Lead Tidbit

A maidservant, Yechezkel, and Us

Or is it “We”? (DV, let us know)

TU BiShvat can fall on five different days of the week - Shabbat is the most common one (30% of the time). [For stat-heads: M 28%, Th 20%, W 18%, and Tu 4%. Never on Sun or Fri.]

When it is on Shabbat, that Shabbat is Shabbat Shira. The combination makes for an extra special Shabbat. One that leads us easily to pondering the wonders of G-d and His world.

The Splitting of the Sea. Major miracle upon wonder upon miracle. Even more, when we look back to the mega-miracles of the Makot (plagues) and Y’tzi’at Mitzrayim. Amazing, inspiring, special in themselves, and more so when seen together with the events at the Sea and the soon to come Sinai Experience. And let’s not forget the MN (manna) and the water miracles also recorded in this week’s sedra.

Take Sh’mot, Va’eira, Bo, B’shalach, and Yitro together and you have MIRACLE, not just with a capital M, but fully uppercase, bolded, underlined, etc.

Ponder too the oft-repeated statement of the Sages: A maidservant saw at the Sea what Yechezkel ben Buzi did not see (in his vivid prophetic visions). It was what the Jewish people saw at the Sea - and, perhaps that which had already been witnessed in Egypt - that resulted in, “...and the people were in awe of G-d; they believed in G-d and in his servant Moshe.”

There were the many Jews who came out of Egypt, crossed the Sea on dry land, stood at Sinai, ate MN… And there have been prophets who have seen prophetic visions. What about us? What do we experience that helps us achieve Yir’at HaShem? That helps us believe in G-d and in Moshe his servant? That strengthens our commitment to Torah and a Jewish way of life? Where are our miracles and visions?

The answer is that we are surrounded by wonders and are constantly experiencing and witnessing miracles. Let’s focus on one example - in honor of TU BiShvat.

Pick a fruit - any fruit. Make it your favorite one, but let’s stick to those that grow on trees. After all, we are talking about Rosh HaShana for trees.

Going to eat it? What bracha will you say? Borei Pri HaEitz. Correct. But before you do, let’s think about it.

Chazal could have decided that we say SHEHAKOL before anything that we eat. Blessed is HaShem, our G-d, King of the Universe, that EVERYTHING exists by His Divine Word. That would do it. That would be enough of an acknowledgement to G-d for the food we eat. And we know this is so, because SHEHAKOL covers any food after-the-fact.

But they did not decide thus. They wanted us to distinguish between that which we grow from the ground and that which we just take from nature. So they composed an additional bracha, Borei Pri HaAdama. And that bracha would suffice for everything that comes from the ground. Bread is made from wheat which grows in the ground. Apples come from trees which grow in the ground. Wine comes from grapes which grew on vines which grow in the ground. So Borei Pri HaAdama (or some variation) would cover much of what we eat and Shehakol would cover the rest.

But our Sages wanted us to see more. To understand more. To appreciate more. And to acknowledge and thank G-d for that more. They wanted us to appreciate trees. Pick a carrot from the ground and it’s gone (after you eat it). Want more? Plant more. But pick an apple from a tree and guess what? Next year, you have more to pick from the same tree. That alone might have motivated Chazal to further specialize the “from the ground” bracha.

And in a similar way, we can speak of HaGafen, Mezonot, and HaMotzi - each as a specialized variation of HaAdama, which itself is a specialized variation of Shehakol.

And trees give us so much more than the fruit they produce. But enough said for now.

With fruit in hand, before one recites the bracha and enjoys the pleasures and benefits of his choice of fruit, one can contemplate and ponder the wonders of this world in which we live - in which G-d has placed us. And, although it isn’t practical to spend hours pondering each food we eat, each sip of water we take - we can think these thoughts from time to time (TU BiShvat is a good time for this) and thereby add a valuable spiritual component to the very physical act of eating. That’s what Torah is about. That’s what halacha helps us with. Hug a tree and thank G-d for it.

• Other Lead Tidbit
• The Middle Matza
• When will we learn?!?
• A Brief Look Back at Chanuka