Ep. 579: 15th of Shevat: What Are Some Lessons We Learn From Trees?

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics: 15th of Shevat Why do we celebrate the New Year for Trees? Why don’t we celebrate it on the third day of creation, when trees and vegetation were created?  How do trees celebrate their new year? What is the basis of Shammai and Hillel’s different opinions of when we celebrate the new year for trees? Can it serve as an analogy for stages in the revelation of Moshiach? Was this day celebrated in Biblical times? What is a 15th of Shevat Seder and how do we conduct one? What are some lessons we learn from trees? Is there a source that Shevat is the acronym of sheyihi besuros tovos? Why is Shevat considered a month of good news when sad events took place in it, such as the passing of the Frierdiker Rebbe and Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka? What lessons do we learn from living with the times, with this week’s Torah parsha? How do the three major events in the book Shemos – Exodus, Matan Torah, building the mishkan – reflect three key stages in our personal, collective and cosmic journey? Why is Matan Torah in Parshas Yisro?How would you describe G-d? Is G-d aware of His own existence? Why did the giving of the Torah begin with the Ten Commandments? How did Matan Torah change the world? Why were they not allowed to approach Mt. Sinai, but today anyone can climb that mountain? Why are the Jewish people called a “kingdom of priests”? Is Mitzrayim compared to the meitzar ha’goron, the narrow neck?   Why was there a need for the parting of the sea, when their path to Israel did not require going through the Red Sea? Was the parting of the sea an actual event or a metaphor? What is the significance of the people singing the song of the sea after it was parted? What is the power of song? Shevat Yisro Beshalach What lessons do we learn from the car ramming into 770 on the night of Yud Shevat?  How do I know if I am doing the right thing in launching a new training program based on Chassidus?