"The Tree of the Field is the Life of Man," Deuteronomy 20:19

In Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, where I am spending this month, there is a Jewish National Fund forest that contains the memorial to President John F. Kennedy. With Tu B’Shvat, the New Year of the Trees, occurring the end of this week, the form of the memorial takes on special meaning.

The monument is a structure resembling the stump of a great tree that has been chopped down. When I look at it, I recall a poem by Edwin Markham memorializing Abraham Lincoln.
And when he fell in the whirlwind, he went down
As when a lordly cedar, green with boughs
Goes down with a great shout upon the hills
And leaves a lonesome place against the sky.

The identification of an individual with a tree is not uncommon. A tree stands upright, dignified and majestic. Like an individual, it experiences birth and death, reproduces itself, needs nutrients and water. It grows continually, produces flowers and fruit, and can regenerate itself. It protects and nurtures other life, and is capable of adapting to most environments in the world.

The comparison is also part of Jewish tradition. In a world of deserts and barren expanses, trees became associated with water, with prime life forces. An often quoted passage in The Book of Psalms reads, “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree and grow mighty like a cedar of Lebanon.”

The strength of humanity is reflected in a passage in Jeremiah.
And he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and that spreads out
its roots by the river, and shall not perceive when heat cometh; but his
leaf shall be green, and shall not be troubled in the year of drought; neither shall he cease from yielding fruit.

In Pirke Avot, Sayings of the Fathers, a person who both possesses wisdom and performs mitzvot is contrasted with a person whose wisdom is exceeded by his deeds. The latter is compared to “a tree whose branches are many but whose roots are few and the wind comes and plucks it up and overturns it.”

Another meaningful image is found in Isaiah, who wrote, “As the days of the tree shall be the days of my people.” Midrash comments that he was referring to the sycamore, a long-lived tree possessing a unique power to regenerate itself. Even after it is chopped down and covered with sand, it will begin to grow again.

The image of a tree inspired the life of the individual Jew throughout history and many times offered hope for the entire Jewish people.

Hag Sameach from Israel!!