“The Mitzvah of Settlement
Equals the
Mitzvah of Development”
The Jewish National Fund was organized
early in the history of modern Zionism to purchase land for an
intended Jewish state, but that land had to be developed to be
suitable for Jewish settlement. Hence, the focus was on planting
trees as an extension of the mitzvah of settling Israel. That
mitzvah, whether rabbinic or Torah-oriented, was never intended to
be fulfilled by tourists but rather through individual Jews and
their children doing beneficial activities for Jewish land’s growth.
Today, the slogan of The Jewish National
Fund is that “we are more than trees.” Tree-planting has led to the
development of roads, parks, regulation of water flow, and Jewish
land ownership claim. The organization has helped to transfer a
desert wasteland into a semi-arid land suitable for settlement.
Annually, on Tu B’Shvat, we acknowledge The Jewish National Fund’s
role by increased purchase of trees. Traditionally, the holiday has
been our link to developing the land throughout the two thousand
years of exile. Before there was an Israeli Independence Day and a
Jerusalem Day, there was a Connection to the Holy Land Day called Tu
B’Shvat, expressed by eating fruits for which the Holy Land was
noted. Certain communities had special seders to include the eating
of the fruits and Yeshiva and Hebrew school students sang songs that
were connected to planting trees and land development.
The parsha connected with Tu B’Shvat has
always been B’shalach. It focuses on the Jewish people preparing for
desert life by their specified needs for water, food, and protection
against the enemy. Moses struck the rock to provide water. Manna
fell daily to provide food, and Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands
to stir the Jews to victory against Amelek, who had attacked them
simply because they were different. We express appreciation to the
Almighty for the water by reciting the Kiddush on Shabbat, for the
manna by having two challahs on the Sabbath table, and by eating in
the Sukkah as a reminder that G-d provided for us protection either
by actual huts or through clouds.
At the end of the desert journey, prior
to the entry to the Promised Land, there were similar incidents of
Jewish need for water, food, and protection. This time Moses was
asked to speak to the rock, as a sign of teaching discipline. Jews
were bitten by snakes when they complained about too much manna and
there was a new war against Sichon and Og, who tried to stop the
Jewish people from crossing the Jordan. The desert was a forty-year
preparation for the liberated Jewish slaves to provide experience
for entering and conquering a new homeland. The Jewish people
advanced from being protected by G-d to their providing protection
for themselves.
Two incidents that are mentioned in the
Torah portion seem to be obscure as to their purpose in being there.
One is the incident when there was water, but it was bitter and
could not really be beneficial. The other was immediately afterwards
when they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees, which they
enjoyed for the moment as a respite from the travails of the desert.
What seems strange is that the water became sweet only by wood being
placed in it, and it was at this spot, Marah, the Jews were given
specific commandments even prior to their receiving the Torah at
Sinai.
I believe that even though trees would
normally make water even more unpalatable, if you follow the
discipline that G-d gives us, we can accomplish our intended goals
even when the methods seem illogical. Trees make water dirty and
foul tasting, but through miracles, they can make water sweet and
clean. Keeping G-d’s mitzvahs help, but even more so, dedication to
the task ahead can accomplish almost anything. If the Jews had been
more patient and waited, they would have had the desert oasis to
live in, but they were not, so this method of trees in the water had
to be used.
What happened in the desert was a
foretelling of what would happen in the Promised Land. The Jews
would meet greater obstacles in having to fight against an enemy
that was strongly entrenched and controlling the land, and whose
successful idolatrous behavior could entice the Jews away from their
goals. But as weak and unprepared as they were militarily, they were
successful, using illogical methods. Sometimes you have to be
patient and wait for the right moment to achieve your goal. Other
times, you have to do certain activities in order to achieve that
goal, no matter how illogical that activity might seem.
Israel suffers from minimal rainfall.
The roots of the trees help spread that rainfall, as limited as it
might be, to a wider area. In the northern Gallilee, there are very
few Jews settling among an Arab majority, but the claim of planting
trees is our guarantee of ownership that has yet to be settled by
the Jewish people. Trees traditionally prevent erosion of the soil,
provide shade in desert areas, and offer fruit for export. But they
can also be used for recreation areas, especially needed by newer
immigrants as a break from their work routine and the equipment used
to smooth the ground to plant, and can also be used to smooth the
ground for paved roads.
Interestingly enough, our claim to the
land is based on the fact that we were not merely passing through.
Christians and Muslims came on spiritual missions but showed minimal
interest in the development of the land. They expended their energy
in wiping out the presence of other groups, and became absentee
landlords. Hence, until the Jews came, in modern times the land was
barren, and it was easy for the Jews to purchase the land from
absentee landlords and to demonstrate that the land could be
cultivated.
Why was the idea of the springs and the
palm trees introduced? Springs are water that flows, but has to be
regulated in order to get maximal benefit. Otherwise, it will simply
gush randomly and purposelessly. The palm tree bears fruit after a
long period of time. That is why in Psalms it is written that “the
righteous flourish like the palm.” The palm has the effect of waving
in different directions, and therefore can denote the influence of a
righteous people. The dates are sweet as honey, without requiring
the intermediaries of bees. The Jews are being told that while in
the desert this is a random occurrence, this is what can be expected
in the Promised Land. Through being righteous, through patience, and
creative initiative, the land can develop as a physical background
to the ideas that make Judaism unique. Those ideas can be taught and
practiced in the diaspora. But they take on new, invigorated meaning
in a well-developed homeland of our own.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Click
here for National Council of Young Israel's "The Rabbi's Letter"
on Tu B'shvat.
