ב"ה
THEMES of Featured Contemporary Kabbalists Articles
Trees, like man, can be 'givers' or 'receivers' or both.
There are many similarities between a man and a tree. In order for the ground to be fruitful, it is necessary to work it: to remove the thorns, to plow, to sow, and to water. So too with a person; in order to ascend spiritual steps and levels one needs to work on their character traits.
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Tu B’Shevat & the Four Levels of Eating
The Kabbalists created a simple and informal "seder" for Tu b’Shevat that can help repair one’s eating for the entire year, so much so, that our eating can become like that of Adam and Eve before their spiritual fall. As we partake of delicious fruits and delicacies on Tu b’Shevat, we may taste the Divine Presence and expand the boundaries of holiness, permeating the world with the light of wisdom.
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Fruits and wheat: the upper and lower worlds - preparing for ultimate perfection
Cultivation of wheat doesn't require enormous labor; its harvest isn't extraordinary. Planting fruit trees requires work, exertion and strain, yet the yield is much greater. The Ari said a wheat field corresponds to the primordial world of Tohu, whereas orchards correspond to the world of Tikun.
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The greater the efforts we expend in attaining, sustaining, and promulgating Divine consciousness, the deeper we dig into the core of our souls.
The Land of Israel is the archetypal setting in which the Jewish people are to transform the world into God’s home. The seven distinctive plants grown in the Land of Israel represent the diverse facets of this transformation process.
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Every leaf of a tree was created by G-d for some predesigned purpose.
‘The holy Ari used to say, apart from the fact that every leaf of a tree is a creature that has in it divine life, and was created by G-d for some predesigned purpose, there is also contained in every leaf a spark of some soul that has descended to this world in order to be redeemed.
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Every project a man begins requires him to first invest in his endeavor, even though he sees no immediate result.
T"U B'Shevat, the fifteenth of the Jewish month of Shevat, is the New Year of the Trees. Since the Torah compares man to a tree, this implies that T"U B'Shevat is like Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment, an occasion for changes and self-searching. There are various analogies between tree and man and teachings we can derive from them all.
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Related Topics
- Kabbalah (1205)
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