This year, please G-d, we will celebrate the New Year of Trees on Tuesday, January 22, 2008. It is a day on which we enjoy eating fruits that are grown in the Land of Israel.
![[illustration]](images/trees01.jpg)
The Talmud in Tractate Rosh Hashanah discusses four different New Years. The first one is known as the First of Nissan, the month in which our ancestors were freed from bondage in Egypt. The second is known as the First of Elul in which the Torah prescribes the process of tithing of cattle which only applied in the days of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Although this mitzvah or commandment is temporarily suspended, it will, please G-d, be reinstituted when the third and final Temple is rebuilt. May it come speedily and in our day. Third, there is the First of Tishrei, more commonly known as Rosh Hashanah, the day on which the Almighty judges the entire world.
Finally, there is the New Year for Trees which is more commonly known as Tu B’Shevat, the fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Shevat. Our holy Sages instituted this date because most of the rains of the previous year have already fallen. A new season commences as the fruits begin to ripen.
This process of blossoming should serve as a lesson to each and every one of us. There may be times when we face trials and tribulations and are inundated with severe rains that may, G-d forbid, cause serious damage. However, there always comes a day which brings forth the rays of sunshine and the hope for a better tomorrow which is represented by the blossoming process. On this Rosh Hashanah of Trees we come to the realization that Nature is solely in the hands of the Almighty. It is a time in which we pray to G-d for sustenance and plenty and we rejoice with G-d’s Divine Judgement.
Rabbi Moshe D. Lichtman, author of “Eretz Yisroel in the Parsha” has developed a novel concept. He opines that while our ancestors, the Children of Israel, wandered through the desert they were nourished daily by “Manna” from heaven. Upon their entry into the Holy Land of Israel, this daily miracle ceased to exist. The miraculous was converted into the natural and the “Manna” into the holy fruits of the Land Of Israel.
This too should serve as a lesson for each and every one of us. By our actions and our faith in the Almighty, He will most assuredly reward us by converting the miraculous events into natural events. By serving G-d and observing His Commandments, we will naturally pave the way for the expeditious arrival of the Messianic era which will herald peace, love and harmony for the Jewish people and for all of humankind. May it come speedily and in our day, Amen.