Dvar Torah Beshalach 5773/2013
(Tu Bishevat)
Many of us here, given the series of gale force winds, rain,
and ice storms that have hit our region the last several years, must feel some
ambivalence about the very trees that shade our homes and lawns, the trees that
create a green pergola of continuous natural beauty down the sidewalks and
streets of our towns. This ambivalence
comes from the ways that some of these trees, that we assume are dependable in
their roots, trunks, and branches have toppled over onto our homes, threatening
our lives and the lives of our children inside, taking life, ripping up the sidewalks,
pulling down electrical wires – cutting off power to our homes, littering and
sometimes closing down the streets.
For me, this ambivalence is unsettling. I find myself looking up from time to time as
I walk through town, listening for the sound of a cracking branch while walking
or strolling with my kids.
For our ancestors, walking through the miraculous walls of
water to the right and to the left, watching God’s power overwhelm the mighty
Egyptian army at the Sea, they also must feel at least some ambivalence – the
Torah notes that they take special note of the Egyptians lying dead on the
shore, and the unsettling fear that accompanies the moment, that God’s power –
energy without mass, no ‘Visible’ originator of the Power is apparent - is total and has the ability to create as well
as to destroy.
“Vayar Yisrael et ha’yad ha’gedolah asher asah Ado—nai be
mitzrayim, Va’yi’re’u ha’am et Ado—nai…”.
‘The people saw the results of God’s might in what God did
to the Egyptians, and the people feared God….’(Exodus 14:31)
To be sure, a song of triumph and celebration follows, and
Miriam leads women in dances with drums and timbrels, but first the Israelites,
then the peoples of the region are filled with terror just as the Israelites –
In Philistia, in Edom, in Moav they are shaking with fear. The Canaanites ‘melt’ in their fear.
We might see a silver lining here, that fear braces us and
makes us aware in a straightforward and immediate way. In the case of the trees, that we celebrate
on this Tu Bishevat – 15th of Shevat – New Year for Trees, our
experiences sharpen our awareness of our surroundings and we take measures to
protect ourselves. In the case of the
Israelites, their fear leads to deeper belief.
The people ‘feared God’ and
‘Vaya’aminu bAdo—nai uvmoshe Avdo.’
The sentence we began ends with, ‘And they believed in Ado—nai and Moses
God’s servant.’
Their fear leads to trust of both the Divine and human
leaders. Fear, ambivalence, worry, and wonder.
Efforts on the trees of late have focused on prevention of
future problems. This mindset also
informs the current debates on gun violence – How can we prevent future gun
violence.
The storms and their aftermath though leave us with the
feeling that there are weak points in the world, places where we find we cannot
rely on the very things that seemed for so long to give us strength, comfort,
and continuity.
If we can draw a lesson from the trees of our towns, it
could be that the physical trees themselves are great for their beauty and
contribution to the environment, but are not the things into which we should
put our lasting trust and belief. It is
tempting always to favor the physical, the concrete, to lean on and believe in
what we can see and touch, into something we may have planted and nurtured
ourselves.
What our faith reminds us to do though is to put our belief
in a tree whose roots are invisible but
deep and binding to our community, a tree whose fruit is wisdom and guidance in
the form of words, lessons, stories, holy times, rituals and traditions, a tree
that has weathered thousands of years of storms, fires, and terror and lives on
– can you guess which tree I’m thinking of?
Etz Ha’chayim, the Tree of life Etz Chayim hi lamachazikim
bah, ve’tomcheha me’ushar.’ The Torah is a tree of life to those who hold fast,
all who support it are happy.’
(Sing…)
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