Today I started a series of classes that center on the Jewish tradition of Rosh Hodesh, the celebratory days that mark each new month on the Jewish calendar (which is a lunar calendar.) I should have started last week, but I had a conflict...there's a whole blog post on juggling that should come from that too.
Anyway, I was excited to kick off the series today with a class about the Jewish month of Shvat and, in particular, learning about the special holiday of the trees, Tu B'Shvat. While the holiday has its origin mostly centered in agricultural meaning, it has come to take on a much more varied and spiritual meaning. We discussed the kabbalists, the metaphoric basis of the connection of trees to Torah, and how we can learn life lessons from these traits - longevity, what we nurture, what we "weed."
It happened to be that I was holding this class with a group of Seniors. There were some interesting insights from this group as they can look at their own family tree and see several generations back and see several generations forward. While we go about our days often acting out of habit, this month is a good time to take stock and see if the roots we are putting down, the branches we are extending, and the fruit we are producing match the values we have in mind for ourselves and our families.
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