Tu Bishvat 2025: The Environment of Our Own Soul
We greet, in this season, the celebration of Tu Bishvat, the so-called “New Year Of The Trees”. This celebration, part of a tradition of four “new years,” has, in recent years, taken on new meaning. Many of you may be participating in a Tu Bishvat seder which will, among other themes, focus on the relationship between us and the environment. Indeed, there are texts and traditions that speak to the primary relationship that we have with our natural world and the fact that we are given it as a sort of lease, meaning that we must keep watch over it, take care of it and make sure that we pass it to the next generation in sacred trust.
I was, however, giving this idea some thought and how this value of sacred trust can also relate to us as we grow older. We need also to be concerned not only with the natural environment, but, let me suggest, our own personal environment. For it is in that environment that we spend all of our time. This is the environment of our own body and soul and so, let me suggest that this Tu Bishvat celebration can also help focus us on the importance of taking care of our own physical and spiritual environment.
What is encouraging is that so many of our age cohort are recognizing the necessity of this challenge. We are more aware of the changes in our bodies and how we need to adjust to new physical realities. Likewise, many of us are also seeing a spiritual change. As the reality of mortality becomes clearer, there comes a time for many that we shift from material concerns to spiritual concerns. This may mean being less concerned with material things to a greater concern with what has this life meant, what meaning do I still have and what purpose can I create for my future. These questions of meaning and purpose grow in importance.
These questions open the door for us to consider the type of spiritual environment we wish to live in. In this age of isolation and loneliness, it comes as no surprise that we are seeing a renewed interest in community. That communal environment helps give life texture, meaning and often purpose. The linkage of the physical and spiritual, part of who we are as Jews, becomes more meaningful now.
So I invite you to examine this little celebration of Tu Bishvat in light of how we wish to create our own spiritual environment. How can we surround ourselves with the people and places and things that give us a sense of peace, wholeness, beauty, community and meaning? Once again, the choices rest with us.
Shalom,
Rabbi Richard F. Address
NOTE: for a more detailed examination of the linkage between climate and aging, look for our Seekers of Meaning podcast/tv show for Feb. 14 featuring Dr Rick Moody on his new book “Climate Change In An Aging Society”. To watch or listen go to jewishsacredaging.com
The post Tu Bishvat 2025: The Environment of Our Own Soul appeared first on Jewish Sacred Aging.