The Seed. The Sprout. The Tree. The Fruit: A Metaphor About Israel

 

 

The Seed. The Sprout. The Tree. The Fruit: A Metaphor About Israel
 
Guest Post by Lisa Cain Hammerman

 

 

For many years,  I have held on to an image of our Nation as the seed which is the tree which ultimately will bear the fruit. This is also borne out by scripture, where we see that G-d compares us to the tree in the field (Deuteronomy 20:19).

Years ago, I learned that at the period of time of the destruction of the Second Temple, it became obvious to those who had clear vision, that we were about to be exiled and dispersed among the other nations, as prophesied. Though flawed in many ways too numerous to count here, the dominant rabbinical figures of the time did what they had refused to do for centuries. They began writing down and cataloguing rabbinical rulings and debates in book form. 
 

Up to then, the knowledge had been passed down faithfully, as an oral tradition. The consequence of their foresight was that, despite the enormous trauma of the exile and dispersion of the Nation, there was a clear path to preserving the observance of of Torah which every community would be able to follow. This came at the expense of Torah being a dynamic and living thing, which is how it had been up to then.

 

Now, here comes the metaphor.

 

I envision the Jewish nation in exile as a seed. By committing Torah knowledge to a written tradition, it became encased in a hard shell, and protected from the abuses of the millennia. The seed did an amazing job of preserving our beloved Torah life, allowed us to communicate with each other and feel a kinship across many continents and countries with many different cultures and languages.

 

We were not ROOTED anywhere, but we were protected very well.

 

When the Nation returned to its Promised Land, it began to root in the soil. And this began a process of germination.

 

What happens to a seed during that process? It actually looks like it is rotting, but it is nothing of the sort. However, the hard shell breaks open, and the seed begins to send out roots and branches. Very tender at first. But growing all the while.

 

We are that seed, and we here in the Land are that tiny sapling. And ultimately, I am 100% sure, we will become the fruitful tree that we are meant to be in our Land.

 

Here’s the thing which blows my mind. The seed, the sapling, the tree and the fruit… all of them share the SAME DNA.

 

Yet they do not appear to resemble one another when observed without that context. 

And here is the lesson; the diaspora Jew and the Torah do not resemble the Jew and the Torah in the Holy Land, even though they share 100% of their DNA. Because the Jew in the Holy Land is a growing, breathing and developing thing, which is no longer encased in a hard shell. The soil nourishes these Jews, and they are evolving and developing in ways which we can not predict because too many centuries have passed since we were that organic, living tree. We lack proper context and perspective.

 

For me, it is important to remember that, since we lack context about how that tree is supposed to actually grow, we can’t judge it by the seed. It cannot, by its nature, resemble that ossified, hard, closed thing. Even if they are, in essence, the same genetically. The same applies to the Torah as it is lived and experienced in the Land. It is breaking out of that shell, and becoming something far more alive and breathing, but ultimately it will not resemble the Torah we have seen.
 

It’s very exciting. But I am sure that for many, it will be bewildering and even off-putting. They will not know how to maneuver in the world of Torah as it lives and breathes in its own Soil. 

I belong to a generation of transition. I think that it is part of my journey to become open minded and hearted so that I will be able to connect with Torah as it evolves in its own Land. It is going to be amazing and it is not going to look like anything we think we know!