Trees

Nature
As part of creation, humans are charged with the protection of trees. Those trees that produce fruit in the land of Israel are subject to the various Torah regulations regarding Temple gifts and tithes. Trees are also likened to the Torah itself and serve as a popular metaphor in Jewish tradition.
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The Tree of Life
KABBALAH
The book of Proverbs refers to the Torah as a metaphorical “tree of life,” a source of spiritual nourishment and growth. The Zohar, the foundational work of Jewish mysticism, elaborates on this metaphor.
And whoever labours in the Torah and cleaves unto her is privileged to take hold of the tree of life, as it is written: “She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her” (Ibid. 3, 18). And whoso takes hold upon the tree of life in this world will also keep hold on it in the world to come, since the grades assigned to souls in the next world correspond to their state on departing from this world. Now the tree of life ramifies into various degrees, all differing from one another, although forming a unity, in the shape of branches, leaves, bark, stock, and roots…
Zohar, Miketz 1:4-6
Guardians of the Earth
MIDRASH
Jewish tradition stresses a responsibility to protect and preserve nature and the consequences of failing to do so. The midrash in Kohelet Rabbah imagines a conversation between God and the biblical Adam that underscores the importance of stewardship and responsibility for the natural world.
“See the work of God, for who can mend what He has warped?” (Ecclesiastes 7:13)
“See the work of God, for who can mend what He has warped?” When the Holy One blessed be He created Adam the first man, He took him and showed him all the trees in the Garden of Eden, and He said to him: ‘See My creations, how beautiful and exemplary they are. Everything I created, I created for you. Make certain that you do not ruin and destroy My world, as if you destroy it, there will be no one to mend it after you. Moreover, you will cause death to that righteous one…
Kohelet Rabbah 7:13:1
The Idolatry of Trees
COMMENTARY
The book of Deuteronomy forbids planting trees near an altar. Ramban, in his 13th-century commentary on the Torah, provides a detailed explanation of this prohibition, noting that trees were frequently used for idolatrous purposes.
THOU SHALT NOT PLANT THEE AN ASHEIRAH. Any tree planted at the entrance of a house of G-d is called asheirah. Possibly because it ordereth the way aright, directing people’s “steps” [to worship], it is called [asheirah] from the word ‘ashurai’ (my steps) have held fast to Thy paths. Scripture thus admonishes not to plant a tree beside the altar of G-d for beauty and to think that it is an honor and glory to G-d’s altar. He prohibited it because it was a custom of the idolaters to plant trees at the entrances of their idol’s temples, as it is written…
Ramban on Deuteronomy 16:21
The Silent Cry of the Trees
MIDRASH
While trees give and sustain life, they are helpless in the face of human beings who cut them down. The midrashic work Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer includes trees alongside other beings whose plights are ignored by the world.
The voices of five (objects of creation) go from one end of the world to the other, and their voices are inaudible. When people cut down the wood of the tree which yields fruit, its cry goes from one end of the world to the other, and the voice is inaudible. When the serpent sloughs off its skin, its cry goes from one end of the world to the other and its voice is not heard. When a woman is divorced from her husband, her voice goeth forth from one end of the world to the other, but the voice is inaudible. When the infant || comes forth from its mother's womb…
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 34:4
Planting Seeds for the Future
TALMUD
The growth of trees, spanning generations, illustrates the importance of patience, foresight, and focus on the future. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Taanit tells the story of Choni the Circle Maker, whose encounter with a tree sparks a realization about the passage of time.
One day, he was walking along the road when he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. Ḥoni said to him: This tree, after how many years will it bear fruit? The man said to him: It will not produce fruit until seventy years have passed. Ḥoni said to him: Is it obvious to you that you will live seventy years, that you expect to benefit from this tree? He said to him: That man himself found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.…
Taanit 23a:15-17
The Righteous as Trees
CHASIDUT
Psalm 92 uses trees as a metaphor for the righteous, likening the righteous to both date palms and cedars. Tzava’at HaRivash, a collection of 18th-century Chasidic teachings, expands upon and explains these metaphors.
The verse states, “The righteous (Tzaddik) shall flourish like a date-palm, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” There are two kinds of Tzaddikim, both of whom are perfectly righteous. The difference between them is as follows: One is always in a state of adhesion to HaShem, blessed is He, and performs the service that is placed upon him. However, he is righteous for himself only and not for his fellow. In other words, he does not influence righteousness upon others. This type of Tzaddik is compared to a cedar, about which our sages, of blessed memory, stated…
Tzava'at HaRivash 125:1-2
The Jewish Family Tree
MUSAR
A tree, with its roots and branches, serves as a prominent metaphor for family. In his 17th-century work Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Isaiah HaLevi Horovitz uses tree imagery to describe the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs.
Although we have stated that all generations subsequent to Adam contain some element of his, the link to Adam is only via the patriarchs who serve as the go-between. The only people who are named אבות, patriarchs, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The same applies to the matriarchs. Only Sarah, Rebeccah, Rachel and Leah are considered אמהות, matriarchs. We are all considered their children seeing that they are the roots and we are the branches. This whole process commenced ultimately with Adam and Eve, both of whom together are called אדם…
Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Torah Shebikhtav, Chayei Sara, Torah Ohr 6
Blossoming Gratitude
LITURGY
An annual blessing, recited upon seeing blooming trees in the spring, expresses gratitude to God for the beauty of nature. This blessing is recited during the month of Nisan, upon witnessing the first blossoms of spring.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has not left out anything from His world and created good creatures and good trees to benefit the Children of Adam with them.
Siddur Edot HaMizrach, Nissan, Blessing of the Trees 9
The Sacred Cycle of Fruit Trees
TANAKH
The Torah forbids consuming fruit from new trees for the first three years of their growth. The book of Leviticus, outlines this prohibition — known in Hebrew as orla — emphasizing the sanctity of the land and its produce.
When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden for you, not to be eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit shall be set aside for jubilation before יהוה; and only in the fifth year may you use its fruit—that its yield to you may be increased: I יהוה am your God.
Leviticus 19:23-25
Preserving Trees in Times of War
JEWISH THOUGHT
The Torah commands that fruit trees be preserved during times of war. Dr. Erica Brown explores this teaching, in her contemporary work, highlighting the Torah’s emphasis on trees as vital sources of long-term growth and life.
Trees and their fruit are a vital source of food and nutrition, especially in a country beset by famine, as we learn from the account of Abraham’s earliest days on the land. Making sure that these trees have their highest yield is a small but significant insurance policy against the ravages of drought and hunger. Protecting fruit trees is the focus of another Deuteronomic law, which demands that fruit trees not be destroyed during war. Trees were often chopped down on the battlefield, since enemies could hide behind them; a field cleared of trees made human targets more visible and vulnerable…
In the Narrow Places; Daily Inspiration for the Three Weeks, [Day Six] 22 Tammuz; With God in the Garden 6
What Is A Tree, Legally Speaking?
HALAKHAH
The blessing recited before eating a fruit depends on whether it grows on a tree or from the ground. In Rabbi Eliezer Melamed’s contemporary halakhic work Peninei Halakhah, he discusses the legal definition of a tree and its implications for the blessings recited on different types of fruit.
A tree has a trunk that lives for many years, which grows branches that bear fruit. And even if it is short and is commonly called a bush - since its trunk lives on from one year to the next - it is considered a tree. For example, we recite the blessing of, "haetz (the tree)," on blueberries, since they grow on bushes the trunk and branches of which live for several years. So it is [correspondingly] clear that we recite the blessing of, "haadamah (the ground)," over the fruits of a plant that needs to be sown or planted each year…
Peninei Halakhah, Berakhot 8:2:3-4
A New Year for the Trees
MISHNAH
The Jewish calendar demarcates different new years for different agricultural and economic purposes. The Misnhah, the first codification of Jewish law from the early third-century land of Israel, in tractate Rosh Hashanah outlines four different New Years, including a “New Year for the Trees.”
They are four days in the year that serve as the New Year, each for a different purpose: On the first of Nisan is the New Year for kings; it is from this date that the years of a king’s rule are counted. And the first of Nisan is also the New Year for the order of the Festivals, as it determines which is considered the first Festival of the year and which the last. On the first of Elul is the New Year for animal tithes; all the animals born prior to that date belong to the previous tithe year and are tithed as a single unit…
Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1
Jewish Mosaic of a Date Palm, Tunisia, 550 CE
Jewish Mosaic of a Date Palm, Tunisia, 550 CE

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