55 Blooming and Sunshine on Tu B'Shvat

For years I pondered the words of the song "The almond tree is blooming and the golden sun is shinning", and I said to myself: how can anyone possibly think that in mid-winter the sun would shine and the almond tree would blossom? Regarding the almond tree I wasn't sure, there were always children who argued heatedly, and there were those who swore that they had seen an almond tree in blossom even before Tu B'Shvat. I found that difficult to believe but I didn't give the matter much thought. But what about the shinning golden sun? After all, everyone knows that on Tu B'Shvat and Purim it always rains. Always.

Today, not long before dusk, I took a bicycle trip in the fields. The sun was already low, close to the horizon. The sky was beginning to get cloudy. They say that it will rain tomorrow, as always on Tu B'Shvat. But today was wonderful in the fields. The air was cool. Silence. I rode and mused. I stopped twice to photograph the glorious landscape. The earth was dry and the paths covered by sand. Tomorrow the sand will turn into mud and large puddles will form, but not today.

Suddenly I stopped in my tracks. Next to me was a blooming orchard. I am sorry to say that I didn't recognize the trees in that orchard; I think they were not almond trees. But their vigorous blooming reminded me of the song and I said to myself: here I am experiencing the line in the song as if I had immersed myself into it. Because both are true, the sky is still bright and the golden sun is resting on the horizon. I thought of the skeptical child I had been and I told him: the song is right, the orchards bloom on Tu B'Shvat.

And when I spoke these words I remembered the Kibbutz holiday of bygone years. Young and old would go out together to the fields; there were ceremonies, the tree planting – everyone with a hoe and a little sapling in his hand. After planting we attached a note with our name on it. That was our tree and we were supposed to take care of it, to water it. Of course we forgot about them in a few days and most of the ceremonial plantings did not do well.

But the memory of our joint tree planting expedition remains something special. A week ago I saw the film of Ran Tal "Children of the Sun". One of the things I found that I could identify with was the film's emphasis on the kibbutz as a large family. That is nothing new of course. But in the past I found it hard to accept the idea. I thought that the kibbutz was too complex, too problematic and too difficult to be called a family. Today I am ready to agree that the kibbutz was a family – with all the injustice, anger, prejudice and little hatreds that exist in a large family, together with the great circle of solidarity and the beautiful, exciting holidays.

Take another glance at the magic blossom. Spring is not here yet, but the blossom is a promise of its coming. The trees start their yearly cycle: the blossoms will bring spring and the fruit will bring – summer. Happy New Year.