Posted on 01/20/2016 1:18:54 PM PST by Zionist Conspirator
Six months ago I wrote about Tu B'Av, a Yom Tov that brings hope after the terrible events of Tisha B'Av. There is something about the fifteenth day of the Jewish month that relates to redemption. The first day of Pesach and the first day of Sukkos, as well as Tu B'Shevat and Shushan Purim, all occur on the fifteenth of the month.
As we approach Tu B'Shevat, an appropriate question would be: Why is the fifteenth so special that momentous days of redemption consistently fall upon that day? What sets it apart from all the other days of the month?
The moon gives a hint.
The essence of what I wrote six months ago ("Full Moon," front page essay, July 31, 2015) is also relevant to Tu B'Shevat. The moon never remains the same. Each night it assumes a different shape. At the end of the month it disappears completely. Then, on Rosh Chodesh, a crescent-shaped sliver glows in the sky. The moon has returned. And we rejoice at its reappearance.
In fact, Rosh Chodesh celebrates the moon's renewal. Then it grows until it becomes full on the fifteenth of the month, a glowing ball of light in the night sky.
Amazingly, the day of the full moon is the one day of the month on which the moon rises at precisely sunset and sets at precisely sunrise. This indicates that the day of the full moon is a day when both luminaries exist in harmony; each one exits in order for the other to have a grand solo entrance. They give kavod to each other on the day of the full moon.
Both Pesach and Sukkos begin on the fifteenth. As we sit at the Pesach Seder, a full moon watches over the house. As we sit in the sukkah on the first night of Sukkos, a full moon is visible through the sechach.
Why all this glory on the fifteenth? The sun and the moon are giving kavod to each other. Is this not the secret of Am Yisrael's simcha on Pesach and Sukkos? All of our rejoicing is based on the kavod we give to each other as one united mishpachah. Did we not stand at Har Sinai "k'ish echad b'lev echad"--"like one man with one heart" (Rashi on Shemos 19:2)?
We are in exile because of sinas chinam; we will be saved by ahavas chinam. Am Yisrael will be redeemed in the merit of our achdus, and we know this from the sun and the moon on the fifteenth day of the month, the day the moon is full.
This seems to be an important insight into the power of the fifteenth day, when honor is extended to each other by the sun and the moon, but particularly by the moon, because the sun does not change but the moon does.
We learn from Chazal that the moon was diminished at the beginning of history when it said to Hashem that there cannot be "two kings utilizing the same crown" (Chulin 60b). Hashem then diminished the moon. Presumably, before that time its appearance was constant, like the sun's. But at that time it began its cycle of waxing and waning, in which it reappears on Rosh Chodesh, grows full at the fifteenth day, and then diminishes each succeeding night until it disappears at the end of the month.
The moon's waxing and waning is said to resemble the rise and fall of Am Yisrael's fortunes during galus. Presumably, when galus ends the moon will no longer vary in appearance. We say during Kiddush Levanah, "May it be Your will, Hashem . . . to fill the flaw in the moon that there be no diminution in it. May the light of the moon be like the light of the sun . . . as it was before it was diminished . . . and may there be fulfilled upon us the verse that is written: 'They shall seek Hashem . . . and David, their King, Amen. ' "
The moon is, by definition, secondary to the sun. The sun is the source of light, heat, and energy, the center around which the solar system revolves.
"The sun . . . is like a groom coming forth from his bridal chamber, rejoicing like a warrior to run the course. The end of the heavens is its source, and its circuit is to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat."
Those words are followed in Tehillim 19 by "The Torah of Hashem is trustworthy," implying a connection between the constancy of the sun and the perfection of the Torah.
The moon, on the other hand, is the receiver, as opposed to the giver. Its glow comes from the sun.
The relationship between these two heavenly bodies is analogous to the relationship between Hashem and the universe He created. All life radiates from Him; we are receivers. He is like the sun and we are like the moon. He is constant and unwavering; we are unstable, in a constant internal and external battle for life. Sometimes we are strong and bright, sometimes weak and dark.
When the moon says that two kings cannot utilize the same crown, Hashem tells the moon, "diminish yourself!" Something similar happened when Chava rebelled against Hashem in Gan Eden. She was implicitly criticizing the way Hashem had set up the universe. This is like the moon telling Hashem that He set up the universe deficiently.
Both Chava and the moon suffered because they challenged Hashem. Chava was expelled from the constant goodness of paradise and the moon was expelled from receiving constant light and life from the sun. Hashem in His mercy continued to give Chava life, but not the eternal, stable life she had enjoyed in Gan Eden. So too, Hashem did not obliterate the moon or consign it to complete darkness, but diminished it until it retained its former full measure of light and life only on one day of the month.
On that day the moon returns to its former brightness and magnitude. On that day it shows "kavod" to the sun by not trying to encroach on its territory. On that day it receives the sun's full blessing. So too with mankind: when we give Hashem His Place as the Master of the Universe, when we stop trying to encroach on His position by competing with Him, it is then that we enjoy His full blessing.
This is comparable to the proper respect accorded when a rosh yeshiva, a gadol, or, for that matter, a parent enters the room: we rise and remain standing until he is seated. This is "kavod h rav" or "kibud av v'eim." We receive our life from the gadol and from our parents. We show our respect by standing and giving honor. Part of derech eretz is being able to accept that I am indebted to someone and accept his authority. When I acknowledge that, I am not lowering but rather elevating myself.
This is called "sameach b'chelko"--"being satisfied with one's lot" (Pirkei Avos 4:1). We will never have menuchas hanefesh unless we can accept the portion Hashem gives us. The design of the entire universe is based on the allotments Hashem apportioned to each creation. If I try to grab someone else's portion, I am going to throw the entire universe out of balance. The world is a mess today because we don't understand this.
The Asseres haDibros end (Shemos 20:14) with "You shall not covet." The source of trouble is our desire for that which does not belong to us, whether it is mankind desiring the fruit of a tree in Gan Eden, the moon envying the status of the sun, or any individual wanting something that belongs to someone else. The key to achieving peace in the world is the ability to accept what Hashem bestows upon us.
In the same way, "All of a person's income is fixed [each year] from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur . . . " (Beitzah 16a and Bava Basra 10a). We will receive what He decrees and no more.
Every night we say, "Master of the universe, I hereby forgive anyone who angered or antagonized me or who sinned against me." These amazing words seem to mean that we have to be so secure in our relationship with Hashem, so happy with our lot, that even injuries inflicted on us do not throw off our equilibrium. We have to try to understand that even these painful moments are gifts from Hashem with a beneficial purpose.
My chavrusa, Rabbi Moshe Grossman, told me a true story he had read in the writings of Rabbi Elimelech Biderman about a young man who was with a childless friend at a Purim mesiba. They had a lively altercation that ended with the married man giving the younger man a slap across the face. The younger man then said, "In the merit of the public embarrassment you have caused me, I give you the blessing that you should have a baby boy." The man's son was born nine months later.
I have heard that great men who were publicly insulted actually celebrated a seudas hoda'ah, a meal of thanksgiving, to express the simcha that they had mastered their own tendency to respond to insults with bigger insults.
What does all this have to do with Tu B'Shevat?
Tu B'Shevat is the day the sap starts flowing in the trees after the long, cold winter. (See The Book of Our Heritage by Eliyahu Kitov). This is the general pattern of nature; like t'chias hamaisim, the resurrection of the dead.
In fact, all the Yomim Tovim that fall on the fifteenth of the month represent instances of t'chias hamaisim. This is a foundation of Torah life: we are not bound by the limitations of physical existence. We are not afraid of death, because life with Hashem is eternal.
On Tu B'Shevat the trees awaken. Unseen by human eyes, the sap flows upward inside the tree. How can the sap, the lifeblood of the tree, flow upward? In nature, everything flows downward. But when Hashem saves us through t'chias hamaisim, it is an act that defies the physical world, an act that demonstrates He is in complete control of the entire universe.
And so each year on the Fifteenth of Shevat, the sap starts flowing upward through the tree and, although the world at large has no clue, those who live by Torah know Hashem is saving us once again and introducing eternal life into this world. This is what happens on Tu B'Shevat.
The first berachah in Shemoneh Esrei, while it is called "Avos," describes, insofar as it's possible, Hashem. The second berachah is called t'chias hamaisim, the resurrection of the dead. T'chias hamaisim is so important that it comes second in Shemoneh Esrei. What does Hashem do in this world? He gives us eternal life. He creates nature and then overcomes it for those who are close to Him.
Our basic view of the world is that we should not be afraid of anything, because even death is overwhelmed by Hashem's willingness to provide eternal life to those who dwell with Him. Resurrection is arguably the basic fact of life. This is how we begin our day: "Blessed are You, Hashem, Who restores souls to dead bodies."
Tu B'Shevat is about how dead trees come to life, which means that Tu B'Shevat is about t'chias hamaisim. We can look in nature and see what Hashem is planning for us.
Just as the sap rising in the trees is invisible but flowing, so is Hashem's salvation. If we know the secret of t'chias hamaisim we need not fear anything in this world, because we have Hashem's promise that He will bring us back even from the dead. And the key to resurrection is kavod. The moon tells us that. We need to be united in order to merit t'chias hamaisim.
Inside the Tree of Life, the sap is beginning to flow upward from the ancient roots--our fathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov and our mothers Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah--to the tips of the branches and buds, our own generation.
Unseen by the heedless masses, God is preparing to heal the world. The Children of Israel, even though we ourselves may not be aware of it, are rising toward our destiny. Do you think darkness will not be followed by light? Do you think the world is condemned to the eternal grip of the icy hand of winter?
No. Mashiach ben David is coming. The long-dormant bud is about to open. Unseen, the sap is rising through the frozen branches, and suddenly, k'heref ayin, in the blink of an eye, when men have given up hope, when they think darkness will never end and spring will never come, the flower will burst forth in glorious splendor and a new age of purity will explode upon the earth.
In those days, soon to come, "A sun of righteousness will shine for you who fear My Name, with healing in its rays . . . " (Malachi 3:20).
"Blessed are You, Hashem, Who revives the dead."
Ping.
>>Did we not stand at Har Sinai “k’ish echad b’lev echad”—”like one man with one heart” (Rashi on Shemos 19:2)<<
Half a million or so people, were “echad” (one), with one (”echad”) heart. Many were as one.
Ergo, it’s “Shema... adonai echad” (not “adonai yahid”).
Punished for causeless hatred of each other, saved from extinction by causeless love, the Ultimate Redemption because Jews will stand as one, hopefully voluntarily, but involuntarily if necessary.
This is the real response to the 'Jew Hunting Season' thread.
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