V’ahavta וְאָהַבְתָּ ‘And you shall love’ - "Perspective" Hadassah from Jerusalem

V’ahavta  

וְאָהַבְתָּ    ‘And you shall love’ 

Perspective

Hadassah from Jerusalem

When we first moved back to Israel, we had a small two-bedroom apartment. It was exactly what we wanted and needed at the time. There was a fig tree in our ‘yard’. We say ‘yard’ because it was really only the size of a small bedroom. There used to be an apple tree, but for some reason the landlord saw fit to remove it. That left a massive fig tree surrounded by dirt. Not a very useful area as in the winter it turned into mud and the summer it was full of bugs. So we decided to pave the area to make it more useful.

Having a fruit tree in ones’ yard is a mixed blessing. There is the romantic notion of trotting into the garden, bowl in hand, to pick the morning fare. (We are not especially fond of figs though). The reality is, there is dropped fruit everywhere including on the clean laundry. Dropped fruit means ants and bees and bugs and a funny smell if not cleaned up right away. This tree also had a branch that seemed to always swipe me in the head as I walked by! 

We did not fully understand the ‘gift’ that had been given us. In looking in the Torah, we know that the fig is one of the 7 species of Israel. (Deuteronomy 8:8) There is also a wonderful promise that upon returning to the Land, we will ‘live in houses we did not build and eat from trees we did not plants’. That each of us will invite our neighbor to sit with us under our fig tree-- a picture of dwelling in peace. (Zechariah 3:10). 

Right in front of us, we had the blessing of returning to the Land in the ‘person’ of this fig tree. But we also learned another lesson from our Arab gardener, Ya’acov and our Moroccan Jewish landlord, Pini.

Ya’acov installed tile in our yard. The branch that hangs too low kept clipping him and he saw what a nuisance it can be. He kept wanting to cut it off. Actually, even before putting in the tile when he worked for us he had been bugging us to cut it off. 

One day he came and said that the landlord wanted it cut. We asked him several times if he was sure. We couldn’t imagine Pini doing that as it would be about half of the tree! Our understanding of Hebrew isn’t that bad but I thought I should ask Pini to be certain. 

Sure enough, when we asked Pini about it he said ‘NO! It is a mitzvah to grow this tree! It is one of the Shivat HaMinim! The 7 species’ He went on the show us the others of the 7 species that he was growing in the garden.

As Pini walked away, we were struck by the different perspectives on this tree:

Ours: the fig tree was a bit of a nuisance- messy, bug drawing, sticky mess.

Ya’acov: cutting the fig tree represented a bit of income if he could cut it.

Pini: his fig tree was a mitzvah… an act of obedience to Torah and a Holy work; a blessing and a fulfillment of promises made by God. 

After this, we looked at the fig tree with totally new eyes. I also learned to make jam so we could enjoy the fruit! May we continue to have this kind of ‘seeing’ as we walk this Land of promise.

"Every man will sit under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid; for the Lord Almighty has spoken." Micah 4:4

Nissim & Hadassah

Jerusalem, Israel

Hadassah and Nissim, her accountant husband, live in a settlement just outside Jerusalem with their dog Molly. After making Aliyah (immigrating) from the U.S. with their five children in 1989, they are now semi-retired and open their home to guests and those wishing to make Aliyah. When not busy with their 16 'GrandWonders', they enjoy a quiet life of study, prayer and learning to serve the LORD. 

Hadassah #12 11.04.17

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