Tonight marks Tu Bishvat - the Jewish holiday of Nature and the new year for trees.

The Torah says: “Ki ha’adam etz ha’sadeh—a human is a tree of the field.”

Just as a tree begins as a tiny seed, slowly built over time by mother earth into a trunk with branches and twigs and fruit, that contain seeds that can build new trees forever; so too is a human being formed from a seed and nurtured by mother into a body with arms and fingers and the ability to create new children forever.

Like a tree, we must stay rooted to our source - connected to Hashem through Torah, which is likened to water. And like a tree, we must provide shade and fruit for others - we must do Mitzvot, good deeds that elevate our surroundings and help others.

The Arizal explains a deeper comparison with trees: When your soul descends to become clothed in a physical body, your roots remain attached to their Source. Only the branches of these roots descend into a lower, physical dimension.

This is the mystical reason why the names of some righteous figures in the Torah are doubled: “Avraham, Avraham” (Genesis 22:11), “Yaakov, Yaakov” (Genesis 46:2), “Moshe Moshe” (Exodus 3:4). The first name corresponds to the root that remains on high, attached to the Tree, while the second name is the branch that descends into your physical body.

This root is called a person’s mazal [from nozel, “to flow”], since your root soul constantly flows down into your branch soul in your body. But just like a branch is ultimately connected through to the trees’ roots, your conscious soul self (nefesh/ruach) in your body stays connected to your root soul (chaya) which experiences divine reality at all times. This is why subconsciously you have faith, even when the world tells you otherwise and doubt creeps in. The deeper you sees & knows.

Let’s use Tu Bishvat as inspiration to ascend within our tree consciousness higher and higher to our roots.

I hope this meditation from our class the other week helps a bit with that. Happy new year! 🌳