were created for man’s companionship.
— Breishit/Genesis Rabbah 13:2

Meditation and prayer before God are particularly efficacious in grass fields and amid the trees, since a man’s soul is thereby strengthened, as if every blade of grass and every plant united with him in prayer.
— Reb Nahman of Bratslav, 1772-1811

These "Spirituality Notes" are excerpts from our monthly E-newsletter. Articles are © JBFCS Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs and may be reprinted free of charge as long as this credit line is included.

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