Va'eira - The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart

In Parshas Va'eira we read of the first seven of the ten plagues that God inflicted upon the Egyptians. Before the plagues, God instructed Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh, demanding that he allow the Jewish people to go free. In the course of these instructions, God tells Moses (Exodus 7:3), "ואני אקשה את לב פרעה" - "And I shall harden Pharaoh's heart" - and that Pharaoh would not listen to his pleas and God would perform many "signs and wonders" and would take the Jewish people out of Egypt "with an outstretched hand". And indeed, we find that after the sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth plagues that "God strengthened the heart of Pharaoh", ultimately culminating in the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea.

Many commentators discuss how we are to understand the concept of God "hardening" Pharaoh's heart. if God hardened Pharaoh's heart, then how could he be held responsible for his actions? Moreover, one of the most basic principles of Judaism is the concept of free-will. Yet these passages imply that free-will is not guaranteed, and that it is possible that a person could lose his free-will.

Maimonides
Traditional Depiction

Indeed, Maimonides explains that it is possible for a truly wicked person to be punished with the loss of his free will, making it impossible for him to repent for his evil deeds. He writes (Hil. Teshuva 6:3):

It is possible that a person would commit so great a sin, or so many sins, to the point that justice demands from the True Judge that the punishment appropriate for the willful sins of this sinner is that teshuva (repentance) should be withheld from him and he should lose the ability to turn from his evil, so that he will die and be lost in the sins he has committed. ...

Therefore it says in the Torah (Exodus 14:4), "I shall strengthen the heart of Pharaoh," for Pharaoh had sinned on his own volition and was wicked towards the people of Israel that dwelt in his land.... Justice required that teshuva be withheld from him until he had been punished. God therefore hardened his heart. 

In his commentary on this verse, the Ramban also addresses this issue and provides two answers. The first answer is identical with the approach of Maimonides. In his second answer, however, the Ramban argues that the "hardening" of Pharaoh's heart does not refer to a loss of free-will, but the opposite, that God gave Pharaoh the strength of will to be able to defy God despite the incredible pressure brought about by the plagues. At no point did Pharaoh actually desire to let the Jewish people go. It was only that, after all of these plagues, he simply did not have to strength to continue fighting. Thus God strengthened the will of Pharaoh, leaving him free to make the choice that he wished to make.

This approach is also taken by the Seforno (commentary on Torah by R' Ovadia Seforno, d.1550) and the Sefer HaIkkarim (philosophical work by R' Joseph Albo, d.1444) and appears to be the dominant approach taken by most later commentators as well. Among these later commentators is the famous Dubno Maggid, R' Yakov Kranz (d.1804), in his commentary (Kochav L'Yakov on the haftara of Lech Lecha) on the verse (Isaiah 40:29), "He gives strength to the weary, and for the powerless He gives abundant might." The Dubno Maggid cites the famous medrash about Joseph in the house of Potiphar, that states that Joseph was on the verge of succumbing to the seductive ploys of his master's wife, when God sent him a vision of his father, Jacob. This vision inspired Joseph to absolutely reject the sinful advances of Potiphar's wife. The Dubno Maggid asks why the Sages revealed this fact, which would appear to reflect so poorly on Joseph, as he was on the verge of committing such a severe sin and was only prevented from doing so by a Divine vision? Moreover, doesn't this diminish the free-will of Joseph? (Indeed, the Sages view Joseph's resistance to Potiphar's wife as one his greatest acts of righteousness - "for he sanctified the Name of God in secret" (Sotah 10b). Yet how many people would commit a sin immediately after receiving a prophetic vision?)

The Dubno Maggid therefore explains that the reality was that Joseph had absolutely no desire to sin and had resisted Potiphar's wife with all his strength. But ultimately, the pressure of her campaign had simply become too much for him. He simply did not have the strength to fight any longer (which, if we imagine his circumstances, as a young slave in a foreign land with no moral support of any kind, is not surprising). He was on the verge of succumbing to sin, not because of desire, but because he had reached the limits of his strength to fight. At this point, God gave him renewed strength by sending him a vision. This is the idea expressed in the verse that God "gives strength to the weary," which, the Dubno Maggid explains, is fundamentally the same thing that happened with Pharaoh. In both cases, God gave them the renewed strength of will to resist what would otherwise have been overwhelming pressure. The difference between the two is only that in the case of Joseph his true desire was to do what was right, and in the case of Pharaoh his true desire was to do evil.

These two approaches may be reflected in the debate between the Sages, R' Yochanan and R' Shimon Lakish, in the medrash (Shemos Raba 13:3, cited in the Ramban):

"For I have hardened his heart." (Exodus 10:1) - R' Yochanan said, "This gives an opening for heretics to claim that he had no opportunity to repent!" R' Shimon ben Lakish said to him, "May the mouths of the heretics be sealed! Rather, [the true understanding is] "He mocks the mockers" (Proverbs 3:34) - He warns him once, twice, and a third time, and he [still] does not repent, and He closes his heart to repentance in order to punish him for his sin. So it was with the wicked Pharaoh. Once God had communicated with him five times (i.e. the first five plagues) and he paid no heed, God said to him, 'You have stiffened your neck and hardened your heart, behold, I shall add impurity upon your impurity!"

The Yefeh To'ar (commentary on Midrash Raba by R' Shmuel Yafa Ashkenazi, 16th century) argues that R' Yochanan follows the second approach that we have described, that Pharaoh did not lose his free will. Thus he says that a simple reading of the verse would seem to support to the claims of the heretics that Pharaoh had no free-will and therefore did not deserve to be punished. R' Shimon ben Lakish, however, following the approach of Maimonides, says that Pharaoh did indeed lose his free will, but that the arguments of the heretics are nevertheless baseless, for this was his punishment for his extreme wickedness.

R' Elya Lopian

Whether we follow the interpretation of the Yefeh To'ar or not, it would seem clear that R' Shimon ben Lakish is the following the approach of Maimonides, that Pharaoh did indeed lose his ability to repent for his sins. However, in Lev Eliyahu (vol.2, p.49), R' Elya Lopian (d.1970) argues - emphatically - that teshuva is always possible, stating:

Know and remember this: That one who says, "I am unable to break my desire and stand up against my nature," this is heresy. As we see in the debate between R' Yochanan and R'Shimon ben Lakish... that both agree that this is what is said by heretics.

(Thus, in a lengthy note on the Lev Eliyahu (p.49-51), R' Sholom Schwadron (d.1997) argues (based upon a later passage in Hil. Teshuva) that even according to Maimonides, it is possible for a person to regain his ability to repent through prayer.)

Instead, R' Elya Lopian (p.44) understands the opinion of R' Shimon ben Lakish to mean not that God takes away the sinner's ability to repent, but rather that God ceases to reach out to the sinner to motivate him to repent.

This idea is also found in the Kedushas Levi (R' Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, d.1809). The Kedushas Levi (Deuteronomy 28:1) states that the Sages tell us that there is a Heavenly voice that calls out every day, "Return, O wayward sons!" (Jeremiah 3:22). This Heavenly voice is heard, on a spiritual level, by every Jew, and it serves to arouse his soul to repentance. However, the Sages tell us of certain Sage, R' Elisha ben Avuya, who became a heretic and became known as Acher. On a few instances, when asked why he did not repent from his sins, he responded that he had heard a Heavenly voice call out, "Return, O wayward sons! - Except for Acher!" (Chagiga 15a)

The Kedushas Levi explains that Acher did not lose the ability to repent, and if he had repented, his repentance would have been accepted. What Acher had lost was the daily Divine inspiration towards repentance that is the normal state for every Jew. Acher's sins were so great that the Heavenly voice no longer functioned to arouse his soul to repentance. For Acher, without that Divine inspiration, repentance would be far more difficult than for an ordinary Jew, but it remained within his power to do.

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Vayishlach - The Task of the Yetzer Hara

In Parshas Vayishlach we read of Jacob's nighttime struggle with a mysterious antagonist who attacked him and struggled with him until just before daybreak. When the "man" saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he dislocated Jacob’s hip joint. He then said to Jacob (Genesis 32:27), “Let me go for the dawn is rising.” Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man then told him that he would no longer be called Jacob but Israel, for he had become great before God and man. Jacob then asked for the man’s name but he refused to reveal it.

The Sages tell us that the mysterious antagonist was an angel, specifically שרו של עשו – the ministering angel of Eisav - who is also identified as the שטן (Satan) and the יצר הרע (yetzer hara - "evil inclination"). This struggle therefore symbolized the basic struggle between good and evil that takes place on many different levels.

Rashi

Rashi (R' Shlomo Yitzchaki d.1105) explains that when the “man” asked Jacob to release him "for the dawn is risen," his intent was that he had to go at dawn to sing before God, "צריך אני לומר שירה ביום" – "I must recite song by day." The Talmud (:חולין צא) explains:

אמר לו: מלאך אני, ומיום שנבראתי לא הגיע זמני לומר שירה עד עכשיו

[The angel] said to him, “I am an angel, and from the day that I was created, my time has not come to recite song until now.”

This raises the obvious question as to why it happened that the very same day that the angel struggled with Jacob was also the very first time that the angel ever sang before God?

The Koznitzer Maggid (R' Yisrael of Koznitz, d.1814) explains (בשם חכם אחד), that an angel only gets to sing before God when it has fulfilled its purpose of existence. As we mentioned above, the angel that fought with Jacob was the yetzer hara - the so-called "evil inclination" - that tempts man to sin. The struggle between Jacob and the angel was therefore not a simple, physical wrestling match, but an attempt of the yetzer hara to seduce Jacob to sin in some manner. However, the ultimate purpose of the yetzer hara is not actually to cause us to sin, but to tempt us to sin and be defeated! Thus, when Jacob succeeded in completely defeating the yetzer hara  he enabled it to finally fulfill its true purpose, and the angel got to sing before God for the very first time.

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Toldos - The Voice of Jacob and the Hands of Esau

In Parshas Toldos we read of the incident when Jacob, in obedience to the prophetic directive of his mother, was required to approach his blind father disguised as Esau, his brother, in order to receive his blessing. Jacob raised the concern that Isaac would know he was not Esau by feeling him, so Rebecca clothed him in Esau's clothing and covered his arms and neck with kid skin (to make him feel hairy like Esau). Thus, when Jacob approached his father, Isaac heard his voice and felt his hands, and remarked (Genesis 27:22):

הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו

“The voice is the voice of Yakov, and the hands are the hands of Eisav.”

The Midrash Raba (65:20) writes on this verse:

אין יעקב שולט אלא בקולו – הקול קול יעקב, והידים ידי עשו – אין עשו שולט אלא בידים... בשעה שיעקב מרכין בקולו ידי עשו שולטות... ובשעה שהוא מצפצף בקולו... אין ידי עשו שולטות... בזמן שקולו של יעקב מצוי בבתי כנסיות אין הידים ידי עשו, ואם לאו הידים ידי עשו

Jacob dominates only through his voice (i.e. Torah and prayer) – “The voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau” – Esau dominates only through the hands (physical force).... When Jacob lowers his voice, the hands of Esau dominate... and when he calls out with his voice... the hands of Esau do not dominate. ... When the voice of Jacob is found in the synagogues, the hands are not the hands of Esau, and if not, then the hands are the hands of Esau .”

This medrash teaches us that with our voices – in Torah study and prayer – the Jewish people determine whether violence will be the dominant force in the world. The commentaries add that when the Jewish people use their voices properly, then they merit that the hands of Esau will not only not be harmful, but will even be beneficial, serving the greater good and enabling the Jewish people to serve God fully. (דגל מחנה אפרים)

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Noach - The Value of Diversity

Towards the end of Parshas Noach we read the famous story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9):

The whole earth was of one language and of unified terms. When they journeyed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they settled there. And they said, a man to his fellow, "Come, let us make bricks, and fire them," and they had brick for stone, and asphalt for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

And God descended to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built. And God said, "Behold, they are one people with one language for all of them, and this is what they begin to do! And now nothing that they plan to do will be withheld from them! Come, let us go down and confuse their language, so that a man will not understand the language of his fellow." And God scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. Therefore it was called by the name Babel, for there God confused the language of all the earth, and from there God scattered them upon the face of all the earth.

The story of the Dor Haflaga - the Generation of the Dispersal - is one of the most enigmatic narratives in the Torah. Humanity joins together in a great project, to build a great city and tower, that would enable them to live together in unity. This would seem to be a good thing, certainly not a sin! Yet, while the Torah never actually accuses them of committing a sin, or even of doing anything improper, God clearly disapproved of this plan and instead caused humanity to be scattered over the entire earth.

The commentaries struggle a great deal to explain what the Torah is telling us in this story. There are many midrashim that tell us that the builders of the Tower were engaged, in some sense, in a rebellion against God; that they intended to ascend to the Heavens and wage war against God (an utter absurdity, if understood literally). Others say that the Tower was intended for idolatry, or to somehow prevent another flood. However, in the final analysis, the Torah does not mention any of these concerns, and instead focuses only on the fact that the entire human race was unified. The Torah is clearly indicating that, whatever other issues may have been going on, the critical problem was the fact that they were unified. And, in the end, they were not really punished, but simply dispersed over the face of the earth. Thus, the problem was unity and the solution was dispersal.

How are we to understand this? Aren't peace and unity among the most basic values taught by Judaism? The unity of the human race should have been a good thing; one that we should try to emulate! Indeed, the Ibn Ezra writes that even the most righteous men of that generation - Noah, his son Shem, and even Abraham himself - were among the builders of the Tower of Babel!^[1] Clearly, then, the intent of the builders of the Tower was not wicked. So what did they do wrong?

The Netziv
R' Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin

In his classic essay on anti-Semitism, She'ar Yisrael (usually printed in the back of his commentary on Shir Hashirim), the Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, d.1893) explains that the fundamental problem with the Dor Haflaga was that their actions went against God's intended goals for mankind in two basic ways.

Firstly, because God's intent is that mankind should spread out over the entire earth, as God instructed Noah (Genesis 9:7), "And you, be fruitful and multiply; swarm in the earth, and multiply therein."

Secondly, and more significantly, the goal of the Dor Haflaga was not only to keep mankind united geographically, but also to keep them united ideologically, that they should have a unified culture and philosophy. The function of the Tower was to enable the people to supervise the surrounding regions, in case any group attempted to break away from the community and go off on their own. God, however, does not intend mankind to have a single monolithic culture. Rather, God's intent is for humanity to be diverse, with many different cultures and opinions and ways of life.

While the people of that generation may have had good intentions, they made the same error that has been made by innumerable intelligent people throughout history. They sought to create a utopia - an ideal society. And like every other utopia that has ever been proposed, their perfect society had one critical flaw: the repression of diversity. Every utopia requires a system - ultimately, a totalitarian system - that ensures conformity to the standards of the society. Once true diversity is allowed in, once people are allowed to make independent choices about how to live their lives, the utopia will quickly lose its utopian qualities.

We see here that diversity is a good thing, and that mankind is supposed to have many different kinds of people and cultures. This is true not only on a global scale, but even within the Jewish people themselves, in the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, each of which had its own unique culture and way of life.

Of course, there are limits to diversity. There are moral principles that God has imposed on all mankind, and even more so on the Jewish people. These cannot be set aside for the sake of diversity. However, within the parameters of the laws and teachings of the Torah, there remains a great deal of room for diversity. Indeed, the Chozeh M'Lublin (R' Yakov Yitzchak Horowitz, d.1815) commented on the famous passage from the Talmud (Makkos 3:16), "God wanted to give merit to Israel, therefore He increased for them Torah and mitzvos," that the abundance of mitzvos is intended to enable each individual to serve God in his own unique fashion.^[2]

It goes without saying that peace and unity are extraordinarily important values, but they are not absolute values. Tolerance of diversity is an intrinsic aspect of genuine peace and unity and a peace and unity that is built upon conformity for its own sake has no value whatsoever. True peace and unity must be built upon a foundation of truth and the recognition of shared core values that are far more important than any superficial conformity. Indeed, such a unity of mankind is the ultimate goal of history. As God described the messianic age to the prophet Zephaniah (3:9), "For then I will change the peoples to a pure language, so that they will all call in the name of God, to serve Him in unity."

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[1] Ibn Ezra (Genesis 11:1) states: ...היה אברהם מבוני המגדל, ואל תתמה, כי נח ושם היו שם. The Seder HaDoros (א' תתקע"ד) cites this opinion as well, נח ואברם ושם עזרו בבנין המגדל. Rav Miller similarly cites the Ralbag as saying that Noah and Shem were among the builders, but I was not able to find this in the Ralbag.

[2] ביאורי חסידות לש"ס from R' Y.Y. Chasida on Makkos 23b from Sefer Zichron Zos - Vayakhel.

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Ki Seitzei - The Lesson of Shatneiz

In Parshas Ki Seitzei we read (Deuteronomy 22:11), "לא תלבש שעטנז צמר ופשתים יחדו" - "You shall not wear shatneiz, wool and linen together." 

This is the prohibition of shatneiz, wearing any garment containing a mixture of wool and linen (flax). The prohibition includes any use of such a material to warm the body (such as a blanket).

Shatneiz is one of the classic examples of a chok - a non-rational commandment. Nevertheless, as is the case with all of the chukim, there are always insights and lessons that can be drawn from this commandment.

The midrash (תנחומה בראשית ט', פרקי דר' אליעזר כ"א) connects the prohibition of shatneiz to the incident of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. As the Torah tells us there, Cain brought an offering before God from the “fruit of the ground” and his brother, Abel, brought an offering from the choicest of his flock of sheep. God showed favor only to Abel’s offering because, as the commentaries explain, Abel brought from the best of his sheep, whereas Cain brought inferior material from his crops. Cain was angered by this and murdered his brother. The midrash states that the crop that Kayin brought as an offering was פשתים – flax. The midrash continues that this is the reason why it is forbidden to combine linen (which is made from flax) with wool (which comes from sheep) in our garments.

The Yismach Yisrael (Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchak Danziger of Alexander, d.1910) uses this medrash to explain the deeper meaning of the verse from Eishes Chayil, the famous paean of praise for the Jewish woman written by King Solomon in Proverbs 31. The verse (Proverbs 31:13) states, "דרשה צמר ופשתים ותעש בחפץ כפיה" - "She seeks out wool and linen and her hands work willingly."

The Yismach Yisrael explains the words דרשה צמר ופשתים to mean, “She delves (דרש) into the meaning of wool and linen” - she seeks out the meaning of the prohibition of shatneiz taught by the medrash and she learns that the reason the offering of Abel found favor before God was that Abel made his offering with genuine happiness and enthusiasm, whereas Cain only gave from the poorer quality plants. Having learned this lesson and taking it to heart, ותעש בחפץ כפיה – “her hands work willingly;” she fulfills the commandments of God with happiness and enthusiasm.

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Tu B'Av - The Fifteenth of Av

One of the minor holidays of the Jewish calendar is Tu B'Av - the fifteenth of Av. The Talmud (Taanis 4:8) tells us that on this day (as well as on Yom Kippur) "the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white garments" and "dance in circles in the vineyards" saying, ""Young man! Lift up your eyes and see, what will you choose for yourself? Do not look for beauty, [rather] look for family! 'Charm is false and beauty is empty; a God-fearing wife, she is to be praised.' (Proverbs 31:30) and it says, 'Give to her from the fruits of her hands, and her deeds shall praise her in the gates.' (ibid. 31:31)"

The Talmud tells us that several significant events took place on Tu B'Av:

1. The temporary prohibition of intermarriage between female heirs and members of other tribes  (Numbers 36) ended on this day.
2. The prohibition against allowing men from the tribe of Benjamin from marrying women from the other tribes (Judges 21) ended on this date.
3. After the sin of the spies, a portion of the Jewish population in the wilderness would pass away each year on the ninth of Av. In the fortieth year in the wilderness, no one died on the 9th. At first, the Jews thought that they may have erred in the calculation of the date, but when the fifteenth of Av arrived and still no one had died, they realized that the decree was no longer in effect.
4. On this date the king, Hoshea ben Elah, of the northern kingdom of Israel, removed the guards that had been set by Jeroboam to prevent the people from going to Jerusalem for the festivals.
5. On this date the dead of Beitar were permitted to be buried.
6. Every year, the harvesting of wood to fuel the Temple altar ended on this day.

Of these reasons, two of them have particular relevance to the custom associating shidduchim - finding a match for marriage - with Tu B'Av. However this needs to be explained. Why should the date of Tu B'Av have this special association?

To explain this connection, Rav Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov (d.1841), in his work Bnei Yissaschar (מאמרי תמוז-אב ד:ב) cites the famous teaching that God created the world for the purpose of Yisrael (the Jewish people) and the Torah (see Rashi on Genesis 1:1). In other words, the reason for creation is the relationship between the Jewish people and God (by means of the Torah). The relationship between man and wife is frequently used to describe the relationship between God and the Jewish people. Thus, the creation of the world can be seen as the beginning of the shidduch process between God and Yisrael.

Rosh Hashana, the first day of the month of Tishrei, is the anniversary of the creation of Adam, which took place on the sixth day of creation. This means that the first day of creation took place on the equivalent of the  25th of Elul, forty days after the fifteenth of Av.

The Sages tell us (Talmud Sotah 2a) that forty days before the formation of a child a heavenly voice declares, "The daughter of so-and-so is for so-and-so." In other words, in some sense, the process of shidduchim begins even before birth. Similarly, the day of Tu B'Av marks, in some sense, the beginning of the shidduch between God and Israel. It is therefore an appropriate time for human beings to be involved in their own shidduchim, for human marriage is an emulation of and a model for our relationship with God.

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From the Lowliest of Beginnings...

Why does the Hagada begin the narrative of יציאת מצרים (the Exodus from Egypt) with the shameful statement that “in the beginning our ancestors were idolaters”?

The Koznitzer Maggid (d.1814) explains that this teaches us that no matter how far we may have strayed from the proper path, we should never give up hope of coming close to God. For our ancestors were worshipers of idols, the lowest spiritual level possible, yet, nevertheless, in the end "קרבנו המקום לעבדתו" – "God brought us close to His service." No matter how low we may fallen spiritually, there is no point at which we cannot return to God.

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Tu B'Shvat - Shifting into a Higher Perspective

The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 1:1) tells us that the fifteenth of Shvat is the “Rosh HaShana” (New Year) for trees. The commentaries explain that Tu B’Shvat is the day when the sap begins to flow back into the limbs of the tree to begin a new season of growth. For this reason, Tu B’Shvat marks the beginning of a new crop of fruit. This is relevant for a number of the laws of agriculture, mainly the various agricultural tithes and the prohibition of ערלה (the prohibition against eating the fruit of trees in their first three years). Many of these laws are only applicable within the land of Israel.

The significance of Tu B’Shvat is primarily as a legal date, serving as a dividing line between the crops of separate years. However, it is also considered a minor holiday. From a halachic perspective, this means only that we refrain from fasting, eulogizing the dead, and that we omit the recitation of Tachanun from the daily prayers. There are a number of such minor holidays in the Jewish year (e.g. Tu B’Av, Pesach Sheini, Lag B’Omer, and, in leap years, Purim Katan).

However, Tu B’Shvat stands out for having a unique, and intriguing custom, recorded in many authoritative sources. This is the custom to eat fruit on Tu B’Shvat. This is an intriguing custom in that the activity involved is actually extraordinarily commonplace. People eat fruit all the time, most of us have a stash of apples and oranges in our refrigerator. One of the first blessings Jewish children learn to recite is the blessing made before eating fruit, "Blessed are You, HaShem our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the tree."

How does an ordinary activity, one that many of us engage in on a daily basis, suddenly become a “custom” on Tu B’Shvat?

I believe we can understand this from a classic Chassidic tale:

R’ Aharon of Karlin was once sitting with a young boy, when they were brought a bowl of apples. Each took an apple, recited the blessing, and took a bite. The young boy, sitting with the famous rabbi, began to think, “The rabbi recites a blessing and eats the apple; I recite a blessing and eat the apple. Are we really all that different?” R’ Aharon, seeing the thoughtful look on the boy’s face, immediately realized what the boy was thinking. 

He said to the boy, “You and I are both eating apples, and it appears as if we are doing the same thing. But there is a real difference. When you see the apple, you imagine the pleasure of eating the apple and you desire the apple. So you take the apple, but, being a religious boy, you are careful to recite the blessing first, thanking God for the kindness He has bestowed on you. When I see the apple, I too notice how beautiful and attractive it appears and I think about the pleasure that we experience when eating it. I am then filled with gratitude and love for God Who has bestowed these wonderful kindnesses upon us. A great desire to recite the blessing on the fruit of the tree, thanking God for His great kindness, takes hold of me. But one may not recite a blessing on food unless one eats the food, so I pick up the apple to enable me to recite the blessing. In short, you recite the blessing to permit you to eat the apple, I eat the apple to permit me to recite the blessing.”

The custom of eating fruit on Tu B’Shvat provides us with an opportunity to emulate this high spiritual level. On Tu B’Shvat we desire to express our gratitude to God for the fruits of the trees, so we make a point of eating these fruits, enabling us to recite the blessing, “Blessed are You, HaShem our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the tree.” 

This should be a model for us for the entire year. Even if we aren’t always on the level of eating for the sake of a blessing, we can at least be careful to always recite the appropriate blessings on our food and to think for an instant about the often overlooked kindnesses that God continually bestows upon us.

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