Chochmas Nashim: Tazria Metzorah: Siyum Daf Shkalim
Brother Can You Spare a Dime
Suri Stern
The week before Pesach is the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s birthday, and when I go to the Ohel, it is my mindfulness place to daven and reorganize. Just that day in the Daf, shekalim, we learned about kilayim, the prohibition of grafting/growing one species of plant with another species of plant. At the same time of the year that the machtzit hashekel/the half shekel is collected in the holy temple for the purpose of maintaining the building and Temple service, around spring time, is the same time it is incumbent on property owners to look at their gardens/farms to determine whether, over the winter, some plants blew into other parts of the land near other species of plants and inadvertently rooted themselves near a different tree in violation of the laws of kilayim.
The laws of kilayim are chukim, laws which have no human reasoning, we do just because G-d says we should do it, understanding that even laws of theft and murder we obey, not only because we understand them, but simply because G-d commanded us to do so.
It is so very relevant to me in that I have a perennial garden, it is quite normal for me to find in the spring that the two blueberry bushes in one section of the garden sprung a third bush eight feet away, or that the strawberries in the front of the house somehow sprouted ancillary strawberries in the back of the house, and I truly need to inspect my home, with great marvel, to see how plants, trees and bushes have proliferated in my yard.
So, you ask, what does this have to do with the Rebbe’s birthday? The Rebbe sent emissaries around the world while he was alive, and his work has continued through Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky who continues the Rebbe’s work in sending emissaries to bring the well of Judaism to the remotest parts of the world. I thought how proud the Rebbe must be to see all the emissaries at the Ohel for his birthday, and how over the years, the trees that he planted blew seeds all over the world.
In this week Torah portions there is a discussion of remaining holy, because G-d is holy, and those who are not holy should separate themselves from the rest of the holy camp until they are holy once again. In this instance being separate is not for a good reason, it is because a person is ritually impure, but what does it mean to be holy, it is to be separate for a good reason, being separate from other nations in observing Jewish rituals and laws which makes us separate from other nations in look and behavior. What does it mean to be G-dlike in terms of trees, connecting the two concepts?
It is best understood by a story in the Talmud where a traveler is tired and he sits under a tree and eats its fruit and relaxes under its shade and drinks from the stream that runs nearby. When the traveler is done the man wants to bless the tree and searches for blessings to bestow on it. The man asks tree oh tree how can I bless you, you already have sweet fruit and an abundance of shade and a stream that runs near you, I will bless you that your fruit will be like you.
So when looking at the Jewish people who are created in G-d’s image and in whom G-d blew His holy spirit via a soul, G-d gave a water stream, torah, shade of our holy souls which protect us and fruit which are commandments, all so that we could be blessed to be like Him in His divine image.
Where do we see this image of a tree during Pesach and Shavuot, each week we read Ethics of Our Father, which starts each week with the saying All of Israel have a share in the world, stating your nation is all righteous forever they will inherit the land, they are the branch of My planting, My handiwork, in which to take pride. When we drink in the Torah and bask in the spirituality of our souls and perform commandments, we act like a branch of G-ds anchor tree.
Have a good Shabbos.
Suri