It was cold out there this morning – 5 degrees! Normally we don’t post pictures of ourselves, but this morning called for a selfie.
Every year at Shvat I am reminded of the dissonance between the natural cycles in our home, the Great Lakes, and our homeland, Israel. We tromp our meditation in the snow, in below-freezing temperatures, around the iced-over lake – and we meditate on the New Year for Trees, Tu B’Shvat, the holiday which occurs at the full moon of Shvat, only a short two weeks from today. At Tu B’Shvat we celebrate the rising of sap in the trees, the first buds, and in Israel we plant new trees in warming soil. At Tu B’Shvat we eat abundant fruits, well past harvest time for fruit trees – nuts and fruits we have stored, for Shvat is not yet seedtime or harvest . Tu B’Shvat is a reminder that the cycle will turn again, and we will once more be back in leafy abundance, in not so much time.
Our Kabbalistic sages taught that Shvat is the month of taste. As one of our sources, Jill Hammer, notes, taste is a “powerful motivator” – in Eden, Adam and Eve tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and were thereby launched into the larger world. We taste fruits at Tu B’Shvat and are given a hint of the bounty to come, as the trees begin their seasonal cycle. We are encouraged to taste new fruits and foods this month that we have not tried before.
It is sometimes difficult to find meaning in contemplating the natural world, when we are surrounded by polarizing political events and our awareness of growing injustice, disparity and exclusion. Some might find putting time into meditation and prayer challenging when action is called for so urgently. Yet our Jewish tradition grounds us in the cycles of the moon, nature and agriculture, as well as in social action. Working together with others, building community, worshiping together and spending time outdoors in the natural world, we give ourselves a taste of the harmony and peace we seek to build through Tikkun Olam, repairing the world. We taste the future, and derive the energy to follow through to the seedtime and harvest. Chodesh Tov! —Kirby
Rosh Chodesh Cleveland 