Tu B'Shvat: The Day Trees Are Judged and Souls Are Repaired - Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

Okay, I want to share with you an original approach to tubishvat. It is well known and uh as the years passed by uh many more uh adopt and observe the practice that is br that the earliest source of eating fruits is saysim are no to be. So when the heard that they're like yeah you think you know how to be marb we're going to show you how to be marro but originally the custom was brought that ashkanazim are who does the mugram quote tikasar an early work and the question is why would one eat fruits on this day of what significance is it to eat fruits what does it mean that is the trees are not judged It is a line. It's a technical day. It's a line of demarcation. Whatever fruits had before tishvat, they're micers from that year. Whatever fruits were after, they're micers from the coming year. It is merely a line of demarcation. Why would you eat fruits on tubish? For example, is you never heard of there is no practice of eating cows or sheep onesh. We know we blow on. We hear ones. We don't eat beef ones. What do you mean? It's okay. Good for the animals. Why do we need to make them suffer more than they already are? We don't need to eat them. So why should you eat fruits? Because it's a line of demarcation. It's very uh hard to explain this practice. I want to share with you an original idea. Hopefully in coming years we could develop it further and it's based on an astounding mesh. I didn't even realize the significance of it until this morning. There's a famous that many love to quote in says a person is destined to have to give a on whatever his eyes saw and he didn't eat from. Now I know many people they may not be mak on other things but they surely makbbit on this that anyone who sees something and doesn't eat from it is they're going to give an accounting. This is you know many people it's their favorite. So the first question is where does this come from? Where do you shami get this from? That a person has is in this world usually we say it's a good idea to curb your desire to limit to keep things at bay not to overindulge in this world and here the us saying you're going to give a whatever your eyes see and uh don't partake of. So the meshma has an astounding observation. First thing uh I want to point out is that tubishvat is very much linked to the sin of the sadas. Why so? Why is tishvat linked to the sin of the eightas? Because there's an idea that until something is a third of the way through, it has not really begun. It has not really taken root. There's a concept in halaka that when something is a third of the way through, that's when it has a significant beginning. For example, um pregnancy, when do we when is it hooker? When do we recognize that the woman is pregnant? At 3 months, even in that something that grew a third. If it grew a third, then it already is considered part of this year. If it didn't grow a third, then it didn't grow this year. >> What? If it's cooked a third, then it has significant cooking. Very good. So we see that a third is a significant uh amount of a process. So let's say for example angel the maharash angle says that did chuva for the hadas he did chuva mura on rashashana he did chuva on sukus. So a third of the way after that four months later is then we could start to tell the success or the or the acceptance or the effect of his chuva. So four a third of the year is four months. Four months after rashashan is four months after sukus is bishvat. And since we are we hold like basil the yikar is not ya. So therefore tishvat is the day that we could determine the effect efficacy of the chuva of adarish. Okay. So we've established that tubishvat is connected to in some form to rectifying the sin of adarish. Let's try to study what exactly was the sin of marishine. If you look in batious paragon, eat fruits. God commanded eat fruits says. What is this? By the way, the schl says that was the mitzvah and the mitzvah say is that was the there was an eat fruits there was a don't eat. So contrary to what many think that hashem just said don't eat from the no first hashem said eat fruits. What are fruits? Fruits are round things that grow on trees. Let's say gushers are not fruits. Lollipops are not fruits. Fruits are natural products that have no wrapping over them. There are no preservatives. There's no barcode on them. Okay? Unless there's a sticker put on them. [clears throat] Hashem said, "Eat fruits. Eat oranges. Eat pears. Eat mangoes. Eat avocados. These are all fruits. Now says the the source of the usi that a person is destined to give on whatever his eyes saw and didn't eat is rooted in the very first command that Hashem gave namely from all the fruits of the tree you shall surely eat. You know in slabka do you remember in the mash? You know how sasharm opens starts that God created man to take joy in to take delight in. This is the true delight and the great delicacy from any delicacies that you could find. That's how the sasharm starts. So ink they would read it as follows. So the the simple way to read it is that man was created to take joy in hem for that for the nama to bask in the glory of the that's the purpose of creation. But ink they read it as follows. man was created to enjoy comma by the way the primary enjoyment is all hashem because that's the greatest enjoyment but there is a value hashem wants us to have enjoyment the main enjoyment the primary enjoyment is ale so where do we see this idea that hashem wants man to have enjoyment the answer is The objective [clears throat] of creation is to have enjoyment. The main enjoyment is Hashem. But the very first divine communication to Adam is eat the fruit. I want you to enjoy life. Now the mashma takes us further because if you look a little bit later on. So we have an assay and we have a loay. Did they fulfill the assay? Do we find that Adam and Kava ate pias and peaches and oranges and mangoes and avocados and cherries? Cherries are very good by the way. They happen in in the store. They cost more per pound than solid gold. But if you could get a good price on them, they're very healthy. They're good for joints. Yeah. Right. They're good for the joints. They're good for there. Okay. We'll talk about it after. Okay. Afterwards later on in Berius we find says to didn't God say don't eat any of the fruits so responded from the fruits of the tree of the fruits of the garden we could eat made a big big mistake. God didn't say you could eat from the fruits of the tree. God said in Bion you have to you should eat. But when said it over to the she said we're allowed to eat. If she would have used the double and that would have indicated that she got the point that not they're allowed to eat. They're commanded to eat it as a mitzvah. But she just said we're allowed to. Why didn't she say she she blew it? She misunderstood. She wasn't listen carefully to the She thought God meant we're allowed to eat the fruits of the garden. That's why she said we're allowed to. But God was only interested in saying we're not allowed to eat from the In other words has two number one why is it by the what when she was referring to what she was allowed to eat. She only said and not and secondly why did she only use regarding what she's not allowed to eat not regarding what she is allowed to eat. She made a mistake. She didn't realize there was a mitzvah for them to eat fruits. Now says if they would have known that it's a mitzvah to eat fruits then by eating the fruit they would have been ma mitzvah sass and if by and by eating the fruits mitzvah sass that would have protected them it would have been mitzvah and they wouldn't have eaten from the in other words says if Adam would have told his wife that hashem commanded us to eat fruits now listen to this kadesh Do mitzvos need kavana? Mitsos don't need kavana? If you if you've been coming here, you know mitzvah need kavana. But there's an exception to the rule. By eating, you don't need kavana because you're na there's a let's say by matzah that since the ran says in rash that you're since you're n you don't need kavana. Okay. So therefore if Adam would have told it's a mitzvah to eat from the fruits even if they would not have had kavana they would have fulfilled the mitzvah and that would have protected them not to eat from the but since he didn't tell her the first mitzvah the way learns it that hashem only communicated to Adam and Adam did not convey accurately toa that not only they're now to eat from the sadas but they're commanded to eat from the other fruits. So didn't know. So even though she ate pears and grapes, listen to this. The din that if you're not by you still get the mitzvah is only if at least you know it is a mitzvah. But if you have no awareness that it's a mitzvah, you don't get the mitzvah. Even if mitzvah is um you have to know it's a mitzvah. So since he never told her about the mitzvah to eat the fruits and they were not and therefore therefore she wasn't protected and she ate from the so according to the what was the root of the eightas they weren't m the mitzvah of eating fruits what's the mitzvah the mitzvah is God commanded them to eat the fruits of the garden and what's so you'll ask what's the meaning of that mitzvah The meaning is like the says so according to the we have arrived at a revolutionary original understanding of eating fruits on tubish because since we're now four months after the sin of we're trying to rectify the sin of and the root of the sin was they didn't eat the fruits with an awareness that they're being the mitzvah of mikagan So to rectify the sin of the what would you think the best way to rectify the sin of the is eating fruits. So you say no no that was a so you'll say nice try that was creative that was a good shot but only has the mitzvah of mem didn't tell us no according to that mitzvah is the root of what the says in other words extrapolates from there that we also have the mitzvah of so therefore it comes to we're trying to rectify the sin of the Hadas. It's not like we have this tree in the middle of the five towns in Cedarhurst Park that no don't don't don't go there. We're other we have other places we're not we shouldn't go and other things we shouldn't do. But you don't the way that we correctify the sin of the is by being the mitzvah of number one having the awareness of this concept of that Hashem wants us to enjoy and even greater if we enjoy the shayim by the way the says that you know it's not such a high level to do a mitzvah to get reward the highest Right? Don't you should do it out of love. But the says, you know what the highest level is? Let's say I do a mitzvah because I know it makes Hashem happy to reward me. I'm not doing it for reward. Not that I want the reward, but I know he wants me to get the reward. So, I'm doing it to make Hashem happy that he's rewarding me. So, that's the highest level. So the tick of tish is to eat the fruits and beim the mitzvah of and that will protect us from when we pray. Okay, that's the first offering for today.