By Mindy Ribner of Beit Miriam
This month is Tu B'Shevat (The Rosh Hashanah for the Trees) and on the closest Shabbat we read
the Torah portion recounting the crossing of the Red Sea. Because these events occupy at
relatively the same time, we know that they are connected to each other and we need to understand
their connection and relevance to our lives. It is interesting and important to note that in the month
of Shevat we are reading about the Israelites’ departure from Egypt. These Torah portions give us
an insight into the spiritual energy and opportunity of this month.
Let's travel back in time in our imagination so we feel ourselves as a part of the Jewish people who
just left Egypt, but now we find that the Red Sea is in front of them, making it impossible for us to go
forward, and Pharaoh's army is quickly approaching from behind. What should we do? Should we
return to Egypt? Should we fight the Egyptians or should we drown ourselves in the sea and commit
suicide?
These were the three options that the Jewish people saw and there were groups of people who
advocated for each position. Take a moment to feel where you may have stood in this situation.
For a brief time, the Jewish people were stuck, arguing among themselves, not knowing what to do,
until time required that a choice be made. When none of the options that they could think of were
viable, they realized that they needed to raise their consciousness beyond what was logical and they
prayed to God.
Moses then hears God telling him in so many words "Don't cry to me. Go forward into the sea. Raise
your staff and I will split the Sea." This was a possibility that they hadn't imagined, even though they
had just witnessed nature changing before their very eyes in all those plaques. It hadn't occurred to
them that the Sea would split open for them. Once the Jewish people had heard this solution to their
dilemma, they had no choice but to go forward with trust and faith that somehow they would survive.
It was said that Nachshon, one man from the tribe of Yehuda, had to enter into the Sea until the
water was up to his nose and only then did the water split.
Now, let's take a moment to apply this story to our own lives. We are all facing challenges and
problems of varying degrees and forms all the time, it is the nature of the human condition. As free
as many of us may be or like to think that we are, no one is entirely free and there are areas in life
where we are stuck. Take a moment now to come in contact with the challenges that you are facing
today.
Often the internal challenges people face play themselves out in the area of love and/or work. You
may have a problem with a family member or with someone at work. Or you may feel that the work
that you do is not connected to who you really are and you want change but don't know what to do.
Or in the relationship sphere of one's life, you do not have that wonderful relationship in your life
and you want one. Or you have a relationship, a family and it is so challenging, you wish you were
single again. Or simply, you may feel bored by the routine of life and you do not know what to do or
question whether you could do anything else in your life.
Most of us at this time feel a strong desire to go forward in our lives, to express ourselves in new
and more expanded ways. After a cold winter which is symbolic of challenge, we are all yearning for
spring, a time of rebirth. We may now know exactly what form this will take and what it will require
from us, but we are thirsty for newness, for more joy, and more light. We want to feel more alive. We
know that we need to make changes in ourselves in order to live our lives with greater authenticity,
creativity and joy but we may not know what or how to do it.
When we confront our personal dilemma, whatever it may be for us, we often first try to solve our
problems in a logical manner. Much like the Israelite of old, we review all the logical and rational
options that we can think of, but sometimes that does not solve our problem, enabling us to go
forward. When none of these options seem viable, we feel stuck. Sometimes, the solutions available
to us leave us feeling damned if we do and damned if we don't. We may know what we really would
like, but that does not seem possible.
We basically have the three options similar to Isrealites before they crossed the Red Sea and there
are voices within each of us advocating for each position. Much like those who wanted to return to
Egypt, there is the inner voice of the ego mind telling us to give up, resign ourselves to our fate;
change is not possible now or ever. This voice says variations on these mantras
"This is who you are", "Accept your limitations". "Play it safe". "Life is hard".
There is another voice within us, which is the voice of judgment. This voice is angry, and blames
others, and even oneself for the unhappiness we feel about our existing life situation. This voice
says variations on this mantra, "If only this did not happen, then would be____. And often times,
this harsh voice turns its judgment inward into self- criticism and chants variations of "I am not good
enough ". Sometimes people feel that by being angry at others or themselves they will be able to
effect the changes they want in their lives. Just like the Jews who wanted to fight the Egyptians, even
if they would die in the process, this kind of anger may also rob us of the vitality needed to go
forward. Anger may enable us to make changes in our lives but they are reactive rather than
integrative and they will not last.
There is yet another voice inside that tells us to go forward in our lives, to go into the Sea, to go
through whatever that the Sea represents to each of us. But how do we cross the Red Sea and not
drown? How do we go through our fears? We each face all kinds of fears that are rooted in the
deeper and more primal fear; that is, the fear that we will die in the process of going
forward to what we want in life.
Like the Jews of old, when we are stuck in life, we need to be reminded to raise our consciousness
in prayer, listen to the tzaddik (righteous soul) Moses who represents the highest soul revelation
within oneself and then go forward without hesitation. The key here is to pray, to move forward, and
trust in the Creator.
That is true for all times, but on Tu B'Shevat, we receive additional blessing to go forward in our
lives. Tu B'Shevat, the full moon of the month of Shevat, is kabbalistically one of the highest days of
the year. On Tu B'Shevat, the most heavenly energy is flowing and is available to enable people to
begin their lives anew. The Torah tells us that a human being is likened to a tree. It is said that at
the time of Tu B'Shevat, the tree is also at the end. It is dying and unless it receives new life, it will
not be reborn again.
On Tu B'Shevat, the sap in the tree begins to flow once again to revitalize the tree. On Tu B'Shevat,
our creative juices begin to flow; we are also revitalized so we will bear new fruit and flowers as well.
The kabbalists of Safed in the 16th century instituted the Tu B'Shevat Seder to enable us to draw
down the awesome heavenly energy available on this day and transmute it from the higher worlds to
the lower worlds. Modeled after the Passover Seder with four cups of wine, but instead of matzah, on
Tu B'Shevat, we eat varying kinds of fruit. We journey through the spiritual worlds as we revisit the
journey that occurred in Creation, By eating the fruits and drinking the wine associated with the
spiritual worlds, we mirror God in creation.
Tu B'Shevat is becoming increasingly popular and is celebrated in many different ways. For some, it
is a day for gratitude for all the fruits in the land of Israel and to deepen one's connection to the land
of Israel. For some it is a day to focus on ecology, celebrating our partnership with the Creator and
remembering our responsibility to take care of the land.
There are numerous haggadahs available on the internet but I have seen that most of them take the
journey from the lower worlds to the higher worlds. As my rebbe would say, this is nice and sweet
and maybe it goes for most people but I do not think that this order expresses the intention of the
kabbalists who instituted this Seder. A kabbalistic Seder is a channel for the most heavenly creative
energy and as such it must begin in the highest places. To be truly creative in one's life, to be open
to and to live from inspiration, this requires meditation, quieting and focusing of the mind and
nullification of the ego self. That is why the Seder of the kabbalists and the one that I tell my
students to do begins with the highest world of Atzilut. Please see my book Kabbalah Month by
Month for a guideline to the Seder and my book New Age Judaism for a description of the worlds
and the process through which this world was created.
In closing, I wish everyone a beautiful Tu B'Shevat. I hope you are sensitive to the subtle and
spiritual waves of new possibilities will arrive on this day. A new order begins on Tu B'Shevat.
In honor of Tu B'Shevat, here is a meditation for you.
Imagine yourself as a tree. Your branches are now barren, but your roots are hidden, strong,
and very deep into the earth. Go deep inside and open to the new creative energy that is
stirring within you now. Breathe deeply and open to this new flow. Open to a new beginning.
Keep breathing, opening to yourself as a vessel on the inhalation, letting go of what does not
serve you, what has limited you with the exhalation.
Say yes to yourself to the new life, to the new order that is now available to you. On the
inhalation you may say to yourself "I am ready to go forward to the new. On the exhalation,
you may say, " I release what does not serve me in this new order."
When we say yes to newness, we do not need to know what form newness will take. All we
need is faith that like the trees that begin to come alive on Tu B'Shevat, we will also bring
forth beautiful flowers and new fruit.
At times of transition like today, it is helpful to remember that nothing happens by chance.
Everything is divine providence, yet we are powerful creators with God of our reality. Even when we
suffer, even when it is not clear to us, there is goodness in everything that happens.
Source: Beit Miriam email group
Books by Melinda Ribner can be found in our online store.
Kabbalah Month by Month also offers additional teachings, stories, and meditations about the energy of this month.
New Age Judaism offers teachings about the intersection of New Age and Kabbalah, and most relevantly about the
paradigm shift that occurred after the Temple was destroyed and now once again we are undergoing another
paradigm shift after the Holocaust.
Everday Kabbalah offers numerous meditations, and teaching for healing.
