If you are a tree, happy belated birthday. Followers of the ancient House of Hillel marked yesterday as your birthday while followers of the House of Shamai marked your birthday two weeks ago, aligned with Lunar New Year. Such details matter when you are attempting to tithe your tree fruit to the Temple in Jerusalem, but for better or worse, that Temple no longer stands.
Still, Tu B'shvat (the 15th of the month of Shvat, the date Hillel marks as the New Year Of Fruit Trees), has become a day to honor and acknowledge trees, and nature more generally, and fruits we are provided from them. A seder was developed around it in the kabbalistic tradition and, In such a seder, there is acknowledgement and teaching on the 4 Worlds. What can they offer us this year?
Asiyah- the world of asiyah, literally the plane of reality where action takes place is the material world we experience with our five senses and do our physical work in. Literally asiyah means “doing” or “making” and while there is so much to do and make in times such as these, the attention in this world might give us enough pause to discern: what needs doing now? What can we do now?
Yetzirah- the world of yetzirah is the world of formation. It is fluid and the world of emotion. It gives us the opportunity to understand how we feel about the world, all that has been and that is happening now. It gives us a chance to dwell there and realize, while not the only “world,” our emotions are a whole world themselves and acknowledging them is part of the whole.
Beriyah- literally “creation,” this world is associated with the intellectual. This is the design and dream world where anything can be. This world of infinite possibility allows us to tap into the dreaming of the world to come, imagining winning, as the poet Aurora Levins Morales challenges us to do. This world gives us a place to dwell in what we are working toward.
Atzilut- this is the spiritual realm of mystery and uncertainty. It is where we can commune with Higher Power/divinity/Creator toward understanding our role in partnering in the continuous creation of the world – the nexus of the world-as-it-is and the world-to-come. It is a reminder that on some level we are primarily energy being harnessed and fostered. May we recharge and share fuel.
In the world such as it is and seems to be becoming (perhaps farther away from the world-we'd-hope-comes), I hope checking in and living into each of these worlds and their intersections can provide a sustainable way forward, from nature's season of building potential energy toward a season of realizing that energy with strength and coordination. Perhaps in this we are rebuilding the Temple but sustaining temples/sanctuaries in us each and collectively.
Happy birthday to all us trees and Shabbat Shalom,
R’ David
Still, Tu B'shvat (the 15th of the month of Shvat, the date Hillel marks as the New Year Of Fruit Trees), has become a day to honor and acknowledge trees, and nature more generally, and fruits we are provided from them. A seder was developed around it in the kabbalistic tradition and, In such a seder, there is acknowledgement and teaching on the 4 Worlds. What can they offer us this year?
Asiyah- the world of asiyah, literally the plane of reality where action takes place is the material world we experience with our five senses and do our physical work in. Literally asiyah means “doing” or “making” and while there is so much to do and make in times such as these, the attention in this world might give us enough pause to discern: what needs doing now? What can we do now?
Yetzirah- the world of yetzirah is the world of formation. It is fluid and the world of emotion. It gives us the opportunity to understand how we feel about the world, all that has been and that is happening now. It gives us a chance to dwell there and realize, while not the only “world,” our emotions are a whole world themselves and acknowledging them is part of the whole.
Beriyah- literally “creation,” this world is associated with the intellectual. This is the design and dream world where anything can be. This world of infinite possibility allows us to tap into the dreaming of the world to come, imagining winning, as the poet Aurora Levins Morales challenges us to do. This world gives us a place to dwell in what we are working toward.
Atzilut- this is the spiritual realm of mystery and uncertainty. It is where we can commune with Higher Power/divinity/Creator toward understanding our role in partnering in the continuous creation of the world – the nexus of the world-as-it-is and the world-to-come. It is a reminder that on some level we are primarily energy being harnessed and fostered. May we recharge and share fuel.
In the world such as it is and seems to be becoming (perhaps farther away from the world-we'd-hope-comes), I hope checking in and living into each of these worlds and their intersections can provide a sustainable way forward, from nature's season of building potential energy toward a season of realizing that energy with strength and coordination. Perhaps in this we are rebuilding the Temple but sustaining temples/sanctuaries in us each and collectively.
Happy birthday to all us trees and Shabbat Shalom,
R’ David
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