January 8, 2008
Tu B’Shvat: Homage to the Tree and its Symbolism
By Kate Palley
Many people talk of Tu B’Shvat as a way of connecting to the environment, of connecting to Israel, of connecting to our community through environmental awareness. Is there a way to understand Tu B’Shvat as a holiday in which we connect to G-d? Is there an inherent holiness to trees?
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| Fig Tree. Toledo, Spain |
By Kate Palley
Tu B’Shvat was always a holiday that perplexed me as a child. In the freezing cold, our teacher would bring us outside to plant trees because it was the birthday of the trees. That connection in and of itself didn't make any sense to me, but I would have gone along with it if it were not for the snow. The ground was always covered with a thick layer of snow on the day in January or February when Tu B’Shvat landed. With our little shovels we could bore a hole through the light wet layer on top, but there was no way of digging a hole deep enough in the frozen earth that would support a seed. But we tried, building a sweat under our little overcoats and in our little mittens, because we liked trees and wanted to celebrate their birthday.
Later, when I was living in Israel, Tu B’Shvat was a type of nature-based Zionist homecoming. It had nothing to do with the trees themselves, but they were our trees in our land, and that's what we were celebrating. After drinking various types of wines that were grown in Israel, and eating many type of fruit that were grown locally, we took a long walk through the Jerusalem forest. The trees were beautiful and majestic and tall. After so much wine, it seemed quite natural to hug the trees, and we did. They had become our brothers and sisters, and we wished we could be as rooted and connected to the ground as they were.
Only recently did I think there must be more to Tu B’Shvat, more than a National party and more than frozen children in the Diaspora of the northern hemisphere trying to plant frozen trees. Is there a spiritual component of this holiday? Many people talk of Tu B'Shvat as a way of connecting to the environment, of connecting to Israel, of connecting to our community through environmental awareness. Is there a way to understand Tu B’Shvat as a holiday in which we connect to G-d? Is there an inherent holiness to trees?
In the Torah, we have a beautiful description of the Garden of Eden. Chapter 2 verse 9 says in the middle of the garden there were two trees: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It's an incredible statement to say that in the primeval garden, the ideal state, there are two trees standing proudly at the center of it all. These trees also embody abstract ideals of life and knowledge of good and evil. They are the keepers of truths about life. They are also supposed to be out of the reach of humans. They are somehow holier than us. When Eve and Adam ate from one of the trees, they transcended their own level of holiness, got too close to the holiness of G-d, and were banished from the Garden of Eden for all time.
Later on in the Torah, in Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 21, it states "You shall not plant you an Ashera or any tree near the altar of the Lord your G-d, which you shall make." Ashera was a local fertility goddess, and the altars to her involved some type of wooden pole. There are many prohibitions against Ashera in the Bible and against wooden posts and trees. Trees were seen as potential idols, as if there were a special holiness to them that tempted people to worship them instead of G-d.
This view of trees makes a lot of sense, that they are inherently holy and easily mistaken for gods. I believe that is part of my tree-hugging experience in the Jerusalem forest. Trees are larger than us, older than us, more grounded than us, more stable than us, more enduring than us, and less subject to the trials and tribulations of their environments than we are. These are all also ways I have of understanding G-d as a superior being to humankind. The problem comes when we substitute something easily accessible, like a beautiful tree, for G-d instead of seeing the tree as another creation of G-d. Seeing a tree should draw our attention to the awesome powers of the One who could make such a wonderful creation.
Hundreds of years after the time of the Torah, the rabbis wrote of their understanding of trees in the Mishnah and Talmud. Often a tree is described as a piece of property of the owner, and in the tractate of Bava Batra in particular laws are discussed about what happens when one plants a tree too close to the border of the neighbor's property. Trees have stopped being holy objects and have mainly become pieces of wood, owned by people, lacking the divine spark.
There is a lovely statement, however, in the tractate of Gittin, page 57a, about custom involving trees. "It was the custom when a boy was born to plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born to plant a pine tree, and when they married, the tree was cut down and a canopy made of the branches." This line reminds me of another rabbinic idea that though a man and woman may physically join together, only when G-d joins the couple is a baby created. Here, the tree that represents the woman and the tree that represents the man are woven into a wedding canopy as the lives of the man and woman are woven together in the ceremony that takes place underneath it. These trees are holy symbols, representatives of G-d's will on earth.
The story continues however, in a bit of a less romantic way. "One day the daughter of the Emperor was passing when the shaft of her litter broke, so they lopped some branches off a cedar tree and brought it to her. The Jews thereupon fell upon them and beat them. They reported to the Emperor that the Jews were rebelling, and he marched against them." These trees were greatly valuable to the Jews. When one of the trees was violated, they retaliated with violence against the Emperor's daughter's convoy, which they knew must have awful repercussions. Even though they would be punished greatly for this, they needed to defend their trees, their symbols of G-d's holiness. Just as a modern Jew could not sit by and watch a Torah scroll or synagogue be desecrated, the Jews in this story could not sit by while their trees were being destroyed.
Through the period of the Torah and the Talmud, there are different views of trees and holiness, as we have already seen. The last text I would like to look at is from a mystical medieval book. There are many references to trees in this book, in particular references to the trees from Genesis, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil. This book is called the Zohar, in the section that discusses the beginning of the Torah portion of Vayera, and this story deals with a special tree belonging to Abraham.
The story begins, "Wherever Abraham took up his residence he used to plant a certain tree, but in no place did it flourish properly save in the land of Canaan." Here we learn that on all his travels, which we remember were numerous, he went to the trouble of schlepping this tree around with him and replanting it at every stop. We also have an early idea that trees have a special relationship to the land of Israel, or as it was called back in the day, Canaan. Abraham's tree only flourishes as it should when connected to the land of Israel.
The Zohar goes on to describe why this tree was important to Abraham. "By means of this tree he was able to distinguish between the man who adhered to the Almighty and the man who worshipped idols. For the man who worshipped the true G-d the tree spread out its branches, and formed an agreeable shade over his head; whereas in the presence of one who clung to the side of idolatry the tree shrank within itself and its branches stood upright. Abraham thus recognized the erring man, admonished him, and did not desist until he had succeeded in making him embrace the true faith."
Amazing! This tree could tell who loved G-d and who did not. It was the litmus test for Abraham of who should be approached for his special mission of creating a new religion and a new people. It is important to note that Abraham did not throw away the people who did not love G-d, or punish them. He kept pursuing them with love and open arms, the way we understand Abraham to be, until they came to the fulfilling relationship to G-d that he had. This tree then is like the Jewish equivalent of the sorting hat in the Harry Potter books. Instead of being powered by magic, however, it is powered by G-d and holiness.The Zohar now comments on a verse in particular in the Torah portion of Vayera. Three messengers, often taken for angels, visit Abraham to announce that Sara will soon have a child. Abraham welcomes them and offers them a meal. This next section talks about Genesis chapter 18 verse 4. "Note that Abraham, in offering his invitation to the angels, said, 'and recline yourselves under the tree': this was for the purpose of testing them, in the same way as he tested by the same tree any wayfarer who came. By the word 'tree', he also referred to the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the tree of life for all, as though to say, 'recline yourselves under His shade, and not under the shelter of strange gods."
Abraham refers to G-d as a tree, a fascinating idea. For all the reasons that Deuteronomy wants to abolish the Asherah and relating the tree to divinity, Abraham of the Zohar embraces this likeness. It is not truly a likeness, but an equivalence: the majesty of a tree is G-d's majesty, the beauty of a tree G-d's beauty, the prominence of a tree G-d's prominence. In this sense, Abraham's test using the tree isn't a test at all. Abraham is inviting everyone who comes by to sit in G-d's shade, benefit from closeness to G-d. The tree itself brings people closer to G-d, so Abraham brings them closer to the tree.
This section of the Zohar ends by reminding us of the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis and putting a spin on it. "Note that Adam transgressed through eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and this brought death into the world. G-d then said, 'and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also the tree of life etc.' (Genesis 3:22). But when Abraham came, he remedied the evil by means of that other tree, which is the tree of life, and by means of which he made known the true faith to the whole world."
The consequence of human interaction with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is death. That is what happened with Adam and Eve. Abraham's tree, on the other hand, is equated with the Tree of Life. His tree did the opposite, brought life to those who encountered it. The tree is a symbol of life, of G-d. By bringing people into relationship with his tree, Abraham is bringing them into relationship with G-d, which can only bring life and quality of life. In this way, with his tree, Abraham brought word of G-d and life to everyone with whom he came in contact.
We can do this, too! And on Tu B’Shvat we have the perfect opportunity. It is one day, singled out from all the days of the year, when we can use trees to talk about G-d and about our relationship to G-d. By planting trees we are helping G-d in the work of creation. By drinking Israeli wines and juices and eating Israeli fruits we are not only supporting our brothers and sisters in Israel but we are enjoying the bountiful gifts G-d has given us through the land and through its trees. By talking about G-d on Tu B’Shvat we are continuing the traditions of our texts in acknowledging the holiness of trees on their birthday.