Page 22 - HaMizrachi #26 Tu Bishvat USA 2021

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Rabbi Yaakov Ariel

Investing our Hearts

in the Mitzvot of Israel

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

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