Why bother? What is the Reward for living a good life: is it during one’s lifetime, or is it in olam haba’a, the world to come? And what exactly is the world to come? And what does this all have to do with trees, and the Holiday of Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish Arbor day?
I have recently watched the wonderful new Pixar movie Soul. One thing the movie creates is an adorable version of the spiritual realms beyond earth, for souls waiting to make the journey to earth, and also hints at a “hereafter” for departed souls. Is this the world to come, or is it our own future, the world which our children will inherit? The answer matters a lot, for the environmental crisis is nearing a crucial point. If we can envision a changed world, we can enable a beautiful planet rich in life that can support future souls waiting to be born. If we cannot, we have just plain failed. Now is the time!
All this year I’ve been studying Pirke Avot with Dr. Joseph Rosenstein. These paragraphs reflect wisdom and advice for folks in all walks of life during Mishnaic times, when Judiasm was reeling and recreating itself following the destruction of the second Temple. In these Chapters are, evolving ideas of how the Rabbis of this period answer this question of the reward for living a good life, and it begins by defining “good” as a life of learning, spiritual service and acts of loving kindness. In Chapter1: 2, Shimon Hatzadik famously answers that the entire world stands on those three pillars!
Chapter 1:14 ends in teaching im lo achshav eimatai. If I am not for myself, who will be for me, if I am only for myself, what am I, and If not now, when? The reward of righteous living is creating a good world, it’s up to us.
But in Chapter two, which is written later, we see a very different answer: In teaching 20-21 Rabbi Tarfon teaches “The day is short, the task is great, the workmen are sluggish, the reward is great, and the Boss (G!d) is insistent. Then in verse 21, which begins “It is not up to you to complete the work (G!d’s work), but you are not free to desist,…and Know that the reward of the righteous is in the world to come.”
Whoa, what happened since chapter one?
The task of living a life of the mind and spirit, rich with acts of loving kindness, it seems has grown overwhelming. For me this often seems true in our days too! The idea of a ‘hereafter’ where justice reigns had taken a foothold in our imaginations, in order to persist with righteous living in the face of discouraging times.
But we return to our roots in Chapter three, verse 22 where Elazar ben Azaria teaches that the reward is in this world: that wisdom and loving deeds afford the person a sort of “soul protection” in the face of life’s storms. And he does it by comparing a human to a tree! There are a couple of other sources that say a human being is like a tree. In psalm 92 – tzaddik katamar, the Righteous person is like the date palm – bearing fruit into old age. Here in Pirke Avot, chapter three, Ben Azaria says there are two kinds of people:
- The one whose wisdom is greater than their deeds is like a tree with many branches butfew roots, a strong wind uproots it and flips it onto its face. Further this person shall be like a lonely one in the wasteland, and shall not see when good comes; they shall dwell on the parched soil in the wilderness, a salt-saturated land which is uninhabitable. Eretz m’lacha v’ lo teshev.
- The other type of person whose deeds are greater than their wisdom is like a tree whose branches are few but has many roots. Even if all the winds of the world come and blow upon it, they cannot move it from its place. Of such a one it is said they shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots to the stream of water. Their leaves will remain fresh, they will not be troubled in the year of drought, and they will not cease to bear fruit.
Are there any other texts that liken a human being to a tree? Funny you should ask! In Deuteronomy chapter 20:19, is an amazing verse from where we get the command not to destroy food bearing trees (and all trees have some sort of food: acorns, for example). Never, even if you are besieging a city in times of war. The reason: because is a tree of the field a man coming before you? Fascinatingly, this verse can also be read: the human is a tree of the field!
Finally in Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13 G!d says to the human to look at how beautiful My world is. I made it all for you. If you corrupt it no one will be left to repair it.
I’ve mashed up these texts for the holiday of TuB’shevat (a sort of Jewish Arbor day) into a song and an imperative.
Be like a tree,
Live righteously
who will remain after
you to repair this wondrous world
Ki ha-ADAM
EITZ HASADEH
A tree of the field is like
you or me
it’s fruit is sweet
Ki ha-ADAM
EITZ HASADEH
A tree of the field is like you or me
Be someone
whose love is beyond wisdom,
With so many roots..
That Even if all the winds of the world come
to blow you down,
they cannot fool you
you shall be a tree planted by the waters
Be like a tree,
Live righteously
who will remain after
you to repair this wondrous world
you will bear sweet fruit
Ki ha-ADAM
EITZ HASADEH
A tree of the field is like you or me
Miryam's Space 
Comments on: "Be Like a Tree: Live Righteously" (2)
I attended a webinar last night presented by Green-Wood Cemetery, which is also an arboretum. The topic was fungi. Apparently, the grounds are filled with mushrooms and other organisms and yet, no matter how often I have visited, I do not remember having ever seen them. Most are benign, but some can be toxic to their tree hosts. I am now going to be a lot more observant.
fungi and trees have an amazing symbiosis going that few know about – they live within tree roots enabling the roots to absorb. Called mycorrhyizal fungi!
Thanks, Jen!