And dew lying on my branches;
This verse beautifully encapsulates what a sustainable life, and so, a happy life, looks like. Nourished from root to tip, from past and into future generations.
How can this image help us celebrate the New Year for trees?
אַרְבָּעָה רָאשֵׁי שָׁנִים הֵם. בְּאֶחָד בְּנִיסָן רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לַמְּלָכִים וְלָרְגָלִים. בְּאֶחָד בֶּאֱלוּל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לְמַעְשַׂר בְּהֵמָה. רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמְרִים, בְּאֶחָד בְּתִשְׁרֵי. בְּאֶחָד בְּתִשְׁרֵי רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לַשָּׁנִים וְלַשְּׁמִטִּין וְלַיּוֹבְלוֹת, לַנְּטִיעָה וְלַיְרָקוֹת. בְּאֶחָד בִּשְׁבָט, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לָאִילָן, כְּדִבְרֵי בֵית שַׁמַּאי. בֵּית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר בּוֹ:
They are four days in the year that serve as the New Year, each for a different purpose:... On the first of Shevat is the New Year for the tree; the fruit of a tree that was formed prior to that date belong to the previous tithe year and cannot be tithed together with fruit that was formed after that date; this ruling is in accordance with the statement of Beit Shammai. But Beit Hillel say: The New Year for trees is on the fifteenth of Shevat.
It is Rabba and Rav Yosef who both say: The fifteenth of Av was the day on which they stopped chopping down trees for the arrangement of wood that burned on the altar, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: From the fifteenth of Av onward, the strength of the sun grows weaker, and from this date they would not cut additional wood for the arrangement, as they would not be properly dry, and they would therefore be unfit for use in the Temple.
The 15th of Av sits on the polar opposite of the year from the 15th of Sh'vat. Two full moon moments, one indicating the "breaking of heat" (that is, on the 15th of Av the sun loses some of its strength), and the other marking the "breaking of cold" (as the earth is supposed to begin warming again around Tu B'Shvat).
הואיל ויצאו רוב גשמי שנה - שכבר עבר רוב ימות הגשמים שהוא זמן רביעה ועלה השרף באילנות ונמצאו הפירות חונטין מעתה:
Since most of this year's rains would have already come an gone...and the sap is now climbing up in the tree....
Although Rashi uses the word sraf, which, in contemporary Heb. means "resin", I translated it to mean sap, since he's dealing with the tree's reaction to the changing heat and moisture of the season.
Warm blood and cold blood:
As an aside, try reading this midrash from the trees perspective - and their inclination to sing as the air and ground are warmed by fire. What sort of fire is this, that causes them to sing? What happens to sap as the tree warms at the end of winter?
מַעֲשֶׂה בְרַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי שֶׁהָיָה מְהַלֵּךְ עַל הַדֶּרֶךְ רוֹכֵב עַל הַחֲמוֹר. וְרִבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲרָךְ מְהַלֵּךְ אַחֲרָיו. אָמַר לוֹ. רִבִּי. הַשְׁנִינִי פֶּרֶק אֶחָד בְּמַעֲשֵׂה הַמֶּרְכָּבָה. אָמַר לוֹ....הָֽלְכוּ וְיָֽשְׁבוּ לָהֶן תַּחַת אִילָּן אֶחָד. וְיָֽרְדָה אֵשׁ מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהִקִּיפָה אוֹתָם. וְהָיוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת מְקַפְּצִין לִפְנֵיהֶן כִּבְנֵי חוּפָּה שְׂמֵיחִין לִפְנֵי חָתָן. נַעֲנֶה מַלְאַךְ אֶחָד מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ וְאָמַר. כִּדְבָרֶיךָ אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲרָךְ כֵּן הוּא מַעֲשֵׂה הַמֶּרְכָּבָה. מִיַּד פָּֽתְחוּ כָּל־הָאִילוֹנוֹת (מֵהֶן) [פִּיהֶן] וְאָֽמְרוּ שִׁירָה. אָ֥ז יְ֝רַנְּנ֗וּ עֲצֵי הַיָּעַר׃
It happened that Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai was on the road, riding on a donkey, and Rebbi Eleazar ben Arakh was walking behind him. He said to him, my teacher, instruct me in a Chapter about the Work of the Chariot...They went and sat under a tree, when fire descended from Heaven and surrounded them, and the angels of Service were dancing before them like wedding guests happy with the bridegroom. An angel addressed from inside the fire and said, the Work of the Chariot is as you said, Eleazar ben Arakh. Then all trees (around them) [opened their mouths] and sang; then all trees of the forest will sing.
Segment from: Form is ecstatic
... A gardener watches the
sky break into song, cloud wobbly with
what it is. Bud, thorn, the same.
Wind, water, wandering this essential
state. Fire, ground, gone. That's
how it is with the outside. Form
is ecstatic. Now imagine the inner:
soul, intelligence, the secret worlds!
And don't think the garden loses its
ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but
the roots are down there riotous....
(from "The soul of Rumi: A new collection of ecstatic poems". Translation: Coleman Barks)
Israel shall sprout and blossom,
And the face of the world
Shall be covered with fruit.
Now, we move deeper, into the roots, into hidden places. Places of darkness. Of life transformed into earth and back into life.
(טז) הֲ֭בָאתָ עַד־נִבְכֵי־יָ֑ם וּבְחֵ֥קֶר תְּ֝ה֗וֹם הִתְהַלָּֽכְתָּ׃ (יז) הֲנִגְל֣וּ לְ֭ךָ שַׁעֲרֵי־מָ֑וֶת וְשַׁעֲרֵ֖י צַלְמָ֣וֶת תִּרְאֶֽה׃ (יח) הִ֭תְבֹּנַנְתָּ עַד־רַחֲבֵי־אָ֑רֶץ הַ֝גֵּ֗ד אִם־יָדַ֥עְתָּ כֻלָּֽהּ׃ (יט) אֵי־זֶ֣ה הַ֭דֶּרֶךְ יִשְׁכׇּן־א֑וֹר וְ֝חֹ֗שֶׁךְ אֵי־זֶ֥ה מְקֹמֽוֹ׃ (כ) כִּ֣י תִ֭קָּחֶנּוּ אֶל־גְּבוּל֑וֹ וְכִי־תָ֝בִ֗ין נְתִיב֥וֹת בֵּיתֽוֹ׃
(16) Have you penetrated to the sources of the sea, Or walked in the recesses of the deep? (17) Have the gates of death been disclosed to you? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness? (18) Have you surveyed the expanses of the earth? If you know of these—tell Me. (19) Which path leads to where light dwells, And where is the place of darkness, (20) That you may take it to its domain And know the way to its home?
Read the following two texts.
Ask yourself:
1. What are the blessings we can find in hidden things?
2. Can you give an example of that in your own life?
3. What knowledge sits inside hidden parts of yourself?
4. What do you feel is awakening in you, after the past few years?
וְאָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: אֵין הַבְּרָכָה מְצוּיָה אֶלָּא בְּדָבָר הַסָּמוּי מִן הָעַיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״יְצַו ה׳ אִתְּךָ אֶת הַבְּרָכָה בַּאֲסָמֶיךָ״.
And apropos blessings, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: A blessing is found only in an object that is hidden [samui] from the eye, not in an item visible to all, as public miracles are exceedingly rare. As it is stated: “The Lord will command His blessing upon you in your barns [ba’asamekha]” (Deuteronomy 28:8). Rabbi Yitzḥak’s exposition is based on the linguistic similarity between samui and asamekha.
The old trees were the mothers of the forest. The hubs were Mother Trees...This Mother Tree was the central hub that the saplings and seedlings nested around, with threads of different fungal species, of different colors and weights, linking them, layer upon layer, in a strong complex web. I pulled out a pencil and notebook. I made a map: Mother Trees, saplings, seedlings. Lines sketched between them. Emerging from my drawing was a pattern like a neural network, like the neurons in our brains, with some nodes more highly linked than others. Holy smokes. If the mycorrhizal network is a facsimile of a neural network, the molecules moving among trees were like neurotransmitters. The signals between the trees could be as sharp as the electrochemical impulses between neurons, the brain chemistry that allows us to think and communicate. Is it possible that the trees are as perceptive of their neighbors as we are of our own thoughts and moods?....Could information be transmitted across synapses in mycorrhizal networks, the way it happens in our brains? ...Maybe I was onto something: both neural networks and mycorrhizal networks transmit information molecules across synapses...The same basic process, it seemed to me, were occurring in the mycorrhizal fungal network as in our neural network. Giving us that flash of brilliance when we solve a problem, or make an important decision, or align our relationships...
[Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the wisdom of the forest. By Suzanne Simard. Canada, 2021. pp. 228-230]
Prayer
She addresses the cedar, using words of the forest's first humans. "Long Life Maker. I'm here. Down here." She feels foolish, at first. But each word is a little easier than the next.
"Thank you for the baskets and the boxes. Thank you for the capes and hats and skirts. Thank you for the cradles. The beds. The diapers. Canoes. Paddles, harpoons, and nets. Poles, logs, posts. The rot-proof shakes and shingles. The kindling that will always light."
Each new item is release and relief. Finding no good reason to quit now, she lets the gratitude spill out. "Thank you for the tool. The chests. Th decking. The clothes closets. The paneling. I forget...Thank you," she says, following the ancient formula. "For all these gifts that you have given." And still not knowing how to stop, she adds, "We're sorry. We didn't know how hard it is for you to grow back."
[The Overstory. by Richard Powers. 2018. p. 148]