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GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

abbi Y
Rabbi Yaakov Ariel
R
ov Ariel
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Investing our Hearts

in the Mitzvot of Israel

stensibly, Tu BiShvat is no for which He harbors love. He chose Tu BiShvat – the festival of the
more than a means for calcu- to rest His presence here and decreed reawakening of the trees of the Land
Olating the laws related to those that certain commandments be per- of Israel from their wintertime slum-
mitzvot whose fulfillment is connected formed here. It is not just any piece ber – is also a festival of the reawak-
to the soil of the Land of Israel: tithes, of land. It is the Holy Land, and its ening of the Jewish people.
heave-offerings, orla (the “uncircum- holiness finds expression in concrete
cised” fruit of a young tree), and, per- ways. In the past, the blossoming of the
haps, the Sabbatical year. However, on trees in the Land of Israel led to the
an instinctive national level, Tu BiShvat According to the Ramban, all of the reawakened hopes of the nation to
holds an honorary position. commandments in the Torah, even return to become planted once again
those not dependent upon Israel’s soil, in its Land. With our actual physi-
On this day, the heart would become are vitally connected to the Land of
filled with warm feelings of affection Israel. Even the Rambam, who does cal return to our homeland, we have
and a great longing for the Land of also set about sinking our spiritual
Israel: its commandments and land- not share this opinion, tells us that roots into its fertile soil. All of the
scape, its fruit and young trees, its central and fundamental aspects of Land-dependent commandments
past and future. It is possible that in the Jewish religious experience would have sprouted and reawakened, and
the Diaspora, where we were unable collapse, Heaven forbid, without the with them, the Torah of the Land of
to fulfill the mitzvot of the Land of Land of Israel. For example, the entire Israel has begun to flower once again.
Israel, there was a need to invest this Hebrew calendar and holiday cycle is No more detachment from nature,
day with added emotion in place of dependent upon the Land of Israel. from the earth and from national
the commandments we lacked. Yet The seasons of the year in the Land self-sufficiency, but full and com-
even in the Land, we are not free of Israel are what determine the char- plete life which embraces labor, moral
from putting our hearts – not just our acter of the Jewish holidays and sig- and social duty, the nation, the first
heads – into this day. nificant times and obligate every Jew inklings of a Kingdom of Israel, and
On the contrary. In the Land of Israel, wherever he or she might be, even if a combination of both physical and
the need for affection is that much the particular season in the foreign spiritual strength.
greater, for it also gains actual expres- country does not fit the festival. Like The New Year of Trees is a New Year
sion in our entire being. Heart and Australians celebrating Pesach, the for the tree of the nation, for the
head, affection and obligation, the Spring Holiday, in the Fall.
commandments of the soil and our This is quite fitting though, for it spread of its roots in the soil of the
natural inner bond with the Land of teaches such a Jew that he is not in Land and the rising of its crown to the
Israel, are one. his natural environment. The com- heavens above.
Indeed, this is a profound approach. plete fulfillment of our Torah and our
Love for the Land is not merely an national institutions: law, kingdom,
appreciation for its landscape and priesthood and prophecy, can only
historical sites; not merely the Land’s be brought to fruition in the Land of
development and transformation Israel. All of our spiritual aspirations,
from wasteland to paradise. Love for hopes and desires can only fully bear
the Land means a deep inner dialogue fruit in this Land. “Whoever lives
with its sanctity, its values and its outside of Israel is comparable to one
unique hidden qualities. who has no god.” A person’s spiritual Rabbi Ya’akov Ariel served as Chief Rabbi
This is the Land chosen by G-d, to world in Chutz LaAretz, however full of Ramat Gan and is one of the leading
which He gives special attention and and rich, is lacking by definition. rabbis of the Religious Zionist movement.

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