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Rabbi
Dr. Jana L. De Benedetti
Turn it Over
Hopefully you haven’t given up on your new year’s resolutions. It is said that if you can stick with something for three weeks, it can become a comfortable habit.
Just when we thought that resolutions are behind us, we have a new year with new opportunities. Of course this new year is about trees. The Jewish new year for trees, Tu BiShevat lets us examine the world around us, and find new ways to help take care of the world. We recognize ways we are wasteful or irresponsible, and try to “turn over a new leaf.” The rest of the world is trying to catch up with the Jewish tradition of caring about our environment.
Feeling responsible for our world is one of the many ways that we get to be a “light unto the nations.” We are guided by love of learning, justice, and lovingkindness. These Jewish values help us lead lives that are worthy of emulating. These principles have become a standard by which the world judges itself.
Just as people sometimes find things about Judaism that they choose to incorporate in their lives, sometimes Jews find aspects of other philosophies, observances, or concepts that resonate with us. We tend to be curious, inquiring people, and sometimes in our searching, we find satisfying answers outside of Judaism. Often, people will become disenchanted with Judaism, since these new ideas seem more fulfilling.
I am always glad when people find new ideas that resonate with them. I am always surprised when they don’t try to find these satisfying concepts in Judaism. In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Ancestors), there is a Rabbi with the fun name of Ben Bag Bag who said: turn it and turn it, for everything is in it. He is, of course, talking about the “Tree of Life” – our Torah. He doesn’t just mean the part of the Torah that we find in the Ark, but all of Jewish teaching. I always find that if you keep looking, you will find whatever you thought you found to be satisfying outside of Judaism was actually here all along. Perhaps you slept through those Religious School classes; perhaps you stopped your Jewish learning a moment too soon; perhaps you didn’t know to ask these questions before; perhaps you looked in the wrong places in Judaism until now; maybe you couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
Turning over a new leaf can be a way to renew your efforts to
work on a project; it can be a call to action that gets you motivated to commit
your attention to a worthy cause; it could be a way to find in Judaism what you
think you can only find elsewhere. As we watch the trees growing new leaves,
let me know if I can help you turn the leaves over and see them through Jewish
eyes. I love to help you find your Jewish roots that keep
you well grounded; help you branch out in new directions in your Jewish
knowledge; and leave those other philosophies, and help you see you might be
barking up the wrong tree.
Maybe we will find a whole pile of leaves we can turn over this February -- may this leap give us renewed energy to jump right in.
Bivrakha (with blessings),
Rabbi Dr. Jana L. De Benedetti
Go to Rabbi Jana's HebrewDoc website
Rabbi Jana in the Press:
Catholic Connection: Red Mass 2010