Starting on Rosh Chodesh and throughout the month of Nissan, we are given a mitzvah opportunity to recite Birkas Hailanos, a special blessing over a newly budding or blossoming fruit tree.
שֶׁלֹּא חִסַּר בְּעוֹלָמוֹ כְּלוּם,
וּבָרָא בוֹ בִּרְיוֹת טוֹבוֹת ואילנות טובים, לְהנוֹת בָּהֶם בְּנֵי אָדָם
For nothing is lacking in His world, and He created in it good creations and good trees
for the pleasure of mankind.
Birchas Ha’ilanos is part of the process of our geulah. The text of the brachah, in which we thank Hashem for creating such a beautiful world, is a call to mindful acceptance of what we have been given. While we have no idea if the buds and flowers in front of us will express their full potential and bear fruit, nonetheless, we express praise and thanks for them, as they are right now.
We are grateful for the present moment and its gifts, and with every step we appreciate all the little signs and hints of Divine abundance and new life. Much of our lives are consumed with fixing and improving the world, striving for self-improvement and ‘results’ from our efforts in both spiritual and material endeavors. For a moment, we are invited to see ourselves and the world around us as being redeemed; nothing is lacking. We are granted the opportunity to grab hold of the Eitz Ha’chayim, and consecrate a moment of complete acceptance and pleasure, expressing our appreciation for the beauty of Hashem’s plan — as it is.
It was the holy practice of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt’l, the great Tzadik and Poseik Ha’dor, to fulfill the mitzvah at the first opportunity, and in the best way possible.
One Rosh Chodesh Nissan, after davening shacharis k’vasikin, ‘with the sunrise’, Rav Shlomo Zalman and his son set out to recite the special blessing. “Tatte, look! There are two budding trees right here, we can go right over and make the berachah.”
“Ah, thank you, yes, they are beautiful… but I prefer to go somewhere else,” Rav Shlomo Zalman replied.”
They walked some distance through Shaarei Chesed and arrived at a small courtyard where a single tree stood, with a few buds sprouting. Knowing that his father was of the halachic opinion that it is preferable to make the berachah upon seeing at least two fruit-bearing blossoming trees, the gadol ha-dor’s son was surprised. “But Tatte… There’s only one tree?” he said.
Rav Shlomo Zalman smiled at his son. “You’re right. It is preferable to make the berachah over two trees.” He then motioned toward the apartment above the garden, where an elderly woman stood at the window looking out toward the garden below. “Do you see that woman watching us? She lost her husband this year and lives alone, rarely venturing out. Each year, her husband made the berachah over this tree that they planted and tended together. Can you imagine how she feels this year? Bringing joy to an almanah, and showing her sensitivity, is a mitzvah d’Oraisa, a Biblical commandment, while reciting the berachah on two trees is a praiseworthy Rabbinic stringency.
Rav Shlomo Zalman looked toward the window, nodded at the elderly woman, smiled, and made the berachah over her tree.
The Gemara quotes two opinions as to the date of the creation of the world: Rosh Chodesh Tishrei (marked as Rosh Hashanah) and Rosh Chodesh Nisan. Tosafos attempts a resolution suggesting both statements to be true: אלו ואלו דברי אלוקים חיים, “Both views are the words of the living G-d,” for in Tishrei it ‘occurred’ to Hashem to create the world, but He did not actually do so until Nisan.
Every year, in Tishrei, the same process happens again: Hashem asks, so to speak, “Shall I recreate My world and reinvest in My kingdom?” Rosh Hashanah is a time of Din, judgment, accounting and metrics, weighing the good and the bad, the pros and cons and worthiness of the investment. We exist through the prism of the Eitz HaDaas, and ask ourselves, “Am I deserving?” Our focus and concern is on the bottom line. Rosh Chodesh Nisan, however, ushers in a month of geulah, a time of unconditional chesed, marked by an extraordinary berachah and opportunity to connect to the world through the Eitz Ha’chayim. Here, life is beautiful as it is, and so are we.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 29.
