Tu B’shvat and the Israeli Elections

Moshe Kempinski....

The celebration of Tu B'Shvat--the 15th of the month of Shevat on the Hebrew calendar is described in the Talmud, where Tu B'Shvat is called "the new year of the trees." The determination of the date is connected to the fact that four months have passed since the commencement of the rain season on the Feast of Tabernacles. From that point on the roots of the tree have been saturated and the life giving fluids are filling the tree and beginning the energy and revitalizing power of blossoming.





The ancient books describe the traditional eating of the fruits of Israel on this day as a means of Tikkun or correcting the sin of Adam and Eve.



Adam and Eve were put into the garden to protect and care for the garden. They were given one restriction, one prohibition, and that was to avoid eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Every fruit they ate from the garden was a source of blessing because it was received as a gift from the Almighty. Yet that was not enough and they earned to reach out and eat from the one tree that was forbidden to them. That act had nothing to do with the Divine Giver but was an act done in spite of Him. It was an act that fulfilled their passion to take for their own selfish desire.



Yet there was something deeper that was missed by Adam and Eve that led to their act of defiance, and it is something that continues to be missed by mankind until this very day.



Rabbi Kook, of blessed memory, revealed that deep insight regarding two verses in Genesis. God commanded the earth to give forth fruit trees producing fruit: "And God said: 'Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.' And it was so" (Gen. 1:11).



The earth fulfilled G-d's command but with one modification: "And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good" (Gen 1: 12).



The earth produced "trees producing fruit." Our sages in the Midrash teach homiletically that the original and ideal creation was that the trees themselves (their bark and trunk) would taste like the fruit that it produced, fruit-trees bearing fruit.



Instead, the earth fashioned trees that only produced fruit. The deep meaning and instruction in such a seeming difference between the ideal and the created reality points to the flaw in the reality we all experience in life. Yet G-d "saw that it was good." G-d purposely created a reality at odds with its ideal, a tension filled imperfect world.



Rav Kook explained that one of the basic failings of our limited perception of reality is that we generally aspire to the goal and ignore the process of attaining that goal. Man often focuses on the fruit of the tree and ignores the sweetness of the tree that bore the fruit. We place emphasis on the destination and as a result are unable to appreciate the means by which we attain our goals. We focus on some goal we have determined is important and ignore the journey and as a result we often stumble and fall. Focus on the voyage and the journey is the only way to ensure that we reach the right point in our destiny. That focus is also the only way to ensure that we arrive with our souls and hearts intact.





Such a decision stands before the people of Israel again . The choice in the coming election must be made with a clear determination of the purity of heart. We are choosing a voice to speak and stand for the people of Israel and it must be a voice that is clear pure and vision based. The voice of the National Union/ Ichud Haleumi is such a clear voice. Much will be done in these final days before Election Day to deter those who are committed to electing such a voice.



There will be many that will declare that such a decision to vote for a small party is weakening the Likud and enlarging the threat of a Kadima government. That in fact does not seem to be the case based on the latest polls. The Land Of Israel bloc seems to be growing rather than weakening. It may in fact force the Likud to rely more heavily on parties such as the Jewish Home and the National Union.



But yet despite those threats, the decision about how to vote this coming Tuesday must be one filled with the surety of commitment . It must be based on the sweet truth of the journey without rushing towards a destination we assume will be the only correct one. It must be based on a commitment to the truth of the land of Israel, the people of Israel and foremost to the G-d of Israel. That has been and continues to be the secret of this people’s survival.