Tu Bishvat: What Can We Learn from the Tree in Our Yard? 3 Points for Reflection

"For Man is the Tree of the Field"

The Torah teaches us "For man is the tree of the field" (Deuteronomy 20:19). Let's think for a moment: what do people and trees have in common? Why does the Torah compare a person specifically to a tree and what wonderful messages can everyone take from this allegory into their lives?

1. Blooming and Shedding: What is the difference between summer and winter? There are two main differences: the first is light: in summer, the days are longer and the nights are shorter, whereas in winter, the days are short and the nights are long. That is, there is more light in the summer and less light in the winter. The second difference is warmth: summer is hot, and winter is cold.

As winter approaches, trees begin to shed their leaves. Why? Because the weather begins to change. The tree "feels" that the days are shortening and receives less light and warmth, beginning a process of change. The tree "knows" it cannot sustain all its leaves and so begins to shed them, enters winter dormancy, and appears dead. But come Tu Bishvat, the weather starts to improve, days become longer and warmer.

This process in the world of trees has a great moral lesson for us: when we see someone without joy in life, appearing dead, leafless, without spirit, dormant, and dimmed, what does it mean they are missing? Two things: warmth and light. The moment you start giving this person warmth and light, you will see him "bloom" again.

What is warmth for a person? Giving warm and loving attention. Kind words, appreciation, and genuine encouragement: "You are precious, you are loved, you can do what others cannot." When a person feels down, and someone comes to shine a light on them and encourages them to recognize their greatness, that person blossoms. Thus, on Tu Bishvat, we see the tree beginning to sprout leaves again. Why? Because it receives more warmth.

What about the light? What is the light every soul needs – "For the mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah is light" (Proverbs 6:23). The Torah is compared to light; when one engages in Torah, they receive light into their soul. They begin to change—becoming more internally joyful and considerate of others. Learning Torah not only makes one wiser but also transforms their personality. What's the secret? The Creator has imbued the Torah words with spiritual illumination. When a person engages with the Torah, they connect to a spiritual channel of illumination set in the Torah, drawing abundance into themselves.

The Torah itself has light that illuminates the soul of a person, and therefore a person begins to change. So, anyone who identifies sadness within themselves or others—as if withering, dimmed, and dormant—this means like a tree, this person is lacking warmth and light. Allow them to appreciate themselves, teach them how important they are, and become aware of their true virtues. When a person recognizes their self-worth, without arrogance, and connects to the Divine light—the Torah, they receive warmth and light. This is their private Tu Bishvat—this person begins to bloom, flourish, and thrive again.

2. Patience in Spiritual Work: Just as it is not advised to measure a tree daily to see how much it has grown and tall it has become—its growth is only evident after some time, so too is the spiritual development of a person hard to measure daily, and they might not immediately notice the change within them, potentially leading to despair.

In life, it sometimes seems we put effort into our service of Hashem but outwardly, seemingly, there are no results. Sometimes there is a gap between the moment of our action and the moment we can see the results, just like with the growth of a tree. Therefore, even if you've invested in your service to Hashem once or twice and didn’t notice a significant change, remember that growth requires patience and perseverance. Every drop of water is important! Every small step makes a positive impact. You may not notice the difference immediately, but growth is happening. The main thing is not to despair, to continue in the service of Hashem with all your strength, to keep fighting, and guarding against setbacks, and eventually, you will succeed.

3. Connection to Our Source of Life: The unique feature of plants (compared to humans and animals) is that they do not hide their source of life. Only the plant illustrates the connection to the soil, being always attached to the ground and drawing its life from it. If it is cut off from the soil, it wilts and dies. Likewise, when we are connected to our source of life—the Creator—we truly live and enjoy quality of life in this world and the next. When we are disconnected from our source of life—the Creator—we may appear alive, but we are actually withering and dying.

The Creator is our source of life! The Creator wants us to be connected to Him. This is a necessary and crucial connection for us. Without it, a person is lost in the world and loses their purpose and destiny.

4. The World’s Rectification: The characteristic perhaps most prominent in trees in general, and fruit trees in particular, is their endless giving without the selfish thought of "What's in it for me?" and "What do I gain?" The nature of the world—every creature, with humans leading, is driven by the pursuit of personal pleasure and satisfying needs, while the world's rectification and the personal rectification of each of us comes through overcoming this innate selfish tendency and influencing and giving to others "not for the sake of receiving a reward."

Unlike people preoccupied with personal considerations and thoughts of cost versus benefit, trees simply give and offer their goodness to the world without expectation of return. One provides shade on a scorching sunny day, another supplies raw materials for a juicy fruit salad, and a third is used to produce three-ply toilet paper or a bookshelf in the living room. As we approach the coming Tu Bishvat, we must first and foremost look at the trees and try to learn from them the secret of giving and the way to want to make others happy and enrich those around them, without wanting anything in return.

The Torah explains to us that true happiness awaits those who give of themselves to others and share the good they have with those around them—that is also our rectification in the world.Our obsessive focus on ourselves inevitably leads to unpleasant feelings of despair and loneliness, while in giving, the great happiness and rectification of each of us lies hidden.

5. Education from Birth: Sometimes we encounter a tree growing crooked, regretting the lack of proper care and the neglect of its appearance and shape in its youth. The ability to straighten a crooked trunk is limited to the period when the tree is young and flexible. Once it grows crooked, the deviation from the straight path only worsens with each passing year. Every tree whose owner wishes it to yield fruit must receive care from the moment it is planted in the ground. It should be planted in soil suitable for its species, with regular watering, protection from pests trying to harm it, and tilling and weeding to avoid choking the young roots and preventing them from receiving irrigation water. Even after the tree is already established, it is crucial to ensure it grows straight and sometimes even prune and thin some branches.

The same is true for a person. The duty of education, upbringing, and nurture begins at birth. We must protect them, ensure their physical nourishment and cleanliness, keep them away from harm or anything that could endanger them, like a bad environment, and provide them with spiritual tools to cope with life's challenges and the world. Every parent has received a child as a deposit from Hashem - "a small and tender sapling" - and we must do our utmost to ensure it grows straight and bears fruits of its own (Torah, mitzvot, and good deeds).

The Path Test Vs. The Outcome Test

Tu Bishvat is the New Year for Trees, but it's somewhat strange, as it falls in the middle of winter. If we look outside, the trees seem quite barren and empty of leaves, maybe only the almond tree is in bloom... However, many trees are not yet blooming, and this is the New Year for the tree? What exactly has changed here?

Wouldn't it be preferable to celebrate this day in the spring season when blossoming is at its peak, and fruits are abundant, large, and beautiful?! What was so urgent for our sages to establish the New Year for trees specifically on Tu Bishvat, in the middle of winter, when trees are in such a state?!

The timing was explained by Rashi, who wrote, "Since most of the winter rains have already passed—because the majority of the rainy days have already passed, being the time of planting, and the sap has ascended in the trees, and the fruit formation begins from now" (Rosh Hashanah 14a). Meaning, the weakening of the rains allows the sap to emerge in the trees, which is followed by the fruit formation, marking their inception. Thus, all the fruits formed after Tu Bishvat are considered produce of the new year.

It implies that the fruit we will see in spring, their growth process begins now. Regardless of the fruit, our sages chose to sanctify the process itself! This is precisely the point of Tu Bishvat, where practically we do not see anything. We might only see the result and the goal (the fruits) in another half-year, but it doesn't matter, the process is important too!

Similarly, in our service of Hashem. Although the Creator wants all of us to produce fruits (fulfill mitzvot and good deeds), certainly the process of repentance and change that occurs within us is very important and greatly esteemed before the Creator, with great reward. When we check our ways from time to time, identifying the areas where we have lost a bit of control, changing our bad ways, the connection between us strengthens and deepens!

So also at every stage of the repentance process (which never ends), as one strives and conquers the inclination, their connection to the Creator strengthens. The more one progresses and elevates in their service of Hashem, the more joy and satisfaction they receive from the abundance of mitzvot they perform and the fruits they produce...

Reflecting on the Trees

Tu Bishvat is a fitting time to reflect on the trees and learn from them about the divine wisdom.

Examples?

Firstly, every seed sown in the ground—after some time, following irrigation, the seed rots and stinks. A period passes, and suddenly, from the decay, a fruit tree emerges. That is, a rotten seed turns into a tree laden with many sweet fruits.

Secondly, have you noticed the surprising resemblance between the shapes of certain fruits and vegetables and the shapes of certain organs in the human body? Not just any organs, but those that these fruits or vegetables benefit? For example, walnuts—the resemblance between the shape of the brain and the shape of a walnut is amazing: the nut, inside its shell, looks like a miniature brain, divided into two halves, set inside a skull. The nut contains essential components for the brain and its function.

Finally, among the vast array of plants in nature, it is impossible not to be impressed and amazed by the variety of colorful and fragrant flowers. Anyone who observes will discover in every flower a delicate and beautiful texture, a color pleasing to the eye, with an enchanting fragrance and perfect symmetry!

Friends, even the top researchers in the world's largest chemical companies have not yet succeeded in creating even one fruit seed despite all the equipment at their disposal! And behold the wonder, the plant produces the fruit with only sunlight, water, air, and a bit of soil!

Here we can visibly witness the operation of deep wisdom, wisdom that is beyond the grasp of the human mind. Could it be that this marvelous process, indicating a guiding hand, was created without a brilliant designer and creator?