Tu B'Shvat, the mystical-lofty-unassuming-confusing-but-most-of-all-hopeful Jewish holiday in which we celebrate the New Years for אילנות - trees, has finally arrived! Although I don't believe the math works out the same every year, I find it quite ironic that today, on Tu B'Shvat, we - klal yisroel - celebrate "our" trees, exactly one month from when the rest of the world celebrated "their" trees.
Our Sages teach us, אנו רצים והם רצים - we run and they run. Everyone is running. However, there is a fundamental difference between our running and their running. אנו - we are running לחיי עולם הבא, towards a life of Eternity, a life of growth, maturation, and meaning. והם - but they are running לבאר שחת, towards a life of destructive activity, a life of immorality, self-gratification, and defilement.
It's so interesting, if you think about it. Their trees that they purchase, schlep, and set up in their homes look beautiful, glamorous, and dazzling. They are decked out with shiny orbs, exciting lights, and various other holiday ornaments. However, guess what? These trees - the fact that they are detached from the ground - are factually, technically, and intrinsically dead! Yes, these very trees that look alive and sparkly are dead on the inside. The spectacle is nice, but it's a façade; the tree is not alive.
My friends, on the holiday of Tu B'Shvat, when we celebrate "our" trees, we are being taught an important lesson. Instead of looking at the external - looks can be deceiving! - make sure to look on the inside. The trees which we celebrate on Tu B'Shvat, from the outside look bare and dead, but in truth and actuality, the sap is beginning to rise on the inside, and the beginning of the fruit growing process has started.
Tu B'Shvat teaches us that life is not about the fake externality that the world conveys to be truth; rather life is about connecting, embracing and relating to the פנימיות, the inner dimension, and the spiritual realm of matters.
During these winter months, when you place their trees and our trees side by side, their trees are always going to look much nicer, cleaner, and better. But remember, our trees are actually alive. Hold on, and hold on tight to our tree of truth, because עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה - for it is a tree of life for those who hold on to it.
We all want חיים. We all want a life of running לחיי עולם הבא. We have to hold on for our dear lives - knowing that our lives are so dear! - and always remember that it's not about what it looks like on the outside, it's about what it feels like and what it is on the inside.
-Motiv8-
-Ori Strum-
Tu B'Shvat, the mystical-lofty-unassuming-confusing-but-most-of-all-hopeful Jewish holiday in which we celebrate the New Years for אילנות - trees, has finally arrived! Although I don't believe the math works out the same every year, I find it quite ironic that today, on Tu B'Shvat, we - klal yisroel - celebrate "our" trees, exactly one month from when the rest of the world celebrated "their" trees.
Our Sages teach us, אנו רצים והם רצים - we run and they run. Everyone is running. However, there is a fundamental difference between our running and their running. אנו - we are running לחיי עולם הבא, towards a life of Eternity, a life of growth, maturation, and meaning. והם - but they are running לבאר שחת, towards a life of destructive activity, a life of immorality, self-gratification, and defilement.
It's so interesting, if you think about it. Their trees that they purchase, schlep, and set up in their homes look beautiful, glamorous, and dazzling. They are decked out with shiny orbs, exciting lights, and various other holiday ornaments. However, guess what? These trees - the fact that they are detached from the ground - are factually, technically, and intrinsically dead! Yes, these very trees that look alive and sparkly are dead on the inside. The spectacle is nice, but it's a façade; the tree is not alive.
My friends, on the holiday of Tu B'Shvat, when we celebrate "our" trees, we are being taught an important lesson. Instead of looking at the external - looks can be deceiving! - make sure to look on the inside. The trees which we celebrate on Tu B'Shvat, from the outside look bare and dead, but in truth and actuality, the sap is beginning to rise on the inside, and the beginning of the fruit growing process has started.
Tu B'Shvat teaches us that life is not about the fake externality that the world conveys to be truth; rather life is about connecting, embracing and relating to the פנימיות, the inner dimension, and the spiritual realm of matters.
During these winter months, when you place their trees and our trees side by side, their trees are always going to look much nicer, cleaner, and better. But remember, our trees are actually alive. Hold on, and hold on tight to our tree of truth, because עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה - for it is a tree of life for those who hold on to it.
We all want חיים. We all want a life of running לחיי עולם הבא. We have to hold on for our dear lives - knowing that our lives are so dear! - and always remember that it's not about what it looks like on the outside, it's about what it feels like and what it is on the inside.
-Motiv8-
-Ori Strum-
