"A young girl looks out the window and notices the tree in the front yard swaying in the wind. She asks her father, “How does the tree move its branches like that?” Now, the father was preoccupied and almost said, “The tree is not moving the branches, the wind is.” But before the words were out, he caught himself and rose from his chair and went to the window to join his daughter. From inside, behind the window, they could neither feel nor hear the wind and the father thought, “How can I possibly be sure that the branches are moving from the wind rather than moving from the tree itself?”
He then asked his daughter, “Do you really think the tree is moving the branches?” and she replied, “If the tree is dancing it would need music, so maybe the music is in the wind. Maybe the wind carries a music that only the trees can hear."
The Kabbalah Experience, Festival of the Trees 2016
"Tu b’Shevat has a mystical partner: Tu b’Av*, the Fifteenth day of the Summer month of Av. Tu b’Av is forty days before the Twenty-fifth of Elul, the date of the mystical beginning of the Creation of the World (which is five days before Rosh haShanah). The Talmud, at the end of Tractate Taanit, suggests that Tu b’Av represents the ‘subconscious’ glimmer of love that led to the act of Creation. The Baalei Ha’Tosefot, in Tractate Rosh haShanah 27, say that on Rosh haShanah, the ‘thought’ of creating humanity entered the Creator’s consciousness. The actual Creation of humanity took place six months later, on the First of the month of Nissan.
Tu b’Shevat is forty days before the Twenty-fifth of Adar. According to the Baalei Ha’Tosefot, the Twenty-fifth of Adar would be the first day of Creation of the world, as it is five days before the First of Nissan. Tu b’Shevat would therefore be the first glimmer of love before the act of Creation.
According to Jewish Law, Tu BiShvat is the day that new sap begins to stir and flow within the fruit trees of the Land of Israel. It is the first glimmer of the new fruits that will blossom in Nissan. It is the first glimmer of the loving-kindness that will nourish us in the coming year as we eat of the year's fruits."
Iyun, Center for Jewish Spirituality
*Tu B'Av is the Day of Love on the Jewish Holiday Calendar
Taking those ideas in, but not talking about them yet, would the person who read text #1 please invite someone else to read texts 2-5 and facilitate the questions interspersed among them.
2. (1) Of David. A psalm.
The earth is Adonai's and all that it holds, the world and its inhabitants.
a) Whether or not you personally believe in something you are comfortable calling God (or Adonai), what emotional or spiritual benefit might there be in a world view in which leaves possession of the earth to something that is not humanity?
b) It is within the frame of the earth and all that it holds belonging to God that our sages wrote the blessings they determined we must say before eating lest we become thieves. Regarding Berahot 50b and 51a, the Maharal of Prague taught that someone who eats and doesn't say a blessing is considered a thief because every aspect of God's creation is inherently holy. Therefore, when one eats a piece of fruit, that person is depriving the world of a piece of holiness. A blessing re-infuses the world with holiness. Eating without a blessing, however, lowers the level of holiness in the world without replacing the loss - and is regarded as a theft. What might the value be in pausing before beginning to eat anything, even a small snack, and remembering that what we are about to eat is a piece of holiness and that we have a responsibility to restore holiness to the world?
c) What emotional or spiritual benefit might there be in understanding eating as consuming a piece of holiness?
(א) לא יטעום אדם כלום עד שיברך שנאמר (תהילים כד) ליי הארץ ומלואה הנהנה מן העולם הזה בלא ברכה מעל עד שיתירו לו כל המצות לא ישתמש אדם בפניו ידיו ורגליו אלא לכבוד קונהו שנאמר (משלי טז) כל פעל יי למענהו.
3. (1) A person should not taste anything until they make a Bracha (blessing) [on it], as it is said, “To Adonai is the Earth and its fullness…” (Psalms 24:1) [A person] who receives pleasure from this world without a Bracha makes inappropriate use of sacred property, until all of the Mitzvot (commandments) [that must be done over this object] will permit it to them. A person should use their face, hands and feet only for the honor of their Creator, as it is said, “Every creation of Adonai is for God's sake.” (Proverbs 16:4)
"Why do we wait to ask until the apple is on its way to our mouth?. Shouldn’t we say the bracha before picking it, if the issue is stealing?
If we look more carefully, it seems that brachot are not about taking God’s property in our hands, but about using it.
After all, the Tosefta actually uses the word “benefit,” not “take,” and it uses the word me’ilah – which is different from theft. Theft begins with picking up an object that belongs to someone else without permission, while me’ilah only applies if one benefits from the item. (Not that I’m an expert on either area of halacha, but so I’ve read; see Rambam Hilchot Gezeilah 1:3 and Rav Pinchas Kehati’s introduction to Mesechet Me’ilah.) . . . .
In fact, the Gemara tells us that once a person says a bracha, the second half of that pasuk from Tehillim applies: “והארץ נתן לבני אדם” – “God gave the earth to humans.” I am not only taking legitimately; I am accepting something which was given to me."
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ‑יָ אֱ‑לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָעֵץ.
5. Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.
a) The sages in these texts and in composing this blessing were very concerned that we not forget the One who created the trees and their fruits. Do you think that facilitates our relationship with the fruit and the tree, or disrupts it? Whichever your perspective, why might that have been the aim of these rabbis?
b) Judaism is, of course, intent on not engaging in idolatry. In celebrating the trees, we don't want to unintentionally end up worshiping them. How might we hold regard for the tree that bears the fruit and maintain our relationship with the tree as a co-creation within this frame of blessings before we eat of the fruit of that tree?
The Tu B’shevat Seder was created in the 16th century by Isaac Luria and other Kabbalists. These mystics split the seder into four “spheres" or worlds, each of which represents a different Kabbalistic relationship between humans and Creation.
Asiyah - Action and the Body
Yetzirah - Formation and Emotion
Beriah - Creation and Mind
Atzilut - Emanation, Spirit, and Essence
Yetzirah - Olives | Plums | Apricots | Avocado | Cherries
Pits represent what is not ours to eat which has penetrated the holiness of the edible fruit. The inedible part has moved from the outside to the inside, and is no longer compost, but a seed with the potential to grow.
These fruits remind us that the means to growth can come from hidden places. They symbolize the potential we have not yet discovered.
Beriah - Grapes | Figs | Carobs | Pears
Eating fruits that are soft throughout and whose seeds are edible, we celebrate relationships in which we are available to each other in every aspect and facet of our personalities and strong in a way that does not cut us off from any part of each other. These relationships support us in being our best, most whole and continuously growing selves.
These fruits remind us of the wholeness of the world, where everything nourishes everything else. We take the time to look at the fruits of our own creations and actions and consider how to deepen the roots of our relationships with each other and the earth.
We will have time when we are back together as a whole group for individual personal, emotional reflection. With this group, we will consider these questions:
a) Why might Rabbi Luria and others have decided that Yetzirah, the sphere of emotion, should be paired with fruits with inedible pits and Beriah, the sphere of Creation and Mind, should be paired with fruits that are edible and soft throughout?
b) The blessing we are taught to say before eating a tree fruit is the same no matter its form. Typically, we would say this bracha once and then eat any kind of tree fruit. In the Tu BiShvat seder we say this blessing each time we encounter a new kind of tree fruit.
Why might Rabbi Isaac Luria have chosen to differentiate further for the purpose of this one celebration each year?
c) Please thank your group for this time learning together. If you have remaining time, you are welcome to return to previous texts and ideas and to continue to talk about them.