Tu B'shevat: Teshuva through Eating

(1) The four new years are: On the first of Nisan, the new year for the kings and for the festivals; On the first of Elul, the new year for the tithing of animals; Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon say, on the first of Tishrei. On the first of Tishrei, the new year for years, for the Sabbatical years and for the Jubilee years and for the planting and for the vegetables. On the first of Shevat, the new year for the trees according to the words of the House of Shammai; The House of Hillel says, on the fifteenth thereof.

At four set times the world is judged:On Pesah in respect to the produce. On Shavuot in respect to the fruit of the tree. On Rosh Hashanah all the people of the world pass before Him like a division of soldier [a numerus], as it says, “He who fashions the hearts of them all, who discerns all their doings” (Psalms 33:15). And on Sukkot they are judged in respect of rain.

(a)G-d created man in such a way that he would need to eat in order to exist, and which provides spiritual sustenance, and this takes place through eating in a holy manner. When Man was first created, his food was only from the fruit of the tree, as it states in Genesis: And G-d planted a garden in the east of Eden, and he placed man there, and the planting was of trees, as the verse states :"And from all of the trees of the garden you should eat". The ideal was that man should eat the fruit of the trees, and the animals should eat the grasses. You should know that after man sinned, he was cursed to eat the grasses of the field. The Talmud (Pesachim 118A) states that (when Adam heard this) his eyes were filled with tears. He said: " Will my donkey and I eat from one trough?" G-d responded then that by the sweat of his brow he could eat bread. At that moment, the fruits were cursed.... (b) However when the Torah was given, there was freedom from the angel of death and the evil inclination (which are one and the same thing), and its status returned to be before the sin, and the fruit were corrected to their previous status. (c) The month of Sh'vat has connotations of punishment, as there were punishments for the Egyptians through the plagues. These punishments also caused the cure for the Jewish people, and this is the meaning of the verse "Your staff and your walking stick will comfort me" (Psalms 23), because, through the staff, we merit the walking stick which are words of Torah. (d) Adam, before he sinned, was only involved in studying Torah, because he was created with the free will only to do good. His food was prepared for him without any effort on his behalf because the trees of the garden gave him food, and even the wheat grew on trees, as is seen in tractate Brachot (40A) where there is an opinion that the fruit of knowledge that Adam ate from was wheat. Rashi writes that it is, for this reason, that on Shavuot we bring the 2 showbreads (made of wheat) in order that the fruits of the tree increase. Then, the trees themselves grew loaves, as will be in the future (when the Messiah comes c.f. Shabbat 30B) and there was no need for baking and kneeding of the bread. (e) The Zohar states that the strength of the tree of life and the tree of knowledge spread throughout all the other fruit, and the argument is what fruit started the degradation of man. After this degradation, when choice was given to choose good and its opposite was the commandment given to man to eat bread by "the sweat of his brow", that he would need to work hard in the ways of the land to help him choose life and goodness. (f) The Ari of blessed memory writes that the souls of the generation which were in the generation of the flood where the same that were enslaved in Egypt. Even the soul of Moses was part of the generation of the flood as is hinted to in the talmud (Chullin 139B) where it states that Moshe can be found in the words בשג"ם which adds up to the letters of Moshe's name. This is also hinted to when the daughter of Pharoah states:"כי מן המים משיתוהו" which tells us that Moses was drawn from the waters of the flood. This is so because from the sin of Adam there was a confusion of souls and the exile in Egypt had the purpose of separating the bad from the good and ensuring that the souls who were in the desert were rehabilitated. (g) It is known that the sin of the generation of the flood was with desire, and the source of desire is in the heart, which is proven through the verse in Proverbs (4:23) מכל משמר נצור לבך כי ממנו תוצאות חיים . (h) The plagues were smiting the Egyptians and healing the Jewish people, and the order of the plagues from those coming from the ground, till those (clearly coming) from G-d himself, and the plague of locusts was there to heal the Jewish people's understanding of their heart, as it says in the verse:" So you shall tell your children and your children's children how I exalted over Egypt" and this idea is again echoed in the book of Joel where it talks about the הצפוני type of locust. The Talmud (Sukka 42A) tells us that this refers to the evil inclination which is hidden צפון in the heart of man. (i) It is for this reason that the plague of locusts occurred in the month of Sh'vat which focuses on purifying the heart from the desires of the heart. The צדיק only eats to satiate his soul, without any desire. The month of Sh'vat is therefore a time to improve on the trait of eating from desire. (j) The next month is Adar, and the plague of darkness moves against mortal wisdom (undermining the truth of G-d) and that is the time of wiping out Amalek. Amalek which is hinted at through the Moshiach the son of Yosef (the TZADDIK) because Amalek only falls through the sons of Rachel. The month of Sh'vat is therefore a preparation for the destruction of Amalek. It is for this reason to make a feast on Purim, to eat and to drink because eating and drinking (out of desire) has already been ameliorated by the righteous who only eat to satisfy their souls. (k) There is a closeness between the two redemptions from Amalek (during Adar) and from Egypt (Pesach). The month of Nissan hints to the Messiah from the house of David which relates to the ultimate power of G-d, and that Middah of understanding that ultimate power the Jews were redeemed from Egypt and we will be redeemed in the future. (l) Shavuot is the time of the giving of the Torah which heals the flaw of Adam who had freedom from the evil inclination, where we bring the 2 showbreads in order to bless the trees according to the opinion that the tree of knowledge was wheat, and this hints to the idea that through Torah we can heal the sin of Adam to before his fall.(m)...In Sh'vat when we heal the sin of the gluttony, is the new year for trees, and we make a blessing on the fruit to enhance them with blessing and holiness....

(23) And when you come into the land, and planted all types of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden; for three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. (24) And in the fourth year all their fruit shall be holy, for giving praise to Ad-nai. (25) But in the fifth year you may eat of their fruit, that they may yield to you more richly: I am Ad-nai your God.

(17) He fed them the finest wheat; I sated you with honey from the rock.

(13) The righteous bloom like a date-palm; they thrive like a cedar in Lebanon;

(7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.

(23) They reached the wadi Eshcol, and there they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes—it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them—and some pomegranates and figs.

Reish Lakish says that the source to rely on them not to transgress is from here: “Your temples [rakkatekh] are like a pomegranate split open” (Song of Songs 6:7), which teaches that even the empty people [reikanin] among you are as full of mitzvot as the pomegranate is full of seeds.

(16) The LORD named you “Verdant olive tree, Fair, with choice fruit.” But with a great roaring sound He has set it on fire, And its boughs are broken.