27 Apr A SPRING OF CHANGE

“For the winter has passed,… the time
of the songbird has arrived, and the blossoms of the tree are seen throughout the
land.”
(Shir HaShirim 2:11-12)
We read Shir HaShirim this past Achron
shel Pesach. In the above passage, Shlomo
HaMelech lovingly describes the arrival of
spring in Eretz Yisroel.
Hello springtime. Time to open the windows, breathe in the fresh air, feel the
warmth of sunshine, listen to the chirping
birds, and enjoy the newly sprouting greenery and blossoming flowers. A time to look
at HaShem’s wondrous world, and appreciate its beauty. A time to refresh and revitalize soul and spirit.
Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov, in “The Book of Our
Heritage”, explains that the very name of
the month, Nisan, connotes spring, as it is
similar to the word “nitzan”, meaning
“bud”. Nisan, is the month of springtime,
the month the buds start appearing.
It is during the month of Nisan that the
fruit trees start blossoming. King David declares in Psalms, “Mah rabbu ma’asecha
HaShem, How great are Your works, HaShem”. (Tehillim 104:24) I think of the magnificent cherry and pear tree blossoms, all
so beautiful. There is a special berachah
that is said during Nisan upon seeing a budding fruit tree. In doing so, we recognize
HaShem’s renewal of creation. There are
many homeowners who have fruit trees on
their property, and post signs with the special berachah, welcoming their neighbors
and other passersby to pause and recite the
blessing alongside the tree.
Just before Yom Tov, my husband and I
went to a neighbor’s yard to recite the
Birchas Hailanos, the Blessing of the Fruit
Tree. Our neighbors recently added a porch
to their yard, and there was a contractor
working on the fencing around it, a big guy
with the look of a seasoned carpenter. He
noticed us looking around and pointed to
the tree.
“How did you know what we were looking
for?” I asked.
“What do you mean? I might look Italian,
but I’m a real Kohain,” he replied.
“Kohain?” my husband said. “Then it’s
bashert that we met up with you. Please
give us both a berachah.”
It didn’t take more than two minutes for
our new found Kohain to remove his work
gloves, and pull a yarmulke out of his pocket. He closed his eyes, and lifting his hands,
proceeded to say the Birchas Kohanim, the
Priestly Blessing.
We thanked him, so happy to be going into
Yom Tov, not only with the mitzvah of saying the special berachah on the fruit tree,
but for receiving one as well.
Blessed are You, HaShem, our G-d, King
of the universe, that His world is not lacking anything, and He created in it goodly
creations and goodly trees for the pleasure
of mankind.
What an eloquent and meaningful berachah. How special it is to be part of a nation
that lives with an attitude of gratitude. A
people who not only appreciate HaShem’s
kindness, but express words of thanks for
the blessings in their lives.
As Jews, gratitude is very much a part of
us. From waking up to say Modeh Ani,
Thank You HaShem for a new day, to berachos, blessings of thanks before and after
partaking of any food or drink.
Rabbi Yiddy Klein, on his podcast, “The
Five Minute Parshah”, tells the story of a
talmid of the Netziv, who went to visit his
Rebbi.
“Vos machts du, How are you doing?”
the Netziv asked. The talmid replied,
“Boruch HaShem, I’m fine, healthy and
well. The family is good. Parnassah is
good.”
The talmid continued conversing with
his Rebbi. “Vos machts du?”, the Netziv
once again asked him. One more, the
talmid replied, “Boruch HaShem, I’m
fine, and well. The family is good. Parnassah is good.” And the conversation
continued.
A third time, the Netziv interrupted,
with the same question, “Vos machts
du?”
The talmid was confused. “Rebbi, forgive me, but why the need to repeat the
question?”
“My dear talmid, you are telling me
what HaShem has done for you. He has
given you good health, a beautiful family,
and abundant parnassah. But vos machts
du?, what are you doing for HaShem?
With all that HaShem has done for you,
what have you done to express hakoras
hatov to Him?”
Birchas Hailanos, a wonderful way to
express gratitude for the things that appear to be just ordinary, for things that we
all take for granted. It should remind us to
thank HaShem for everything that we
have in life. Nothing just happens by itself.
Let’s strive to take it to the next level.
Not only to say berachos, words of
thanks, but as my mother, The Rebbetzin
a”h would often say, “Be a Blessing. Live
your life bringing berachah and blessing to
all those around you.”
The first mitzvah HaShem gave Klal
Yisroel after leaving Mitzrayim, was to
sanctify the new month.
The Hebrew word for month, chodesh,
is connected to the word chadash, meaning new. Each month comes with new opportunities; each month gives us a chance
to start afresh.
A person should never despair or give
up hope. One should never say “it’s use- less, I don’t stand a chance, I’m too far
gone.” Making change isn’t always easy.
But each one of us can make the effort to
start over again. This is the power of chadash, rebirth.
I recently received an amazing email. A
story of “chadash”, of a new beginning.
A few months ago, a boy in the eighth
grade of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath was
thinking about a way to bring one his
secular studies teachers closer to HaShem
and Torah. He came up with an idea. He
challenged his teacher that if he scored a
perfect 100 on the history midterm, then
the teacher would start to wear tzitzis and
would put on tefillin every day until the
end of the school year. The teacher accepted the challenge.
The young boy put a lot of effort into
preparing for the midterm. His studying
paid off and he received 100 on the test.
The teacher kept his end of the challenge,
and started to wear tzitzis every day.
When he arrived to the yeshiva, the boys
would help him put on tefillin. For the
teacher, this was major, for he had not put
on tefillin since his bar mitzvah.
The teacher recently completed three
months of wearing tzitzis and tefillin, and
the yeshiva celebrated together with him.
The teacher spoke about how his life had
been positively affected since he has un- dertaken these mitzvos, and shared that
he wears his tzitzis and tefillin with pride.
Spring. A fresh start. Chadash. A new
beginning. We all have it within us to
make changes and start anew.
Shabbat Shalom!