•

B"H

Torah Portion

SARA TUGMAN
BAIS CHABAD TORAH CENTER

A Lot Of Learning
Comes From Trees

presents

EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THE HIGH HOLIDAYS

fruit may be cut. The Talmud then
concludes, "If he is an upright Torah
scholar, from him you shall eat
(learn); if not you shall destroy (go
away from)."
The difference is in the "fruit," or
good deeds. So this verse now
become a lesson in what makes a
RABBI HILLEL BARON
good teacher of Torah — someone
Special to The Jewish News
who practices what they preach and
,–,
lives according to the ways of the
hen I first came to
Torah.
Columbia, Md., some
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi
14 years ago from
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, goes
yeshivah, I was prompt-
on to say that a tree is not merely a
introduced
to the Columbia
ly,
parable or example for man; rather,
"People Tree" as the symbol of the
the language of the Talmud implies
philosophy of the New Town of
that the tree represents the very
Columbia. I responded at the time
essence of man and his raison detre.
_that the concept of a People Tree is
As the Chasidic teachings explain,
really, an old concept found in the
the growth of the tree represents the
Torah, and is mentioned first in our
potential growth of someone's emo-
parshah of Shoftim — For man is as
tional character traits, while the
a tree of the field."
roots of the tree represent the way
For those who are not familar, the
(good) character is connected and is
Columbia People Tree is a beautiful
a revelation of the essence of one's
sculpture of a tree with people on its
Godly soul. Intellectual achieve-
branches at the lakefront in down-
ment, however worthy it may be,
town Columbia. However, I noticed
does not represent the growth, nor is
, that the People Tree was missing an
it firmly rooted or permanent.
/ important element found on the tree
The development of good charac-
spoken of in our Torah portion, as
ter is a permanent achievement and
we shall see.
is the ultimate fulfillment of man's
These words — "For man is as a
potential. The only evidence of
tree of the field" — have many levels
refined spiritual character and its
of interpretation. To start with, the
ultimate fruition is the fulfillment of
simple meaning refers to a time
mitzvot, represented by the fruit of
when the army of the Jewish people
the tree.
goes out to war and lays siege on an
So in conclusion, people and trees
both in
—enemy city.
have a lot in common
The Torah then provides the
'
Columbia and elsewhere. What mat-
rules of war" and admonishes us,
ters is what we do about it. In a
"Do not destroy its trees," to build
society where the true leaders and
ramps to breach the walls of the city.
teachers (by the Torah's measure-
As for the reason, the Torah says,
ment) are scarce, it is up to every
"For from them you shall eat, for
one of us to be a teacher and a
man is as a tree of the field."
leader in our own family and envi-
In other words, man lives off the
ronment.
trees of the field. This, then, forms
The way to teach, our Torah por-
- -)the basis of the mitzvah prohibiting
tion tells us, is by action and exam-
the wasteful destruction of anything
ple! El
of the previous resources in this
world that God has created for us.
The Talmud then takes this a step
further and asks — on the basis of
the literal translation — "Is a man
actually a tree of the field?" It
responds that there is a moral and
\__ethical lesson to be learned from this
The normal deadline for local
passage.
news and publicity items is noon
As we see from the ensuing verses,
Thursday, eight days prior to issue
the fruit trees are not to be cut.
date. The deadline for out-of-
However, the trees that do not bear
town obituaries is 10 a.m.
Tuesday, three days prior to issue
Rabbi Hillel Baron is spiritual leader
date.
of Ahavas Israel Lubavitch Center in

'Shabbat Shoftim:
Deuteronomy 16:18-
21:9; Isaiah 51:12-
52:12.

\

—

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