The Secret of Jewish Survival — Lessons From Tu B'Shvat

Chazal regard the 15th of Shvat (Tu B'Shvat) as the “New Year for the Trees.” If we pause and observe, we notice that this date falls in the very heart of the winter — when the trees are still bare and the cold rules the air. Why, then, is this day considered a symbol of blossoming and renewal?

Throughout the long history of human civilization, countless cultures have risen, flourished, reached their peak — and then slowly faded away until no trace of them remained.

The Egyptian and Assyrian empires, the Babylonian and Persian empires, Greece and Rome, the Ottoman and British empires, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union — global powers that vanished, sometimes almost overnight.

And yet, along that same historical timeline, there walks a nation — not large, not militarily powerful, that accompanied those mighty civilizations as they rose and fell.

They collapsed and disappeared — and this nation remained standing.

Storms, wars, decrees, persecutions — none of them were able to destroy it. Even in the darkest times, when only a small remnant seemed to survive and it appeared that the nation was about to vanish — when the fury passed, it revived, blossomed, and grew again.

A nation that stands above time. This is the Jewish people.

What is the secret of its existence? What is the spirit that gives it life? How did it survive such a harsh and turbulent history?

The secret of the Jewish people can be learned from the verse: “For man is like the tree of the field.”

Chazal revealed that whenever the Torah uses the word “adam” (man), it refers specifically to the people of Israel, as they taught: “You are called ‘adam,’ and the nations of the world are not called ‘adam.’”

Thus, the verse teaches that the Jewish people are compared to a tree of the field — the ilan. If we understand the secret of the tree’s endurance, we will understand the secret of our own.

The reason a tree survives for so many years — enduring snowy winters, fierce storms, scorching days and drought, lies in its roots. Its roots spread deep into the earth, nourishing, sustaining, and stabilizing it through every season.

So too with our nation — our strength lies in our roots, in our connection to previous generations.

The spirit of the ancestral Jewish soul bound with unwavering dedication to the Torah — a force that has outlasted even the mightiest of empires, continues to flow within us and strengthen our very bones.

This connection preserved us throughout all of history: In times of war, during the destruction of the Temples and the exiles, under the threats of the Inquisition and the Crusades, through decrees and pogroms.

And after everything — our nation remains the only one able to look back four thousand years and proudly say: We are still here.

On Tu B'Shvat — the New Year for the Trees — when the trees stand bare and the winter still rules outside, Chazal reveal that this moment itself testifies to our inner life.

Just as the tree, which outwardly appears lifeless, will blossom in the spring because it remains connected to its roots — so too the Jewish people.

Even in times of hardship, anger, and suffering — as long as we remain connected to our spiritual roots, to the Torah of our ancestors, our end will be to flourish with great strength and splendor.