Feature Tidbit The Orange Frog Tree Anton Chekov wrote a short story called The Bet, in which a young man was to remain in solitary confinement with no human contact for 15 years in order to win a $2,000,000 wager. He was only allowed to communicate his needs via notes passed to his keeper. He was supplied food, books, and basically anything he wanted, but no direct contact with another human being. Hours before the deadline, the banker who would have to pay off the bet, and was not favorably disposed to do so, decide to sneak into the room of now-15-years-older young man and kill him. Inside, he noticed a letter than had been written, in which the prisoner declared that he intended to walk out 5 minutes before the deadline to demonstrate his scorn for the sorry state of humanity. He had learned many things in his 15 years of imprisonment, including a clear picture of the many failings of people. One of the examples he gave was this: The trouble with human beings is that they would marvel at the sight of an orange tree bearing frogs, but do not seem to be impressed by the wonder of orange trees bearing orange. People tend to be very impressed by the out-of-the-ordinary or supernatural (which, of course, is quite understandable) but they also tend to take for granted the everyday wonders of nature and the truly amazing elements of the world we live in. On this Shabbat, we read the parsha that epitomizes supernatural miracle - B'shalach contains the accounts of the Splitting of the Sea, the miraculous events that lead to it (the pillars of Fire and Cloud, the utter psychological and physical defeat of Egypt, the sweetening of the Bitter Waters, the Quail, the Manna, thefirst hitting of the Rock, and the victory against Amalek. Unbelievable. Except we believe it all. But then two days later we celebrate TU B'Shvat. (It's not always 2 days later than Shabbat Shira, but it's always the week before or after or on Shabbat Shira. TU B'Shvat is a celebration of Nature. We are aware of the process of budding following the deadness of winter, the growing, the flowering, and then the fruit.There is a special bracha for fruit of the tree (what? Borei Pri Ha'Eitz is commonplace. Yes, but special too - that's the point), a bracha for seeing a magnificent forest, for a flowering fruit tree in Nissan. An orange is no less a miracle than the Manna. [The B'Shalach Homepage] |
