It has been over 100 days since Oct 7 and the abduction of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Wise has created this beautiful prayer and song to express our solidarity with the hostages and their families and our fervent desire for a safe return.
“The shade spread over us by these trees is so beautiful. We must crown this place with words of Torah.” (Zohar 2:127a)
Today marks the celebration of Tu b’Shvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, which appears in the rabbinic literature as one of the four new years on the Jewish calendar, a special new year for trees. On this day in Israel, trees are always planted and the day is also marked by spreading ecological awareness and encouraging natural preservation. It is a day for us to look at God’s beautiful world, to express our gratitude, and to plant seeds of hope for future generations.
One of my most cherished moments of the year here on our mountaintop is witnessing the Tu b’Shvat celebrations of our Aaron Milken Center early childhood classes. Class by class, our littlest learners come to the top of our hillside behind the sanctuary and – with great effort and enthusiasm – plant trees for the new year. Their joy is apparent as they participate in the act of gardening, caring for the earth, making our community more beautiful and ensuring that another year’s worth of plants will grow here. It is one of those magical moments that makes our school and our community so beautiful and resilient.
Every tree on our campus is magnificent and well cared for, but this year, one also shades our sorrow. As you may have seen driving around our traffic circle, we currently have a display of ribbons hanging from that sweet center tree, an exhibit created by our artist-in-residence, Mario Muller. Every ribbon represents a hostage still in Gaza. Thankfully, we have been able to remove some of them from our tree, but there are still 136 remaining, 136 souls whose safe return to our homeland we think of night and day. This year on Tu b’Shvat, let our singular prayer be for the safe return of the hostages and the planting of a new season of hope and beauty for our people.
Kein yehi ratson, so may it be God’s will.
– Cantor Emma Lutz
To listen to our “Prayer for the Captives” featuring the image of our tree, click here.
