If we didn’t realize till now that Pesach will soon be upon us, the arrival this coming Motzei Shabbat of Rosh Chodesh Nisan will be the wakeup call. For some, it will mean thinking about taking the suitcases out as they plan for Pesach programs away from home. For others, it will mean making shopping and guest lists, planning menus, cleaning out the chametz and deciding when to turn over the kitchen and bring in the Pesach dishes.
Yet, one thing that can often get missed within this time period is one of the most beautiful traditions we have that is connected not to Pesach specifically but rather to the month of Nisan. We learn from Brachot 43a and in the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) (O.C. 226) that if one goes outside during the month of Nisan and sees trees that are blossoming, we are to recite the blessing Birkat Ha’ilanot. In this blessing, we offer praise to Hashem for the ongoing renewal of creation. “Boruch Atta Hashem, Elokeinu Melech ha’olam, shelo chisar ba’olamo davar, u’vara vo briyos tovos v’ilanos tovim,l’hanos bahem bnei adam” —“Blessed are You… for nothing is lacking in His world, and God created in it good creatures and good trees, to cause humankind pleasure with them.” The commentators discuss whether one is required to actually seek out trees to make the blessing over and whether one can make this blessing at times other than Nisan. The Kabbalists saw it in mystical terms, positing that this particular blessing connects us to the souls of the departed and helps them in the afterlife.
I always like to share the story found in Yitzhak Buxbaum’s book, “A Person Is Like a Tree,” told by the Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Horowitz, zt”l, about being a small boy and traveling during Nisan with his father, Rabbi Pinchos Dovid Horowitz, zt”l, founder of the Boston Chasidic dynasty, to find fruit trees in bloom.
One year they headed to the suburbs and saw a house with a large front yard filled with fruit trees. One of the Rebbe’s gabbaim knocked on the door of the house to ask permission to enter the garden and say the blessings over the trees. The owner, an Italian Catholic woman, answered and she was quite gracious and said, ”Of course, by all means!” The Rebbe and his entourage entered the garden and said the bracha and then were about to depart. When the gabbai went over to thank the woman for her graciousness, she said, “Could you ask the Grand Rabbi for a special favor? He said, “What is it?” She said, “Well, do you see that tree in the corner of the yard? It used to produce good apples but for the past year it hasn’t produced any.” She asked if he could extend a blessing to that other tree as well. The gabbai translated her request into Yiddish for the senior Rabbi Horowitz and he said in Hebrew, “May this tree bring forth good fruits.” They were very touched that this woman saw religious Jews saying prayers and wanted them to pray for her as well. The Bostoner Rebbe writes: “It was a great Kiddush Hashem-—Sanctification of God’s name.” They left and went back into the car and soon forgot about the whole thing.
That fall, the Grand Rabbi had a new gabbai. One day he came upstairs and shared with Rabbi Horowitz that a woman had come by with a bushel of bright red apples. She had included a message for the rabbi explaining that all the apples in the basket were from the barren apple tree that he had blessed!
As Nisan begins and we seek out trees in order to recite the blessing during this special month, may Hashem hear our prayers. May we seek out the blessings in our lives and thank God for them, and strive to be a source of blessing to others.
Shabbat Shalom! A Gitten Chodesh! Chodesh Tov!
Rabbanit Adena Berkowitz, a practicing therapist, is scholar in residence at Kol HaNeshamah NYC, an organization dedicated to reenergizing the spiritual life of both affiliated and not yet affiliated Jews. She is the author of the bestselling The Jewish Journey Haggadah and can be reached at AdenaKB@gmail.com.
