Dear all,
Tu Bishvat, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, is Jewish Arbor Day. We celebrate the environment, and we specifically honor the importance of trees. This year, Tu Bishvat falls on Thursday, January 28.
Earlier this week, Ron and I discovered that one of our trees was bearing fruit for the first time. They looked like lemons from another planet! They were huge and really bumpy. “Are they etrogim?” we wondered. I called upon my friend, Gingy (Rabbi David Wilfond) who knows a lot about these things, as he studied agriculture in college. He explained in short that etrogim have thicker skins than lemons.
So we took the fruit and sliced in in half. The skin was pretty thin. Must be a strange breed of lemon!
Of course, it made me think. Getting through life often requires a thick skin. We can’t allow ourselves to be bothered by the negativities in the world.
And yet … our skin can’t be so thick that we become insensitive. We must allow real feelings (be them painful or joyful) to penetrate.
Tu Bishvat reminds us that our lives are interwoven with both realities. There is a moment in time for thick skin to protect us. And there is a moment in time for thin skin to allow for our humanity. Finding the balance is the key!
With love and shalom,
Rabbi Zach Shapiro
(P.S. the fruit was a giant lemon!)
