And from here, let's move on to Tu B’Shvat. The Yafeh LaLev writes, after fulfilling the Mitzvah with the Etrog, they make it into a preserve (jam) to place on the table on the night of Tu B’Shvat, and it is a great merit for someone who has a pregnant wife at home to give her to eat from it. It is also given to a woman in labor, as it is said to be a segulah for her to give birth easily and without pain, and the child will be born healthy and live a long and good life in peace. What is the connection between the Etrog, a woman in labor, and Tu B’Shvat?
On the third day of Creation, Hakadosh Baruch Hu had an instruction for the earth: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱ-לֹהִים תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע עֵץ פְּרִי עֹשֶׂה פְּרִי לְמִינוֹ אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַיְהִי־כֵן׃ וַתּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע לְמִינֵהוּ וְעֵץ עֹשֶׂה־פְּרִי אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ־בוֹ לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱ-לֹהִים כִּי־טוֹב׃
And G-d said, Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind: and G-d saw that it was good.
Seemingly, why does it say that it was “good”? It should have said it was “not good” – Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded the earth to produce fruit trees producing fruit and not merely trees producing fruit! The execution of His instruction was off. Moreover, it does not only say that it was good, but on the third day, it says כִּי טוֹב twice! Rashi says that the taste of the tree should be exactly the same as that of the fruit. But it did not, however, do this, and the tree itself was not a fruit. Therefore, when Adam was cursed on account of his sin, the earth was also visited because of its sin and cursed.
The Siftei Kohen says, the corruption was that the earth said, “If the taste of the tree is like the taste of the fruit, after they pick the fruit, they will eat the tree, and I will have to produce trees every year. Instead, I will produce a tree that has no taste of fruit, so that if they pick the fruits, the tree will remain.” It did not know that after they pick the fruit, the tree will produce fruit again and will not cease from producing fruit. The Chizkuni says, with the grasses, it produced more than it was commanded and from here we learn that it intended for good, for how many trees would be lacking if the tree itself was like the fruit. Yet, it was also visited and cursed, for why should it involve itself in the secrets of Ribbono Shel Olam!
If so, who was the only tree that did not change from the Borei Olam’s command? The Gemara says (Sukkah 35a), it is the Etrog, the פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר – a tree whose taste of its wood and fruit are the same. Rabbeinu Bachya writes (Emor 23:39), on Sukkot, we take the Arba Minim as a way to atone for the sin of Adam HaRishon, which happened during this time of year. When we wave the Arba Minim in all directions, we acknowledge Hakadosh Baruch Hu as the Master of the world – controlling the winds, the heavens, and the earth. We do not bring the Etrog alone, despite it being the lone element involved in the sin, but we bring it with the other species to unite them, and in this way, we rectify what was corrupted and appease Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
If so, we take the Etrog with which we performed the waving on Sukkot and atoned for the sin of Adam HaRishon, and we make it into a preserve on Tu B’Shvat. But why on Tu B’Shvat and not on Purim? It’s very simple – because Tu B’Shvat is the festival of the trees, and the trees sinned by not producing a taste of the tree and the fruit that was the same – so what is the tikkun? Eat an Etrog on Tu B’Shvat, to teach the trees, “Learn from the Etrog, which did what it was told!”
If so, why is it a segulah for a woman in labor? This, too, is now very simple. Why does a woman have difficulty in childbirth? It is because she was the one who gave the advice to Adam HaRishon to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and therefore she was punished with pain during childbirth. But if she understands the tikkun inherent in the Etrog and eats from it, the curse will not apply to her, and therefore it is a segulah for her to give birth without difficulty.
We must know that eating fruits on Tu B’Shvat is a custom. There are, Baruch Hashem, plenty of fruits available to us – but we must be careful, because eating one worm equals seven prohibitions! And for what? For a kumquat?! Take one juicy date, open it and check that there are no worms, and enjoy! You’ve now fulfilled the obligation of the Shiva Minim. Additionally, eat an Etrog, and you’ve also completed the full tikkun. I’ve seen people buying dried figs and they’re full of worms! If you take one fig and place it on the corner of the table – come back in the morning, and you’ll see it moved to the other end! And if you put a note with an address, it’ll know how to get there. Why complicate things – stick to clean fruit.
