Divrei Torah

5776

PDF: Tu'BishvatTreesShort.pdf

Tu’Bishvat: A Celebration of Trees, by Diana Herstein Perretta

Here in the Northeast we become concerned when the rain is sparse and the threat of fire increases. We begin to pay attention to when and how much we should water our lawns. But our usual joke about New England weather really never changes: “Don’t like the weather? Wait a couple of minutes.” So sure are we that the rains will come soon.

Yet we all know that drought and the stories of drought go back to the beginning of recorded life on this planet. Because of the remarkable times we live in we do not always remember that a drought of water is also synonymous with starvation. Drought is a plague. A plague that threatens life. Ours is a WATER based planet.

The universal questions since the beginning of time have been: where and why does drought occur.

Think of some of the ways our forebears explained drought:

• G-d is angry
• there were not enough sacrifices
• generally…, it was our fault

Today we tend to believe in scientific inquiry and it is global warming that is causing atmospheric changes which result in drought.

Regardless of how we understand the origin of drought the consequences raise deep questions about its impact on our lives, and to confront it.

So let me talk about the California drought which is occurring now. We know it is a REAL problem. Some of us may even have been affected by it.

It nags our conscience.

Why is there always SOMETHING!

How much attention do I have to pay to this SOMETHING?

California is coping with a 5 year drought that began is 2010. It is well known and well documented that lakes and water reservoirs have disappeared, water rationing all over the state is well underway, forest fires have become a scourge of deepest concern.

This past fall the long hoped for rains from the El Nino atmospheric stream began to fall. Very fortunately so far, the rain has come gently and continuously to Northern California as snow and this snow pack is said to be the best in about 25 years. This will not cure the drought but it will make a dent.

This 5 year drought has introduced the notion that perhaps VERY big change is needed if a prolonged period of poor rainfall continues in CA.

We are all pretty reluctant to give up our known and satisfactory way of life. We all know that experience of discomfort if not down right resistance when being asked to change appears in our lives. We do not want to give up what we have done for many years and what has brought us comfort.

One of the greatest concerns is the protection and preservation of the vast and often very old forests in California. The TREES. The trees that provide shade. The trees that allow for huge amounts of water absortion. The trees which also have always given us a tie to our spiritual selves. The trees are ancient images whose symbolism we recognize immediately. Our cohabitation is so ingrained most of us look to trees for the markers of seasonal change without even thinking.

Now I have not been able to find a concrete reference or validation of this story despite intense web researching but I shall tell it anyway.

My youngest brother lives a bit north of San Francisco close to Mount Diablo State Park. If you ever have a chance to visit there I cannot recommend it highly enough. It teems with all kinds of life, a large variety of birds, lots of small and medium sized wild animals, flora to spark your imagination. There is even a very large migration from the top to the bottom of the mountain every September of very large tarantula spiders. What? Why do they do this? L’amour, of course.

But it is the trees which stop my heart. There are small forests of oak and pine with dense shade. And there are my personal favorites…, the woodland pines. They grow sparsely all over the mountain amongst the Chaparral grasses, grabbing water in the crevices carved by the water as it flows from top to bottom. They grow singly or in groups of 3-4 when there is enough water for them. They are good medium sized pines, very scrubby looking from living in the open and being shaped by the wind.

Each tree reminds me of the great uniqueness of every individual living thing. Every tree is different. Every tree has its own life story. They are like looking deep into the Milky Way on a clear and moonless night. These pines are glorious to me, their existence beyond my comprehension.

These more individual type of trees have been sorely tested during this drought. They do not have the ability to store vast amounts of water in their root balls like the forested trees. I have worried about their survival and always ask my brother how they are managing.

He told me towards the end of December he had heard on a local news show that the El Nino rains that fell on Mt. Diablo gently and repeatedly have reinvigorated the root balls of these woodland pines and that they will be better able to withstand the coming summer months when the rains stop completely. It had been feared they would not survive much longer with their root balls drying as they were.

I was so very relieved and very thankful…., but was not sure where to direct my thanks. Are these rains just a piece of good luck?

So where does this leave us now in January 2016?

I know I am happy and grateful that some rains have finally given respite to California. But it is clear that this does not signal yet the end of the drought. We need to think about what have been responses to drought in the past.

I do know my love of those woodland pines on Mt. Diablo, and the Sugar Maple that grows in front of my apartment’s slider window, and all the trees that have called me to attention through the years and the Tree of Life essay that I wrote for my temple youth group shabbat presentation in 1959 are pretty much one and the same.

Tu’Bishvat is the Celebration of Trees…., and more.

Thank you.