Joliet Jewish Congregation
Shalom!
Happy February! I hope it’s off to a great start!
One of my favorite holidays, Tu Bishvat, the New Year for the Trees, began at sundown this past Sunday, and ran through the next day. It’s one of four New Years in the Jewish calendar including Rosh Hashanah. Tu Bish-vat used to be the agricultural New Year, for paying yearly taxes on fruit. It has gradually become more common for Jews around the world to eat fruit grown in Israel on the holiday, to connect the Diaspora with Israel.
We had a Tu Bishvat seder at Sunday School. Thanks to Ashley Freeman for volunteering and bringing a wide variety of fruits and nuts, including almonds, pecans, cherries, raisins and bananas. They were delicious!
Over the weekend, we celebrated a special Shabbat known as “Shabbat Shira.” The title refers to the song Moses wrote after the Israelites dramatically escaped the clutches of Pharaoh and the Egyptians chasing them. The Israelites crossed the sea, and the Egyptians were swallowed by it.
One theory I’ve read attributes this seeming impossibility to quicksand, causing the chariots’ wheels to be pulled at from the ground. The Torah portion, “Beshalach,” tells this part of Jewish history. If you look at the text, you’ll notice that some of it is spread out, spaced out differently than the rest of the Hebrew text. From the book of Pentateuchs and Haftorahs we use for services: “This song, notable for poetic fire, vivid imagery and quick movement, gives remarkable expression to the mingled horror, triumph and gratitude that the hosts of Israel had lived through during the fateful hours when they were in sight of Pharaoh’s pursuing hosts. In Jewish literature it is spoken of as the Song or Shirah” (page 270). It included musical accompaniment, and male and female choruses. “It is probably the oldest song of national triumph.”
In that Torah portion, much as in “Va’era” two weeks’ ago, G-d chooses to harden Pharaoh’s heart, to show the Egyptians G-d’s powerful nature. In this, our Higher Power makes the Israelites suffer more, rather than escaping from the Egyptians and slavery more easily. G-d seems to care most about reputation, but perhaps is also showing Pharaoh that the Jews are protected by a mighty G-d, and that Pharaoh should show respect and deference here. The irony of the hardening heart is that Pharaoh is less sympathetic to the Israelites because of it.
The Tu Bishvat seder is actually modeled after the Passover seder. The timing of Tu Bishvat occurring now, as we read about the Jews’ escape from Egypt, is interesting. Passover doesn’t begin for two more months. But perhaps the Tu Bishvat seder is some-thing of a primer, to cause us to begin to ponder Passover and the story of Egypt and Israel. What did we escape from and where were we going?
In the short term, the Jews escaped from Egypt, crossing the Sea, and celebrating on the other side. In the longer term, the goal was to reach Israel, the Land of Milk & Honey, but it took tablets, a golden calf and 40 years of wandering in the desert to reach a new home.
After they reached the other shore, the Debbie Fried-man piece, “Miriam’s Song” describes the women dancing in celebration. It has its origins in Exodus 15:20, “Then Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.’”
Truly, something to celebrate as a community! Wishing you a merry, music-filled month!
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B’shalom,
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Cantor Jessica