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MIZRACHI SHLICHIM

5 Reasons to Celebrate Tu BiShvat

1. THE HOLIDAY OF ROOTS or any other problems, but we look at and my pride knew no bounds. I invited
Everything begins from the roots, the Land in a positive, loving light. my friends to see ‘the Orange from
from the past, from history. This story Chaim Yoavi-Rabinowitz was born in Eretz Yisrael.’
appears in “Eretz Aggadah” by Amos 1944 in Siberia, in a forced labor camp On Tu BiShvat eve, we sat around the
Bar: “It’s the early days of Tel Aviv, the to which his parents had been exiled. table for a festive family meal. Father
first Hebrew city. The city was very They called him Chaim – life, because made the blessing “Who created the
small, and the streets – deep sand the chances of a baby surviving in those fruit of the tree” and “Shechechiyanu”
dunes, with no trees or gardens. One temperatures were low. In 1946, the and then did something shocking: he
day, the residents of little Tel Aviv were family returned to Poland and made took a knife and cut the orange from
told that the British Colonial Secretary, aliyah in 1951. Eretz Yisrael! I began to cry. How could
Sir Winston Churchill, was coming to he cut the only orange from Eretz
visit. The Mayor was Meir Dizengoff, And this is what he remembers of his Yisrael, the one I was so proud of? My
after whom today’s Dizengoff Street childhood Tu BiShvat: “I was six years father also added the prayer that Jews
is named. The City Council convened old, in Lodz. The atmosphere among in the Diaspora were accustomed to
to discuss how best to welcome the the Jews of Poland was tough. It seemed say on Tu BiShvat night: “May it be
important guest. They decided to hold that the Communist authorities had Your Will, our L-rd G-d and G-d of our
a reception on the street along which well and truly sealed the gates of forefathers, that you take us up to our
it was planned to plant a row of trees emigration to Eretz Yisrael. In school Land in joy, to eat from its fruits and be
(today Rothschild Boulevard). But the the Jews started to learn Polish, satiated by its goodness.” I remember
street was still bare, just sand. No trees. something they hadn't done since the my mother then bursting into tears. So
The council members finally decided Shoah, a clear sign that the Jews left great were the yearnings to leave the
to plant some temporary trees, to give in Poland were stuck there, seemingly Exile and make aliyah to Eretz Yisrael.
it the look of a green and blooming until the Messiah arrived.
boulevard. They found some tall trees On the eve of Tu BiShvat, the I found my comfort in the orange peel,
outside the city, carefully uprooted community managed to obtain a crate which I kept in a special cardboard box.
them and – a day before the visit – of oranges from Eretz Yisrael which The peels began to go rotten, but I kept
stuck them into the sand along the were sold at premium price, one per them anyway.
Secretary’s route –lo and behold they family. A few months later, with the help of a
had a boulevard! When the honored bribe, we received the coveted permit
guest arrived, the residents of Tel Aviv One snowy evening, my late father to leave Poland. I wanted to take the
crowded along the tree-lined street. came home from work and decided orange peels with me, but Mother told
The people pressed against the trees, to take me, a little six-year-old boy, me that in Eretz Yisrael we would have
and as the honored guest passed, the to buy a precious orange from Eretz lots of oranges, and so the peels were
trees began to wobble and then fall, one Yisrael. My late mother objected to left on Poland’s accursed earth.
after the other. Sir Winston Churchill her little boy going out on such a cold
saw this of course, laughed, and said to and wintry evening, but my father So if today I have such a burning love
Mayor Dizengoff: ‘You know, without insisted. He took his Tallit bag and for the Land of my forefathers, and if
roots… nothing will last very long’.” we set out. There we were, tramping more than once I risked my life for it,
through the snow, when Father gave me it all comes down to that one orange
the ‘responsibility’ of carrying the bag from Eretz Yisrael.”
2. THE HOLIDAY OF LOVE OF THE LAND now containing the one orange we had
bought.
On Tu BiShvat we do something pretty
revolutionary – we talk positively about Upon arriving home, we placed the 3. THE HOLIDAY OF EDUCATION
Eretz Yisrael. We don’t complain about orange in a big bowl, in the center of If someone were to ask us when to
a third election in a year, we don’t speak the table. Our Jewish neighbors came celebrate Tu BiShvat, the Holiday of
about corruption, division, politicians to see the orange from Eretz Yisrael, Trees, we would say when the trees
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