Much More Than the Trees' Birthday

Rabbi Ḥizkiya (says) in the name of Rav: a person is destined to give a reckoning for everything which his eyes saw and of which he did not partake. Rabbi Lazar was concerned about this comment and saved his pennies in order to be able to eat each thing once per year.     Jerusalem Talmud,  Kiddushin 4:12

            The Torah giant, Rabbi Meir Simḥa of Dvinsk, notes [Meshech Ḥochma, Genesis 2:16] that the source for Rav’s comment is a verse in Genesis:

God gave the man a commandment, saying, “You shall eat from every tree of the garden.” [2:16]

            God did not allow man to eat of the fruits of the Garden of Eden (except for the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge), rather He commanded him to benefit from them. It is fascinating to note that this is the first (and only!) mitzva given to Man before he sinned.

            The late Rabbi Ya’akov Nayman, Rosh Yeshivat Or Yisrael of Petaḥ Tikva, stresses the philosophical aspect of the mitzva to eat and benefit from “every tree of the garden.” Certainly, God could have made do with creating only what is necessary for mankind, yet He, in His goodness towards us, chose to provide things which increase man’s enjoyment. God’s expanded creation was for the sole purpose of providing benefit and pleasure for the pinnacle of His creation. Therefore, one who fails to take advantage of God’s bounty expresses his lack of appreciation of God’s creation, and essentially asserts that God’s work is unnecessary. As it were, God’s work should have been finished with the creation of bread and water. Beyond this, the tremendous variety of good things that God created for man should, ideally, bring man closer to God. Thus, one who does not partake of God’s goodliness is destined to give a reckoning both for being ungrateful to the Creator and for failing to take advantage of creation to achieve a greater closeness with the Creator.    

            Rabbi Nayman concludes that Tu biShvat, as the New Year for trees, should serve as a day of appreciation and examination of the wonders of creation. Through appreciating every type of fruit God provided, we must appreciate the Divine wisdom within nature and utilize this understanding to come closer to God through acknowledgment of His provision not only for our needs, but for our enjoyment as well.

            Thus, Tu biShvat is vastly more than the birthday of fruit trees. It is a day of reflection on creation and through that an opportunity to draw closer to the Creator.