Our Sages tell the following story:
"A person was walking in the desert, hungry, tired and thirsty. He came upon a tree with sweet fruits, pleasant shade and a source of water passing beneath it.
"The person ate from its fruit, drank from its water and sat in its shade. And when he was ready to leave he said, 'Tree, tree, with what shall I bless you?
" 'If I say that your fruits should be sweet - why your fruits are already sweet!
" '- that your shade should be pleasant, your shade is already pleasant!
" '- that water should flow from beneath you, it already does!
" 'Therefore I will pray that it be His will that all of the saplings planted from you will be like you!'" (Talmud Ta'anit)
Especially around the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the new year for trees (which occurs this year on Shabbat), we are reminded of the verse, "Man is like a tree in the field."
Our Sages offer various reasons and explanations as to how a person is similar to a tree. The Bible, commentaries and Talmud are replete with examples of how the Jewish people are analogous to the specific fruits with which Israel has been praised. To mention a few:
- Just as (olive) oil does not mix with other liquids, so too the Children of Israel stand out from other nations.
- The date is all good - its fruit can be eaten, its branches are used as lulavs, its leaves are used for the roof of the suka, its fiber for binding, and it stands straight - so, too, amongst the Jews there are none who are worthless...
- Just as grapes have within them food and drink, so to do the children of Israel have Torah knowledge and good deeds.
- The roots of the fig-tree are delicate, yet they break through the toughest rocks...
- Even the most "empty" amongst the Jewish people is as full of mitzvot (commandments) as a pomegranate [is of seeds].
We can see from the above sampling how truly rich are the Jewish people. If this is the case, then, like the desert tree are we lacking anything? With what can we be blessed?
The greatest blessing is: "May it be His will that all of the saplings planted from us - all of our actions and deeds (our spiritual offspring) and our children, and may we ourselves, - be sweet and pleasant and nourishing."
