TORAH IS A TREE OF LIFE

This week we began talking about our responsibility to care for everything GOD created. We talked about GOD commanding us to rule over everything and to also be a partner with GOD. Students were asked to identify ways they ruled over all living things, and how they were also servants. We talked about planting trees and flowers for our enjoyment, and our commitment to care for these living things once they are planted. 

Our discussion about nature and creation brought us to the holiday of Tu B'Shevat and the importance of trees.  We compared trees to the Torah, and students were asked to find ways to support the idea that the Torah was a Tree of Life. Students compared trees to people, as trees and people need the same things to live. They also suggested that people can't live without trees, and Jews can't live without the Torah. 

Our Values and Ethics rotation took this discussion in another direction, and we began to explore

the differences between nature and nurture. We talked about the moral and ethical dilemmas we face in our everyday life. A student presented a question in class about the right of the government to interfere with our private property rights. We had a lively discussion about laws to protect personal property and the laws created for the good of the community. Then we took out our T'nach and students reviewed their navigation skills. They were instructed to find Leviticus 19:23-25, and came upon the following passage....

When you come to the Land and you plant any food tree, you shall surely block its fruit [from use]; it shall be blocked from you for three years, not to be eaten. And in the fourth year, all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the L-rd. And in the fifth year, you may eat its fruit.  

We twisted and turned the text, and after sharing our thoughts and ideas, we learned GOD intended for us to care for trees much like a parent cares for a child. We talked about what is expected of us as babies, and our responsibilities as children and young adults. Specifically, we learned that not everything we want is ours to do with as we please, and we often do things for the good of the greater community.

To end the week, we celebrated Tu B'Shevat as a community, and participated in a Tu B'Shevat seder. Please ask your students to compare the different types of fruits to the different types of people in the world, and the importance of the seasons of a trees life.