Rabbi's Message

The sun is setting in Jerusalem.  I am grateful for the continued support from TBS that allows me to be here as part of the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative of the Hartman Institute.  Our days are mostly spent on the campus in Jerusalem, in conversation with Hartman scholars and the other rabbis in my cohort.  It is wonderful to be here, even in these complex days.  Today, once again, joy mixed with outrage as eight more hostages were released in exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom with blood on their hands.  In addition to the sense of injustice at the calculus of this deal, the Game of Thrones-like mob that Israeli hostages Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes, and Thai hostages Pongsak Thenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao, and Surasak Lamnau were forced to walk through on their way to the Red Cross vehicles was especially horrific.  Still, we are grateful that they are free and pray that soon the remaining 79 hostages are as well.

In the midst of all of this, today is also a special day in the Jewish calendar.  It is Rosh Hodesh Shevat, the first day of the Hebrew month of Shevat.  There is a well-known argument in the Mishnah about whether today, the 1st of Shevat, or two weeks from now, the 15th of Shevat, should be the new year for the trees (known as Tu B’shevat).  Beit Shammai argued that it was today, but Beit Hillel said it was on the 15th.  Last night, at Hartman, I heard an interesting interpretation of these two positions that resonate with our world today – both in Israel and the US.  It came from Ehud Banai, an Israeli musician who performed.  (Only in Israel do you get a D’var Torah at a rock concert!)  Banai cited an interpretation that said that Beit Shammai thought the new year for the trees should be on the 1st of Shevat because all the other new years mentioned in the Mishnah (there are three others) also occur on the first day of their months like Rosh Hashanah.

Therefore, it would make sense that the new year for the trees would follow that pattern. However, Beit Hillel thought this new year should fall two weeks later because that is closer to the time trees actually blossom in Israel.  Beit Hillel didn’t feel constrained by logic, rather he looked around the world, observed what was happening, and thought that we should celebrate the blossoming of trees when the trees actually blossom!  Indeed, as I walk around Jerusalem, I notice very few trees beginning to blossom, but the warming weather (don’t be jealous!) indicates that very soon they will appear.  Beit Hillel and his matching of ritual with reality win out, and therefore, we celebrate Tu B’shevat, “Tu” standing for the letters tet and vav, which add up to 15.  This argument and its result teach us something that goes beyond the date for the new year for the trees.  In our texts, hearts, and minds, we have a sense of what an ideal world looks like.  A world that makes sense upholds our values and allows everyone to be safe and free.  This is the world that Beit Shammai tries to impose on our world, even if it doesn’t conform with reality. 

It’s worth remembering Beit Shammai’s lesson, as we, too, stand up for what is right in a time when so often things feel very wrong.  And yet, it is also important to learn from Beit Hillel’s acknowledgment of the world as it is and to still find joy and blessings in it.  This tension between the ideal and the real, what ought to be and what is, is something that I feel acutely in Israel and at home these days.  And I pray that the wisdom from our tradition, the lessons from our history, and the strength we receive from each other will help us navigate it together.