As we touch the bark we feel the tree touching us: a musar class for Tu B'Shvat

“As we touch the bark, we feel the tree touching us”

(David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, p. 268)

"Trees even farther away join in: All the ways you imagine us - bewitched mangroves up on stilts, a nutmeg's inverted spade, gnarled baja elephant trunks, the straight-up missile of a sal - are always amputations. Your kind never sees us whole. You miss the half of it, and more. There's always as much belowground as above. That's the trouble with people, their root problem. Life runs alongside them, unseen. Right there, right next. Creating the soil. Cycling water. Trading in nutrients. Making weather. Building atmosphere. Feeding and curing and sheltering more kinds of creatures than people know how to count. A chorus of living wood sings to the woman: If your mind were only a slightly greener thing, we'd drown you in meaning. The pine she leans against says: Listen. There's soemthing you need to hear.

[The Overstory, by Richard Powers. p. 4, italics in the original]

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מפליא עד היכן חיוב הכרת הטובה מגיע, שאין זה חשוב כלל אם עושה הטובה מרגיש בה או לא. הרי גם לגבי מים וחול יש להתנהג בהכרת הטוב….מי יודע אם לא הזיקה אל הבורא, המקננת בלב כל אדם בריא, מהותו היא הכרת הטוב… [ר' שלמה וולבה, עלי שור ספר ראשון, עמ' קיא - קיב]

The depths of our duty to act with Hakarat Ha Tov (recognising goodness) is amazing, as it doesn't matter at all if the one acting in goodness (towards us) even feels and realises this. After all, even towards water and sand one must act with gratitude....Who knows whether the bond to the Creator, which nestles in the heart of every healthy person, isn’t at its essence, the act of Hakarat HaTov (gratitude). [R’ Shlomo Wolbe, Alei Shur Book one, p. 111-112]

Hebrew: ...ברוך אתה ה׳ אלוקינו מלך העולם בורא

Transliteration: Baruch Atta H' Elo'heinu Melech HaOlam Boreh...

Translation: Blessed are You, YHVH, our God, King of the universe, Who creates ....

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Baruch: You are the source of all blessings and spiritual abundance... "baruch" - in the same grammatical pattern as merciful, compassionate, sacred.

Atah: We speak to Hashem in the present tense. He is revealed in this world through his actions and wants a connection with us. That is why we approach the Divine face to face - full of Awe!

Hashem: YHVH as is written (in the letters of The Name): was, is, will be, encompassing All and all the worlds are nothing compared to Him ... this kavannah calls for complete self - annulment before the Blessed - who fills all of creation - and it is very deep, and this is a kavannah we only use for the first sentence of the Sh'mah. As we call Hashem: "Lord of All", and this kavannah as well signifies towards the oneness of all His created servants, from the highest in creation to the lowest of the low.

Eloheinu: Elohim - master of all forces, their protector, does what he wills with them, ruler and judge. Eloheinu - we the People Israel have merited a personal protection, always, because we have crowned Him on us. Hashem Eloheinu: the full Name: the essence of All and driver of All, who hasen't given over the power of protection to another entity. Hashem - is the God!

Melech Ha'Olam: God's Sovereignty is evident in the existence of this world and the nations who are also ruled by Him. Israel are like God's children - and a king among his children is not yet evident in his majesty. Or - they are included in the Godhead, because the Holy One blessed be He, and Israel are one, therefore "our God" is not a signifier of sovereignty, but a name. His sovereignty is revealed within this world, that neither "nature" nor "the nations of the world" are independent realities, but all are "Your servants".

Boreh: Creation is something from nothing. The title “Boreh” is also used in past tense.

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It is very wondrous to observe: In what way do we really see Hashem (God)? In recognising his goodness and in gratitude.

One of the wonders of the laws of the Sages is that they always make us aware of creation. There is no consolidated and ancient world before us, but every day, hour by hour, a new creation. Everything that our eyes see and every pleasure that we taste - a new creation that the Creator has extended to us from nothing, so that we may recognise his grace and wisdom upon us and see It. Such a world that renews itself before our eyes every day, does not bring a rusty routine into us, and the eye that is accustomed to always seeing creation from nothingness - is no longer in dark forgetfulness, everything around us and we ourselves - Hashem who is daily renewing the work of creation! Everything, every pleasure and every smell, every evening and every morning, and the soul and the body - are all a gift from Him that we know Him and His grace with us. [R’ Shlomo Wolbe, Alei Shur Book one, p. 112]

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The act of blessing (saying a b'rachah) is the act of moving up and down within the "Tree of Life", that is, the structure of divinity holding up and flowing with Creation.

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Tree of life [Spain, 1284]

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Here's an example of what could be read as a contemporary suggestion for Imitatio Dei:

"...Nature is a living library, a repository of knowledge that has evolved over hundreds of millions of years. Nature's wild designers offer encyclopedias and how-to manuals on making extraordinary structures and materials - without polluting or impoverishing the neighborhood. Yet we have barely begun to discover their secrets of truly sustainable design....Change, for better or worse, is cumulative. the more of us who get to know and appreciate the brilliance of our other-than-human neighbors, the greater the chances that our collective sense of wonder will deepen. May we grow in wonder for our home planet, and may this inspire us to act, in our own small ways, on its behalf." [Wild Design: Nature's Architects. Kimberly Ridley, 2022. pp. 105-106]