Tu BiShvat - Day for Endearment of the Land \ Rabbi Yaakov Ariel
Tu BiShvat
The Shiur was given in 5763
Tu BiShvat - Day for Endearment of the
Land
Rabbi Yaakov Ariel
Written by the rabbi
Dedicated to the memory of
Hana Bat Haim
Every single Divine commandment is worthy of endearment. Mitzvoth
(commandments) are not meant to be fulfilled like exteriorly imposed obligations;
rather, they should be made the object of our love and affection. The endearment
which accompanies each Mitzvah, though, is not a value which stands separate unto
itself; it is, rather, an integral part of the Mitzvah itself. Affection for the Land of Israel
holds a special place among the commandments. It is a commandment in itself. Even
when one is not busy fulfilling the actual Mitzvoth connected to settling the land, there
is at least an obligation to love the land. This is all the more true when one is
occupied with the fulfillment of the commandment itself.
Ostensibly, Tu BiShvat (The 15th of the Hebrew month of Shvat - the New Year of
the Trees) is no more than a means for calculating the laws connected to those
Mitzvoth whose fulfillment is connected to the soil of the Land of Israel: tithes, heave-
offerings, the "uncircumcised" fruit of a young tree, and, perhaps, the Sabbatical
year. However, on an instinctive national level, Tu BiShvat holds an honorary
position. On this day, the heart would become filled with warm feelings of affection
and great longing for the Land of Israel: her commandments and landscape, her fruit
and her young trees, her past and her future. It is possible that in the Diaspora,
where we were unable to fulfill the Mitzvoth of the Land of Israel, there was a need to
invest this day with added emotion in place of the commandments we lacked. Yet,
even in the land, we are not free from putting our hearts - not just our heads - into
this day. To the contrary, in the Land of Israel the need for affection is that much
greater, for it also receives actual expression in our entire being. The heart and the
head, affection and obligation, the commandments of the soil and our natural inner
bond with the Land of Israel, are one.
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Tu BiShvat - Day for Endearment of the Land \ Rabbi Yaakov Ariel
Tu BiShvat
Indeed, this is a profound approach. Love for the land is not merely an appreciation
for her landscape and sites; it is not merely the land's development and
transformation from a wasteland to a paradise. Love for the land means a deep inner
dialogue with the land's sanctity, its values, and its unique hidden qualities. This is
the land that was chosen by God, and to which He gives special attention and for
which He harbors love. He therefore chose to rest His presence herein, and
commanded that certain unique commandments be performed here. It is not just
some piece of land; it is, rather, the Holy Land, and its holiness finds expression in
special concrete ways.
The Land of Israel is not just "territory." She is not just some place in which we are
permitted to live. She is not just a piece of land which sustains us. She is not just a
beautiful landscape which enchants us. True, she is all of these things, but she is
more as well. It is a fact that even when we were not in her midst physically, she was
with us spiritually. Not only were our inner ties with the Land of Israel not weakened
while we were far away in exile, they were deepened and strengthened - for the
intimate bond between the People of Israel and its land is not an external matter, it is
a inner fundamental bond.
The land-dependent commandments find expression in concrete practice, which is
the most important expression through which it is possible to display such a special
bond. For, this land is not like any other land in the world. Its soil is holy and it is
therefore deserving of special commandments. God wished to bestow privilege upon
the Land of Israel, and therefore filled it with Torah and commandments. According to
Ramban, all of the commandments in the Torah, even those which are not
dependent upon Israel's soil, are vitally connected to the Land of Israel. Even
Rambam, who does not share this opinion, tells us that central and fundamental
aspects of the Jewish religious experience would collapse, Heaven forbid, without the
Land of Israel. For example, the entire Hebrew calendar and holiday cycle is
dependent upon the Land of Israel. Hence, the seasons of the year which exist in the
Land of Israel are what determine the character of the Jewish holidays and significant
times and obligate every Jew wherever he might be - even if the particular season in
which a Diaspora Jew finds himself does not fit the Festival. For example, an
Australian Jew celebrates the Festival of Spring in autumn. Moreover, this is quite
fitting, for it teaches such a Jew that he is not in his natural environment. A complete
fulfillment of our Torah and our national institutions: law, kingdom, priesthood, and
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Tu BiShvat - Day for Endearment of the Land \ Rabbi Yaakov Ariel
Tu BiShvat
prophecy, can be brought to fruition only in the Land of Israel. Therefore, all of our
aspirations, hopes, and desires bear fruit in this land. "Whoever lives outside of Israel
is comparable to one who has no God." Such a person's spiritual world lacks
significance. He lacks inspiration, faith, and destiny.
Tu BiShvat - the Festival of the reawakening of the trees of the Land of Israel from
their wintertime slumber is also a Festival for the reawakening of the Jewish People.
In the past, the blossoming of the trees in the Land of Israel led to the reawakened
hopes of the nation to return to become planted once again in its land. With our
actual physical return to our homeland, we have also set about sinking our spiritual
roots into her. All of the land-dependant commandments have sprouted and
reawakened, and with them, the Torah of the Land of Israel has begun to flower once
again. No more detached from nature, from the earth and from national self-
sufficiency; rather, full and complete life which embraces all - labor, moral and social
duty, the nation, the first inklings of a kingdom of Israel, and a combination of both
physical and spiritual strength.
The New Year of the trees is a New Year for the tree of the nation, for the sinking in
of its roots into the soil of the Land of Israel and the lifting up of its treetop to the
heavens above.
E-mail : beitel@yeshiva.org.il
For more Shiurim from the site: www.yeshiva.org.il
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