January 25, 2024

[Music] hey ol me mentors and mentees happy New Year shatova you may be thinking to yourself is he off on his calendar well not exactly because today is Tu bishvat the 15th of the month of shat and it's the new year for the trees well you may be saying to yourself am I a tree stumped you huh well let me explain today by Jewish law is considered the new year a brand new year for trees simple question if you look out your window right now is anything happening to your trees is there a leaf on the tree a bud a blossom a juicy fruit empty Barren so why is today the new year for the fruits shouldn't it be in the spring when there's life when things are growing and thriving let me teach you something fascinating and maybe you'll understand why it's also a Happy New Year for you the way the trees work is that they's sap right the sap is the life blood of the tree the sap start at the roots of the tree they travel upwards into the trunks out onto the branches and they provide the nutrition the hydration the energy so the tree could produce beautiful fruit today the 15th of shat is when that sap all the way deep deep in the Earth at the tip of the roots begins its ascent and its Journey up to the center of the tree and ultimately it will provide sustenance and nutrition for those amazing fruit you see in the darkness and the cold of winter is really the first step to growth and incredible energy and on some level that's the message to us as well our Torah teaches us how other man is like a tree because you see sometimes we also hit points of Darkness maybe points of stagnation and we wonder if there's any growth but it's in those moments that the growth is just beginning to start it's beginning to sprout and eventually will give forth incredible fruit so happy New Year shat Tova to the trees and to us