Jewish Journeys

Deep freeze and storms have hit Spokane, and winter will be with us for a couple more months to come. And yet, in a week we will celebrate the holiday of Tu B’shvat. Known as “The New Year of the Trees,” Tu B’shvat is the time in Israel when spring is in the air, and the first blossoms appear on the trees.  The dissonance of celebrating Tu B’shvat while snow is on the ground is a reminder both of how Jewish life is fundamentally tied to the land of Israel, and how different life is here and there.  Indeed, it is also hard to imagine spring in Israel right now.  The news out of Gaza and Israel brings stories of more fighting and more death. We are in awe of the resilience of the Israeli people even though we wish they wouldn’t have to demonstrate it so much.  And many of us carry untold fear thinking of the experience of the hostages in Gaza right now.

Here, we don’t face the threat of rockets overhead, or our sons and daughters risking their lives fighting for our people, but we have the flood of antisemitism and challenges of often feeling misunderstood as a Jew in Spokane, let alone the rest of the United States.  There is also a great gulf in how the war is being understood in Israel and in America, and many of us American Jews feel ourselves caught in the middle. We live with the heartbreak and stress, and yet life here goes on-we go to school and to work, celebrate Shabbat, holidays, b’nai mitzvah, birthdays, and anniversaries. This, too, can feel like a great dissonance.  One thing I appreciate, though, is celebrating Tu B’shvat at this time of year.  I am able to envision sunshine and the budding flowers on the almond trees, feel the reality of it, even though when I look out the window I only see snow.  Spring will yet come, even though at the moment we feel bitter cold.  The natural world functions in the cycle of the seasons, and human beings also experience cycles-of war and of peace, of times of greater comfort, and greater difficulty.  We are living through more of a winter than most of us have seen in our lifetimes. We will continue to do our best to mitigate the suffering that it brings. Yet, under the frozen ground, seeds of life are still very much present-it is only a question of how long it will take to thaw.

עם ישראל חי!

Am Yisrael Chai!

Rabbi Tamar