the fruits of our lips

Last night in honor of Tu B'Shvat I gave the following dvar Torah:
It seems to me that just as man is an olam katan, a miniature world, the same applies to trees.

We can see in fact, that the various stages of creation all find representation in the body of a tree:

The roots, which are the most massive part by far, are entirely hidden from view and so represent the innermost level of creation which is the state of Atziluth.

The trunk comes seemingly out of nothing, shooting up out of the ground, and being the apparent essence of the tree. (If you cut off branches, the tree is still said to remain. Even if you cut off all the branches, you might think of it as a 'dead' tree but still a tree.) In this way the trunk represents the level of Beriyah, creation of something from nothing. This is the level from which all things receive their substantive nature.

The branches are clearly offshoots of the trunk, and represent further development of the tree, mirroring the 'something from something' nature of Yetzirah, formation. Similarly it is the branches that play a very large part in the appearance and shape or form of the overall tree.

Finally, the leaves represent where all the 'action' happens in a tree, the generation of energy and the breathing of carbon dioxide. The leaves parallel the final and lowest step in creation known as Asiyah, action or making.

There is a final step in the tree and that is the most evident one on Tu B'Shvat, the production of fruit. Fruit represent, to my poor understanding, the lowest sephirah, Malchuth. This is paralleled by the attribute of speech in a person. Just as the words that leave a person's mouth seem separate from him, so too the fruit seem more like a product rather than an integral part of the tree. (see today's Tanya)

There is an important lesson that we may learn about speech from the fruit of the tree. Within each fruit is a seed, the seed contains the very essence of the tree and the potential to reproduce the tree in its entirety. [The seed that created the tree to begin with can even be seen to reflect the primordial level of creation known as Adam Kadmon, a state in which everything is still unified in a potential point.] So, what does the seed in the fruit come to teach us? That within each one of our words, at its core, is the word of HaShem, the same speech that created and maintains the world in its entirety is clothed within every single word that leaves our lips.

When we eat fruit, we should raise our awareness to understand that it is HaShem who provides us life through this fruit, and know that the words that we speak share this same ability to provide life to ourselves and to those around us.

the roots of change

I was overjoyed this morning at this new understanding, so bear with me and perhaps you will enjoy it too.

According to the Bnei Yisaschar (Reb Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov) the Torah of Din, which was also the Torah of Beit Shammai, requires building step by step from humble origins to great accomplishments. The Torah of Hesed, which was also the Torah of Beit Hillel, on the other hand can be attained and perceived in a single moment. With this the Bnei Yisaschar explains the difference of opinion regarding the Tree New Year. Both agree that the fullness of the Tree New Year is reached on the 15 of Shvat, but Beit Shammai believes we have to work to get there hence we celebrate it on the 1st of Shvat, while Beit Hillel believes we can receive the fullness all at once on the 15th, so we celebrate then. (See more detail in this earlier post)

Today, Rosh Hodesh Shvat, is the Tree New Year according to Shammai, and I wanted to celebrate it with extra joy so that I could satisfy both opinions. (even though l'halachah we hold like Beit Hillel in this case) I was upset however that for a number of reasons I didn't have the time I wanted to really focus on Rosh Hodesh and the Tree New Year. I was upset until HaShem reminded me of Beit Shammai's opinion, which is that we can't just jump into something, but rather must build towards it. With this knowledge I was able to greatly enjoy the limited celebration that was the oppurtunity available to me, knowing full well that I would build from this starting point until a real crescendo on Tu b'Shvat, the 15th.

From this I was able to understand what a special time Rosh Hodesh Shvat is as well as all the days from now until Tu b'Shvat. They are especially me'sugal, (pertinent) to accomplishing great things through slow and steady growth through devotion.

Now is the time of year when we are encouraged to build gradually, to take on small advances and not big ones, to make minor and lasting changes such that fourteen days from now we will be thoroughly changed and (seemingly) effortlessly new.

This is mirrored in the nature of the awakening of the trees from winter, they don't appear to change at all on the outside, but today the sap begins to flow, and before we know it, 14 days from now there will be new buds, promises of new life, new growth, of another spring.

comingling of waters nourishing the tree

I Always seem to take Tu B'Shvat for granted and my wife's family is blessed to really appreciate the depth and beauty of Tu B'Shvat as my father-in-law always makes a very big deal about it.

This year I decided to get a jump start on Tu B'Shvat and so I learned the few ma'amarim the Bnei Yisaschar has on the month of Shvat and on Tu B'Shvat itself.

One thing he mentioned almost as a side point really elucidated something that I had never known before, but had always related to. (He also mentions other places he goes into more depth in the matter in his sefer, and I will have to, please God, look into them to understand the matter better)

In short he explained that the Torah of Din and Gevurah, is a gradual Torah that must build from one day to the next, whereas the Torah of Hesed is a Torah we can receive all at once.

This is the essence of the machloket of Beit Shamai and Beit Hillel regarding the actual New Year of the Tree.(s) Beit Shamai says it is the first of Shvat because from his Torah, one must build from the first in order to arrive at the proper fullness of the 15th of the month. Beit Hillel says that it is the 15th of the month because the fullness of the receiving of the New Year of the Tree can happen all at once.

In this way he also explains the story of the Hillel and Shamai and the person who asked to be taught the Torah standing on one foot. Shamai drove him off because the Torah of Gevurah requires steady growth, building from one point to the next. Hillel taught him the whole Torah at once, because the Torah of Hesed can be received in its entirety in a single moment.

This really answered a difficult question I've had most of my life. I'm so much closer to the hidden Torah, and the path of Torah that comes with great ahavah and hesed, than the path that follows din and gevurah. My life really only took a turn for the better when I began to incorporate the building and planning of Gevurah Torah into my own connection with the Torah of Hesed. Until I found that balance, I faced a lot of difficulty.

With this new insight, the two vastly different Torahs of Hesed and Gevurah can start to be integrated in my daily life to achieve a Torah of Tiffereth, of beauty, rigor, and balance.