Hi, everyone! We recently celebrated the holiday of Tu Bishvat, the Jewish "New Year" for trees. There is a fascinating literature in Jewish thought (and elsewhere) that compares humans to trees. For our learning today, we'll study a few Torah sources on this subject, and explore how they bear on our work as educators.
But before jumping into the sources, part of the goal of this session is for Lab School and High School teachers to begin to get to know one another. So:
-Please get in groups of 5-6 (at least one lab school teacher, one high school Judaic Studies teacher, and one high school general studies teacher per group). You'll have approximately 20 minutes in your groups.
-Before you start learning together, please take a moment for each member of your group to share:
- Your name
- Your role at Kohelet
- One hobby that you love
- One thing you love about teaching
Now we're ready to learn! Have someone read each text. Along the way, consider the following questions, and appoint one person who will share a summary of your findings with the rest of the faculty:
- What are different possible ways to understand the comparison between a person and a tree?
- How is the comparison relevant to education?
- Does the metaphor of person-as-tree play out differently for K-1 and high school age students?
- Which interpretation of the metaphor (based on one of the sources below or your own suggestion) resonates most deeply with you as an educator, and why?
(א) אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֮ בַּעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֝צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב׃ (ב) כִּ֤י אִ֥ם בְּתוֹרַ֥ת ה' חֶ֫פְצ֥וֹ וּֽבְתוֹרָת֥וֹ יֶהְגֶּ֗ה יוֹמָ֥ם וָלָֽיְלָה׃ (ג) וְֽהָיָ֗ה כְּעֵץ֮ שָׁת֪וּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵ֫י מָ֥יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר פִּרְי֨וֹ ׀ יִתֵּ֬ן בְּעִתּ֗וֹ וְעָלֵ֥הוּ לֹֽא־יִבּ֑וֹל וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה יַצְלִֽיחַ׃
(1) Happy is the man who has not followed the counsel of the wicked, or taken the path of sinners, or joined the company of the insolent; (2) rather, the teaching of the Lord is his delight, and he studies that teaching day and night. (3) He is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose foliage never fades, and whatever it produces thrives.
(ז) בָּר֣וּךְ הַגֶּ֔בֶר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְטַ֖ח בַּֽה' וְהָיָ֥ה ה' מִבְטַחֽוֹ׃ (ח) וְהָיָ֞ה כְּעֵ֣ץ ׀ שָׁת֣וּל עַל־מַ֗יִם וְעַל־יוּבַל֙ יְשַׁלַּ֣ח שָֽׁרָשָׁ֔יו וְלֹ֤א ירא [יִרְאֶה֙] כִּֽי־יָבֹ֣א חֹ֔ם וְהָיָ֥ה עָלֵ֖הוּ רַֽעֲנָ֑ן וּבִשְׁנַ֤ת בַּצֹּ֙רֶת֙ לֹ֣א יִדְאָ֔ג וְלֹ֥א יָמִ֖ישׁ מֵעֲשׂ֥וֹת פֶּֽרִי׃
(7) Blessed is he who trusts in the Lord, Whose trust is the Lord alone. (8) He shall be like a tree planted by waters, Sending forth its roots by a stream: It does not sense the coming of heat, Its leaves are ever fresh; It has no care in a year of drought, It does not cease to yield fruit.
רב שמשון רפאל הירש
העץ איננו דואג בזמן שהסערות תופסות אותו, מנענעות אותו וכופפות אותו, הוא לא נע ולא זע ממקומו, וכל זמן שהוא לא נעקר ממקומו, היה תהיה לו תקומה! ועל כן נמצא שהאילן לא הפסיד כלום... כן הוא האדם. כל זמן שהוא נצמד לשרשיו הרוחניים - שום רוח לא תעקור אותו ממקומו. ונהפוך הוא, הסערות תעוררנה את כח ההתחדשות!
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
(19th cent. Germany)
The tree does not fear when the storms seize, shake and bend it. It does not move and veer from its place; and so long as it is not uprooted from its place, it shall surely continue to stand! Therefore the tree has lost nothing...
The same is true for a person. So long as he is attached to his spiritual roots - no wind can uproot him from his place. Just the opposite: the storms awaken the spirit of renewal!
הרב יעקב משה חרל"פ
כל מערכת ימי החיים של האדם הם תמיד בבחינת זריעה למה שעתיד לצמוח. ועל כן הוא נקרא בשם "אדם" ע"ש האדמה להורות על עניין זה. שכן כל שבחה של האדמה הוא מצד הגידול והצמיחה הבאים ממנה. וכשם שכל מה שצומח מן האדמה יש בתוכו זרע שזורעין אותו ושוב מעלה צמחים וגידולים חדשים, כן גם האדם, כל מה שממציא על ידי טהרת מחשבתו וכושר מעשיו, בגדר זריעה הוא, שממנה עתידים לצמוח ולפרוח גידולים חדשים עד אין סוף ואין תכלית. וכשם שלזריעה הנתונה באדמה דרוש עיבוד ועידוד, השקאה וכדומה במלאכות שבשדה, שרק על ידם מתעורר באדמה כח הגידול, כן אצל האדם. הנשמה העליונה - האלקית, מעוררת בו כח הגידול והצמיחה, והעבודות הקדושות הן הן הפועלות להחיות את כח הגידול שלו.
Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlop
(20th cent. Israel)
The entire duration of a person's life is constantly in the mode of planting for that which will later grow. Therefore he is called "Adam" after the ground, to demonstrate this matter. For the entire praise of the land comes from the element of growth and blossoming that stem from it. And just as all that grows from the ground contains seeds that one plants, and it later spawns new flowers and growth, so too with a person: all that he creates through his purity of thought and actions is akin to planting. For from it new sprouts will blossom and flower to no end. And just as regarding planting in the ground, physical labor, hoeing, watering and the like are necessary, for only through them is the potential for growth awakened in the ground, so too regarding a person. The upper-divine soul inspires through it the potential for growth, and the sanctified services [of God] activate [the soul's] potential for growth.
(ה) הַזֹּרְעִ֥ים בְּדִמְעָ֗ה בְּרִנָּ֥ה יִקְצֹֽרוּ׃
(5) They who sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy.