Meaningful Moadim
  • Welcome to Meaningful Moadim
    • Introducung Chodesh Adar
    • Mishenichnas Adar Marbim BeSimcha >
      • A Purim Thought
      • Mazal Adar Dagim - The Month of Adar is Symbolized by Fish
      • More on Mazel Adar Dagim
      • The First of "the Four Parshiyos" - Parshas Shekalim
      • The Month of Adar and Purim >
        • Holiday of Unity?
      • Why Megillas ESTHER?
      • Purim and Prayer >
        • Prayer in the Megillah
      • The Most Unhappiest Queen of them all
      • Purim and Charity
      • Making Purim Last Throughout the Year
      • Story: The Purim of Saragosa
      • Chanukah: The Festival of Lights >
        • Are we celebrating the victory over the Greeks or the Miracle of the Oil? >
          • Miracle Oil?
          • The Jewish People Are Above Nature
          • The Light of the Jewish Soul Glows on Chanukah
          • Chanukah: A Winter Festival
          • Chanukah: A War of Conflicting Philosophies >
            • Alexander The Great and The Jewish Sages
            • Uphold Good or Destroy Evil?
            • LeHashkicham Torasecha U’LeHa’aviram MeiChukei Retzonecha
          • Why was a holiday established specifically for the war that led to the Chanukah miracle?
          • U’Leamcha Yisrael Assisa Teshua Gedola U’furkan K’Hayom Hazeh…
        • Give the Gift of LIGHT!
        • Customs, Symbols & Observances >
          • More Reasons for Doughnuts on Chanukah
          • The Letters on the Dreidel
          • More Customs >
            • More About the Dreidel
            • More on Dreidel
            • Chanukah Gelt
            • The Lesson of "Chanukah Gelt"
            • L'Hodos U'LaHallel
          • More Symbolism >
            • Symbolism of Olive Oil
            • The Greeks vs. The Jews
            • The Little Jug that Traveled Through Time
          • The Custom to serve Dairy and Cheese Products on Chanukah
          • Tzedaka - Charity
        • The Shamash >
          • The Secret of the Shamash
        • Putting Away the Menorah?
        • Recommended Reading
      • KISLEV - Great Expectations >
        • What is Chanukah? >
          • The Name of the Holiday >
            • Chanukah: Renewal
            • Why is Shehechiyanu recited only on the first night of Chanukah?
            • Biblical Allusions
            • Another explanation of the name Chanukah
            • Ve-Al Hnissim, not Al Hanissim
            • Mai Chanukah?
            • Bais Shamai and Bais Hillel (2)
            • Mazal Kislev Keshes
            • Why didn't the Kohanim themselves defile the oil if everyone was tamei, ritually impure due to the war? >
              • Chanukah Always has a Shabbos >
                • Chanukah Always Falls our Around parshas Mikeitz
              • Tu BiShevat - The New Year of the Trees >
                • Bearing Fruit
                • Pri Eitz Hadar
                • Tu BeShevat – A Day of Perceptible Belief
              • Tu B'shvat and Shabbos Shira
      • We blow the Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Reconnecting with our Father in Heaven
      • Month of Teves: Catastrophic Events
      • Questions or Comments? >
        • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT >
          • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT
        • Calendar Converter

​Tu BeShevat – A Day of Perceptible Belief 

It is well known, that which is essential for the existence of Man, is more commonly found in Creation. Silver and Gold which is not essential for man’s existence is hard to come by. Bread which man cannot exist without, is easier to obtain. Air which no creature can exist without, is very plentiful in Creation. This applies to the physical world. Regarding the spiritual worl, Harav Simcha Zissel Ziv, “The Alter fuhn Kelm” writes, “Being that it is impossible for a person to live without Emunah, Belief in the Creator, as the verse state, “The righteous live by their faith”, so Emunah can be found in everywhere at every turn; “The world is full of Your creations”! But (alas) Man’s eyes are blindfolded to this reality. He wanders around like a blind man and does not see the Creator.

​
“Raise your eyes and see, ‘Who created all of these!”  The Russian pilot who soars in his jet throughout the length and breadth of the sky to the highest places in heaven claims, “I searched for Hashem in the highest heavens and I did not find Him” If he was unsuccessful in seeing Hashem up there at every turn and down here on earth – what purpose is there then for the blind to search, to feel his way in the darkness?
Dovid Hamelech says in Tehilim, “When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that You have established. Indeed Dovid Hamelech saw [Hashem]! He knew how to thank and praise Hashem for each and every breath that he took. Dovid had a clear perception of Hashem that “He is the One who gives life to all”. Man’s life is totally dependent on the word of “the One who spoke and the World came into existence” Without Hashem Man is considered lifeless.
The wicked [son – of the Pesach Haggadah’s infamy] asks, “What is this service that you perform [for Hashem]? What is he asking? Did he not see what everyone else say? The wonders and miracles Hashem performed for the Jewish people in Egypt and on the Sea?

The answer is: Ultimately he did not see what everyone saw! He is spiritually blind in both eyes! He is devoid of Yiras Shomayim, fear of Heaven – and without Yiras Shomayim it is impossible to see Hashem.

Harav Hagaon Rav Moshe Rosenshtein zt’l, Mashgiach, Spiritual Dean, of the Lomze Yeshiva in Poland used to say, "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord;” (Tehillim 111:10), "The beginning of wisdom…”, “To have even the minutest amount of wisdom one needs to have some amount of Yiras Shomayim. For without Fear of Heaven, there is no intelligence. One is dependent on the other.”

So what is it about Tu Beshvat that has the power to bring someone to Emunah? From all of the special days throughout the year that one can observe  the greatness of the Creator from among all of His wondrous creations; it is the day of Tu Beshavat. It is a day that we [have the custom] to taste of the various new fruits. When one contemplates the makeup of each variety of fruit; its growth and, development, one can come to a small percentage of the wisdom that is inherent in the whole of creation. He is like the child that receives a delicious apple from his parents and he cries out, “Father; Mother!” out of sheer joy of receiving such a delicious treat. Thus, from the apples, figs, grapes, dates, etc.  one can see the “father” – our Father in Heaven, that created all these treats that are man’s pleasures.

Tu BeShvat – a day of perceptive belief in the Creator, Blessed be He…

Source: “Chaim Sheyaish Bohem” quoting Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv in Sefer Darkei Mussar
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  • Welcome to Meaningful Moadim
    • Introducung Chodesh Adar
    • Mishenichnas Adar Marbim BeSimcha >
      • A Purim Thought
      • Mazal Adar Dagim - The Month of Adar is Symbolized by Fish
      • More on Mazel Adar Dagim
      • The First of "the Four Parshiyos" - Parshas Shekalim
      • The Month of Adar and Purim >
        • Holiday of Unity?
      • Why Megillas ESTHER?
      • Purim and Prayer >
        • Prayer in the Megillah
      • The Most Unhappiest Queen of them all
      • Purim and Charity
      • Making Purim Last Throughout the Year
      • Story: The Purim of Saragosa
      • Chanukah: The Festival of Lights >
        • Are we celebrating the victory over the Greeks or the Miracle of the Oil? >
          • Miracle Oil?
          • The Jewish People Are Above Nature
          • The Light of the Jewish Soul Glows on Chanukah
          • Chanukah: A Winter Festival
          • Chanukah: A War of Conflicting Philosophies >
            • Alexander The Great and The Jewish Sages
            • Uphold Good or Destroy Evil?
            • LeHashkicham Torasecha U’LeHa’aviram MeiChukei Retzonecha
          • Why was a holiday established specifically for the war that led to the Chanukah miracle?
          • U’Leamcha Yisrael Assisa Teshua Gedola U’furkan K’Hayom Hazeh…
        • Give the Gift of LIGHT!
        • Customs, Symbols & Observances >
          • More Reasons for Doughnuts on Chanukah
          • The Letters on the Dreidel
          • More Customs >
            • More About the Dreidel
            • More on Dreidel
            • Chanukah Gelt
            • The Lesson of "Chanukah Gelt"
            • L'Hodos U'LaHallel
          • More Symbolism >
            • Symbolism of Olive Oil
            • The Greeks vs. The Jews
            • The Little Jug that Traveled Through Time
          • The Custom to serve Dairy and Cheese Products on Chanukah
          • Tzedaka - Charity
        • The Shamash >
          • The Secret of the Shamash
        • Putting Away the Menorah?
        • Recommended Reading
      • KISLEV - Great Expectations >
        • What is Chanukah? >
          • The Name of the Holiday >
            • Chanukah: Renewal
            • Why is Shehechiyanu recited only on the first night of Chanukah?
            • Biblical Allusions
            • Another explanation of the name Chanukah
            • Ve-Al Hnissim, not Al Hanissim
            • Mai Chanukah?
            • Bais Shamai and Bais Hillel (2)
            • Mazal Kislev Keshes
            • Why didn't the Kohanim themselves defile the oil if everyone was tamei, ritually impure due to the war? >
              • Chanukah Always has a Shabbos >
                • Chanukah Always Falls our Around parshas Mikeitz
              • Tu BiShevat - The New Year of the Trees >
                • Bearing Fruit
                • Pri Eitz Hadar
                • Tu BeShevat – A Day of Perceptible Belief
              • Tu B'shvat and Shabbos Shira
      • We blow the Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Shofar Throughout the Month of Elul
      • Reconnecting with our Father in Heaven
      • Month of Teves: Catastrophic Events
      • Questions or Comments? >
        • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT >
          • TAKING A MOMENT OUT FOR A CHANUKAH THOUGHT
        • Calendar Converter