Last week started the Jewish month of Nissan.  And it continues through April 22nd this year.  I mention this because Nissan is a very special month.  The Torah refers to it as the month of spring.  It is for this reason we have leap year in the Jewish calendar:  the month of Nissan must always be in the spring.

Because Nissan is the month of spring, it is given a special honor:  it is the month that we bless the trees.  Two months ago, in the winter month of Shvat, we acknowledged the new year for the trees.  It was the time that earth was fertilized by the rain.  Now, the fruit trees are starting to flower, but have not yet started to fruit.  This is true in Israel, and for a few of the fruit trees here in Eugene, Oregon, it is also true.

Now, to take a quick tangent, the idea of a blessing, is also the idea of giving thanks.  (I’m not going to go into detail about his right now – hopefully it will be the topic of another shmooze. ) The idea that the orthodox community came up with is to give thanks for the flowering trees by saying a blessing.   It is done once a year when one is gazing at 2 or more flowering fruit trees that have not begun to fruit.  Here is the blessing:

Blessed are You, Hashem, our Gd, King of the universe, for nothing is lacking
in His universe, and He created in it good creatures and good trees, to cause
mankind pleasure with them.

Transliterated, the blessing is:

Baruch Ata Ado-nay Elo-heinu Melech Ha-Olam she-lo chisar
b’olamo davar, u-vara vo beriyot tovot v’ilanot tovim, l’hanot bahem
b’nei adam.

Here in the Willamette valley we are blessed with many fruit trees, so it is very easy to find a couple of fruit trees blooming when you are out on a walk.  So why not, in the next couple of weeks, take a minute to give thanks for the blessing that these trees provide?

About the Author

Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.