Tu B’Shvat vs. the calendar
Next week we will be celebrating Tu B’Shvat. It has always seemed misplaced to me, as it probably is to you, too. Why not celebrate Tu B’Shvat some time like April 1 or March 1 or (worse-case-scenario) February 20? We need to celebrate at a time when we can get into the soil and really lay down some good seeds. I doubt that the rabbis really wanted us planting little seedlings indoors that would eventually be transplanted to the great outdoors.
Similarly, we are currently reading the parashiot that deal with Yetziat Mitzrayyim (the Exodus from Egypt). Students year after year ask, “Shouldn’t we read these parashiot later on in the year?” It is a good question: Why aren’t we reading them just before we sit down to some matzoh and marror?
Maybe the answers to these two questions are the same and maybe there are two completely different ideas at work here.
First of all, I think we might be doing these two things precisely at times when they are somewhat incongruous simply because we need to step out of our current reality and remember that there is more to life than the things that we have before us right now. We appreciate plants and look forward to the fruit that they will bare. Contrary to what we see in modern supermarkets, lemons, apples, and figs have not always been available to everyone whenever they wanted it. There are times when we need to appreciate the trees although we are without their fruit, their fragrance or their beauty. So too it is with the parashiot of Pesach. Sure, we can get excited about Pesach when we are cleaning our houses and changing dishes but can we be as thrilled about it or think as much about it months in advance? For most of us (to quote a cliché) out of sight, out of mind. We are not thinking Pesach right now. But, HaShem wants us to remember the beauty and the majesty of getting out of Egypt, yesterday, today, tomorrow—everyday! Not just when we pull out our haggadot.
On the other hand, it may be that we are supposed to remember Pesach right now so that we can begin the long process of getting ready. Pesach is always just around the corner and reading these parashiot right now is like setting your spiritual alarm clock a little earlier than usual; it’s time to begin to get ready. However as for Tu B’shvat we can’t rush the seasons no matter how hard we try and we have to sit here in the dead of winter and look forward to the days of sunshine, flowers and fruit.
Whatever the reason, enjoy the fabulous story of paraashat Beshallach in shul tomorrow and stop for a minute and think about the greatness of God’s miracles as you enjoy your next piece of fruit. They both remind of us something that only God can do and it can’t hurt us to think about those lofty ideas whether they fit into our conception of time or not.