I stumbled upon a beautiful Hiddush that I would like to share. But before I do that, I want to share another Hiddush, about stumbling onto things.
I remember once asking Rav Wolbe if he would be giving a class (which was scheduled weekly, but didn’t always happen). He answered with an answer that he commonly gave, “If they will send it from heaven.”
And on the cover page of his sefer Alei Shur, he wrote, “This was written with the help of the heavens, and in the merit of the masses,” which means that because the people needed to hear it, with the help of Hashem, he was the conduit to share it.
There’s a similar story, about Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzsky who once gave a model lesson in Yeshiva Torah V’Daat, before becoming the Rosh Yeshiva there.
The topic he was asked to speak about, which is what they were up to in Gemarah, was a piece he had never clearly understood before. So he worked very hard and finally got an explanation. Afterwards, he said that, as had happened in the past, the explanation did not come because he requested the brain power from Hashem in the Atah Honen portion of the Amidah, but rather, it came from his request for parnassa in Barech Alenu.
So sometimes Hashem sends a person an understanding because he needs it for his parnassa, and sometimes it’s meant for others. We don’t know why Hashem sends things, but the bottom line is, He does. It’s Hashem that is always sending everything.
So, with that said, this is the thought that Hashem sent to me, in the merit of the masses. I have never seen it before, and it’s a very simple thought:
As Rosh Hodesh Nissan is approaching, the opinion of many is to make Birkat Ilanot/the blessing on trees, at this time. Even if the tree buds in Adar ( before Nissan) or in Iyar (after), one should make Birkat Ilanot in the month of Nissan. There are many reasons for this, and one should ask his local Orthodox rabbi what to do if he was unable to make the beracha in Nissan.
What is Birkat Ilanot?
We go to at least two fruit bearing trees that are budding or blossoming
(although the fruit is not yet visible). They don’t have to be two different types of fruit trees. For example, it can be two apple trees, or an apple tree an orange tree. We then make the beracha that Hashem created these beautiful trees, and that He created things for us to enjoy, in this world.
Why is this beracha said in Nissan? The simple answer is because that is when the trees bud. But what happens if there was a late winter, or if Pesach comes early and the trees won’t bud until Iyar?
According to some opinions, you can only say this Beracha in Nissan.
So what is it about Birkat Ilanot and Nissan?
I never knew, but I will share a thought from the Sefer Sifteh Kohen al HaTorah, written by a great rabbi from Syria who was a student of the Arizal and a great Kabbalist.
He writes that there are 12 Mazalot, or celestial beings (signs of the horoscope), that have meaning. The Mazal of Nissan is the sheep, or ram, known as Aries.
Nissan is called the month of אביב: Aviv, which means spring, but it can also mean
אב of יב, the father of the 12 months, because Nissan was considered the most powerful Mazal; the father of all the other mazalot. It’s the “bechor of the mazalot,” “the first born,” which is why in Makat Bechorot, the first borns of Mitzrayim died in this month.
The Mazal is the strongest on the 15th of the month, which is why the moon is full then, and why Hashem took us out on the 15th of the month- to show that the Jewish people are above horoscopes.
We are above nature and we are above predictions. Hashem deals with us directly.
The Mitzrim believed that the one responsible for the blossoming of the trees, on which their entire economy was based, was the mazal of the sheep, which was the month of Nissan. Therefore, in order to dispel the belief that the mazal of Nissan was responsible for the budding of the trees, we enacted a special Baracha, to be made in the month of Nissan. This beracha goes against that belief, and states clearly that G-d is the One that makes the beautiful fruit trees, for us to enjoy.
He further says that the reason why we serve haroset, which is made of different types of fruits, (different countries have different customs, based on pesukim from Shir Hashirim), is in order to show that all those fruits are not controlled by the mazalot. The fruits are controlled by G-d; How they grow, when they will grow, how ripe they are, how sweet they are, how much they will cost, how available they are…. all of this is because that’s how Hashem decided. It’s a very long process, which starts with the sap rising up the tree, involves the minerals in the ground, the wind, the chlorophyll in the leaves, photosynthesis….there are so many steps until we get that perfect fruit, with the right color, and the right flavor, with the right vitamins and the right minerals.
Wonder of wonders- who made all of that happen? Was it the sun? The moon? The minerals? Those were all the intermediaries. But who is the One that makes it happen?
Hashem.
Therefore, in the month of Nissan, when the Egyptians believed that the Mazal of the sheep was responsible for the trees, we make this special blessing, and we say, “No- it’s Hashem.”
That’s why Birkat HaIlanot is only in the month of Nissan. It’s not a coincidence that this is when the trees blossoms, but rather it is specifically because it is a Pesach-related message.
This was a Hiddush for me, and I wanted to share it with you.
Have a wonderful day.