Tu B’Shvat: The Cure Before the Malady
by: Nalini Ibragimov
There is a well-known statement of our Sages that God sends the remedy before the ailment. This past week, the Torah reading of parshat Bo, described the last three plagues that the Egyptians had to bear. The eighth plague was arbeh, locusts, which swarmed the land. There were so many locusts that the earth became dark, giving an appearance that there was nothing above them, no sky, just a partition made of these ferocious insects which consumed every fruit, vegetation, and leaf to be found. There locusts proliferated so much that it created a thick covering in the sky, completely obscuring the view of earth from above. These locusts consumed every last greenery of the trees and vegetation of the fields. We know that the last plague, the killing of the firstborn, took place on the 15th of Nissan, when the holiday of Passover begins. And our Rabbis teach that each plague took place at 30 day intervals. Therefore, the ninth plague, the plague of darkness happened on the 15th of Adar, Shushan Purim. And the eighth plague, the plague of locusts began on the 15th of Shevat, Tu b’Shevat. How appropriate that the new year for the trees is exactly when the plague that destroyed all vegetation and apparent life of the trees occurred. God sends the healing before the sickness. So many times we find ourselves in a situation where there is this crushing, thick shroud of difficulty and hardship. It seems as though there is no thread of connection between heaven and earth, between the light and the darkn, the pain and the relief, the galut and the geula. There is no sign of life or hope. But God prepared the cure before the malady. He prepared the antidote way before the challenge and the pain of this situation. He has perfectly curated this time and experience in my life to take me somewhere. A tree is a physical manifestation of the connection between heaven and earth. Its roots run deep into the soil while it is constantly reaching and growing upwards. A tree is the symbol of the connection and the merger of both the physical and the spiritual. Yes, we are physical beings but if we reduce ourselves to only the physical, we have sold ourselves short.Tu b’Shevat serves as a reminder that any endeavor and any experience has the potential to infuse my life with meaning and purpose. I am like a tree, rooted in the physical world. But if I am not stretching towards the heavens, then perhaps I have placed myself metaphorically within the plague of locusts, seeing a thick partition, between the physical and the spiritual. Between who I am right now, and who I can become. Between my physical roots, which run deep in the soil and the fruit which can come forth bringing beauty, pleasure and glory to the world and the Almighty. Wishing you a beautiful Tu b’Shevat, where the physical and spiritual merge together harmoniously 🙂