The New Year of the Trees isn’t an ecology dayIt isn’t about “being green” or trees everywhere.It’s
The New Year of the Trees isn’t an ecology dayIt isn’t about “being green” or trees everywhere.It’s about trees in ISRAEL. Can you imagine living in exile? Knowing that, although you have lived all your life in one place, as have your parents and maybe even grandparents, you belong to a different land?The Jewish people lived in exile for centuries. Their religion and traditions did not allow them to forget… Maybe, most of all, it was their neighbors who did not allow them to forget that they belonged to a different land.Jews in exile yearned for Zion, “the sun-drenched land.” Its fruits became something almost mythological. If someone managed to bring them fruits of the Land, it was like receiving a small miracle, something rare and very precious.Of course, fruits couldn’t stay fresh on such a long trip. Dates, for example, could be brought from the faraway land to the people in exile. This is where the tradition of eating dried fruit on Tu B’shvat began. Tu B’shvat is the most Zionist of all our holidays.It is important to understand this and make sure our children understand it too.Tu B’shvat is about the most ancient love story ever documented – between a Land and her People, between the People and our Land. The Land that gave us our name, land of our ancestors, the land we are not complete without.The Land that demands that we be Maccabees so that we can earn her and keep her.It is time to reject the habits of Galut. Today we have the privilege of eating fresh fruits.Forest Rain Marcia -- source link